Books with author Anthony Buckeridge

When Jennings arrives at Linbury Court Preparatory School as a new boy, he soon discovers how much he has to learn, especially when the other boys seem to be talking in a different language! Spivish ozard! But it is not long before Jennings becomes a celebrity, following an intrepid escape from the school grounds and a riotous attempt to enliven a fire practice, which leaves Old Wilkie literally climbing the walls! From then on, every time Jennings gives trouble the elbow, a new disaster trips him over. But only one thing really matters to J C T Jennings – his First Eleven debut. When the long-awaited match arrives, Jennings certainly uses his head.

‘You can’t compete in famous outer space tournaments wearing heavy great clodhoppers like diver’s boots. You’ve got to be on your toes, darting about like a streak of lightning’. Who would have thought that a Ping-Pong Championship of Outer Space could have caused so much trouble? Determined to play the monumental tournament, Jennings and Darbishire end up getting themselves in more of a mess than they could have imagined. Then, when Mr Wilkins’ attempts to clear out the school lost property cupboard go strangely awry, he does not have to look far to guess who the culprit is; Jennings, of course! ‘Good wheeze!’

When Jennings and Darbishire happen upon a mysterious stranger, they are determined to prove he is a spy. Armed with a lemonade bottle and some chalk dust, their attempts to turn detective go astray, much to the amusement of the other schoolboys. Then, the appearance of an abominable snow-cat and that unfortunate incident with Mr Wilkin’s antique vases. It’s going to be difficult to stay out of trouble this term; but isn’t that just like Jennings? – Fantabulous!

Fossilized fish-hooks! ‘We must have a headquarters, where we can meet and work out clues and things. We might even put up a notice so that chaps will know where to come when they want mysteries solved. Something like Linbury Court Detective Agency – Chief Investigator, J C T Jennings?’ When Jennings is inspired to take up a career as a detective, with faithful Darbishire as his assistant, trouble is bound to be just around the corner. Their first mission – to recover a ‘stolen’ sports cup, is the first of several bungled attempts to imitate super sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Frightful bish! But the detective duo face their most perilous adventure yet when they make a nocturnal visit to the sanatorium and discover that they are not alone. An intruder is at large, but a missing coat button is Jennings’ only clue. Crystallised cheesecakes!

Hah-ooh cinosrepus! ‘Selbanev, Nosnikta, Senoj-Nitram,’ said Jennings. ‘They’re the names of people, I bet you can’t guess who!?’ ‘Russian agents, Zulu tribesmen, Ancient kings of Egypt’ hazarded Darbishire. ‘No, no, no,’ Jennings flipped his fingers in delight and danced ungainly ballet steps round the tuck-boxes. ‘Oh, wacko! If you can’t guess, neither will anybody else, so we can use it for the code.’ Jennings is suffering from beginning-of-term-itis, but things soon return to the normal state of mayhem and confusion when his new diary is made public property! Alarmed at the thought of his most private thoughts being made public, Jennings decides to invent a secret language. Will anyone be able to decode Selbanev si a llopdolc? Drazo Hsivips! Inspired by a visit to the Natural History Museum, Jennings and Darbishire establish their own collection of ancient relics, but they are not out of trouble for long and when the precious diary goes missing, Jennings finds himself on the wrong side of the law! Relggowsnroh emoseurg!

Supersonic hoo-hah! Jennings and Darbishire watched with mounting horror. Earthquakes and landslides seemed to be happening before their eyes. The little hut was heaving like a thing possessed. ‘Oh, fish-hooks!’ breathed Jennings in dismay. ‘He’s smashing up the place like a bulldozer!’ The woodland at Linbury Court becomes squatters’ territory when Jennings comes up with the idea of building huts out of reeds and branches. Jennings and Darbishire are thrilled with their construction, which even includes a patented prefabricated ventilating shaft, a special irrigation drainage canal and a pontoon suspension bridge! Gruesome hornswoggler! But things can only go horribly wrong for Jennings when he is put in charge of Elmer, the treasured goldfish, and even worse when the Headmaster pays the squatters a visit. And if Jennings thinks that a game of cricket will be far less trouble, he’s going to be knocked for six! Rotten chizzler!

‘I’ve seen some bat-witted wheezes in my time but this one takes the certificate of merit’ When Jennings and Darbishire discover a hibernating hedgehog they are instantly intrigued. Then, when Venables tells him that foxes eat hedgehogs, Jennings decides to rescue it. But things rarely go to plan for poor Jennings, and after a series of mishaps involving Miss Thorpe’s puppy and a bottle of Ants and Anti-Escaping Fluid, Jennings is left wondering whether Old Sleepy will make it through the winter. ‘Clueless clodpoll!’

‘Dear Miss Thorpe, We hope you are quite well. We are very sorry we did not do your leaflets very well owing to strong winds. Darbishire has some new laces so we will give you your elastic band back when we come, but it has got stretched a bit owing to Darbishire’s shoe?’ When Linbury goes green, Jennings and Darbishire offer to do their bit for the environment and are given the task of distributing leaflets. Unfortunately, Darbishire’s shoelace refuses to stay tied and, using his initiative, Jennings removes the rubber band holding the leaflets together and performs an emergency shoelace repair. All seems fine, until a gust of wind hurls the leaflets over Marina Gardens. The residents are none too pleased, and it’s poor Mr Wilkins who’s going to get the blame? ‘Addle-pated eyewash!’

‘Right! Stand by for orders to lower away. I’m going to take charge at the reception base. And don’t worry – this is one of my guaranteed foolproof plans. It can’t possibly go wrong!’ Term is over and, after a short camping expedition that leaves poor Mr Wilkins determined never to go through such an horrific experience again, Jennings is off to stay with his Aunt Angela. There, he meets Emma Sparrow who needs to hide her collection of stray animals from the exasperated caretaker. When Jennings comes up with a seemingly flawless plan, he congratulates himself on his quick thinking. But with Jennings at large, things can always be expected to go disastrously wrong! ‘Fossilised fish-hooks!’