Helen Cooper

One morning, Ben finds an envelope containing a very special invitation to come and see the Gee Museum -- a dusty old place under threat of closure. However, once inside he discovers all sorts of incredible things like talking owls, dancing bees, magical bottles, witches, and of course, a hippo at the end of the hall. But most importantly he discovers a connection to his father and the family he never even knew he had. And now he has something important...

"A deliciously vengeful and sinister suspense novel, about two older women whose friendship cracks after one son murders the other"-- Provided by publisher.

"From her downstairs apartment in suburban London, Emma has often overheard the everyday life of the seemingly perfect family upstairs--Steph, Paul and teenage daughter Freya--but has never got to know them. Until one day, she hears something that seizes her attention: Freya has vanished and the police are questioning Steph and Paul about their life. Do either of you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to harm or threaten you? The effects of Freya's...

Lucy Snowe is a stoic young Englishwoman. Beset by adverse circumstances, on a momentary whim she travels to Belgium to seek her livelihood as a teacher in a girls' boarding school. There, surrounded by giddy pupils, under the control of the cunning school matron, wooed by an eccentric professor, and visited by the ghost of a nun, Lucy begins her adventure in true gothic fashion.

While making pumpkin soup, three friends discover they have no salt and go to the city to buy some, but while Cat and Squirrel head straight to the salt store, Duck pauses at a pepper shop, then fears he will never see his friends again.

Without his favorite soup ingredient of ripe pumpkin, Duck is unwilling to try either fish soup, mushroom soup, or beet soup until Cat and Squirrel, with determination and persistence, mix together a combination of veggies and other ingredients that result in a broth that is the exact color of pumpkin soup.

A little girl eats a dog biscuit by mistake and worries about the consequences. Includes recipe for "human-being treats."

"When the rescuers meet the boat, there are only two people left: a little one and a bigger one. The bigger one remembers the uncertainty of the trip across the ocean, but the little one has stopped thinking about all that. Can the little one and a very special butterfly help the big one move forward?"-- Provided by publisher.