Harper Collins is proud to present its new range of best-loved essential classics. ' We said there warn't no home like a raft after all. Other places do seem so cramped up & smothery but a raft don't. You feel mighty free & easy & comfortable on a raft.' Huck Finn escapes from his alcoholic father by faking his own death & so begins his journey through the Deep South seeking independence & freedom. On his travels Huck meets an escaped slave Jim who is a wanted man & together they journey down the Mississippi River. Raising the timeless & universal l issues of prejudice bravery & hope the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was & still is considered the great American novel. ...

Huck is a young naive white boy fleeing from his drunken dangerous Pa & Jim is a runaway slave longing to be reunited with his family. Flung together by circumstance they journey down the Mississippi together on a log raft each in search of his own definition of freedom. Their daring adventures along the way provide both entertainment & a satirical look at the moral values of the Deep South of the 1800s. ...

' It's lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there all speckled with stars & we used to lay on our backs & look up at them' Huck Finn spits swears smokes a pipe & never goes to school. With his too-big clothes & battered straw hat Huck is in need of 'civilising' & the Widow Douglas is determined to take him in h&. & wouldn't you know Huck's no-good Pap is also after him & he locks Huck up in his cabin in the woods. But Huck won't stand too much of this & after a daring escape he takes off down the Mississppi on a raft with an runaway slave called Jim. But plenty of dangers wait for them along the river
- will they survive & win their freedom? BACKSTORY: Discover how to write secret messages in code & learn about the extraordinary Mark Twain.
...

Huckleberry Finn had a tough life with his drunk father until an adventure with Tom Sawyer changed everything. But when Huck's dad returns & kidnaps him he must escape down the Mississippi river with runaway slave Jim. They encounter trouble at every turn from floods & gunfights to armed bandits & the long arm of the law. Through it all the friends stick together
- but can Huck & Tom free Jim from slavery once & for all? With an inspirational introduction by Darren Shan The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the twelve wonderful classic stories being relaunched in Puffin Classics in March 2008.
...

Leftenant Benjamin Rundel is faced with the battle for St Elmo Castle which is thought to be impregnable the surrender of Capua a trying leftenants exam for his friend Tom Murphy & the surrender of all of Roma to Captain Troubridge for a turn of the cards. Then its off to the Quiberon Bay disaster & success at Killala Bay against the French. The Admiralty sends he & his friend Tom Murphy to Panama to capture a pack train loaded with gold headed for Spain. After much confusion they get the gold but end up with the mother ship aground with the gold aboard & a boatload of starving cannibals on shore to harry them. Along the way he is instructed to capture the wife & sister of a noble of the Codrington family & has to decide how to cut out two older females from a Spanish captains protection. Then he returns to Barbados to quench the fires of a fire ship & heads out to find the perpetrator only to wind up in a plot by an island plantation owner to ruin all of the local planters so he can purchase their lands cheaply. Finally as he heads for safety his ship is captured by the French. But he plays turnabout & takes a much larger French ship on his way to port. There is never a dull moment in the life of this most able young leftenant. ...

In this br&-new action-packed chapter book series Sponge Bob & Patrick have their own exciting adventures with their favourite albeit elderly superheroes ~ Mermaidman & Barnacleboy! These adventures usually end up doing more harm to Bikini Bottom (and the rest of civilization) than good but it always turns out all right in the end! When Sponge Bob finds Mermaidmans special superhero utility belt he just cant stop himself from using it! But without a clue as to what each button does Sponge Bob manages to shrink Patrick! Afraid that telling Mermaidman will get him in trouble he vows to find the right button himself. Will he figure out how to zap Patrick back to size or will he shrink the whole town trying? Find out in this hilarious story! ...

Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in a tiny village in the heart of the countryside. She is always busy doing things & whether she is earning money to give a party minding the village shop having a picnic or going sledging you're sure to have fun when Milly-Molly-Mandy's around! Here all the Milly-Molly-Mandy stories Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy" " Milly-Molly-Mandy Again" " Milly-Molly-Mandy Stories" & " More of Milly-Molly-Mandy" brought together in a special gift collection." ...

Mrs Pepperpot has a problem
- a huge problem
- she shrinks! & when she shrinks she finds herself in all sorts of trouble...

...

As Odysseus fights to find his way back home after the long & brutal Trojan War he has to endure harrowing ordeals & adventures & come to terms with devastating losses. Storytellers Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden's graphic retelling breathes new life into this great classic. ...

As Odysseus fights his way back home after the Trojan War he has to endure harrowing ordeals & adventures & even when he returns to Ithaca his troubles are far from over. Acclaimed storytellers Hugh Lupton & Daniel Morden bring the poetry of Homer to life & illustrator Christina Balit's stylised paintings give life to mortals & immortals alike.

Includes:: two full-length CDs of the story read by the authors. A Barefoot Books Feature Title for 2012. Writing & illustration true to ancient style while still feeling exciting & modern. Deals with themes of love war power mortality friendship nature & self. Features a clever protagonist using his wits to navigate his way home.

...