Books with author Dick King-Smith

Illustrated in black-and-white. From the author of Babe: The Gallant Pig comes the story of spirited Henrietta Hickathrift who on her seventy-fifth birthday runs away from home - the old age home, that is. Ending up in the seaside town of Saltmouth with only a few pennies to her name, Henrietta is truly, as she says, a "stray old woman"--until she's found by the five children of the Good family: Angela, Eleanor, Rosie, Barney, and Rowley. The children decide to bake the stray a cake. But what begins as a birthday party becomes a permanent adoption as Henrietta's resourcefulness and good humor make her indispensable to everyone in the family. Written with Dick King-Smith's trademark charm, this warmly humorous tale about family and good will makes it clear that no one is ever too old to find--or give--happiness.

Dick King-Smith, beloved author of Babe: The Gallant Pig, returns with a witty and touching tale about the different shapes and sizes a family can take. When Archibald Peregrine Edmund Spring-Russell (Ape, for short) finds himself living alone for the first time in his life, he's finally free to do exactly as he pleases. And nothing pleases this wealthy old English gentleman with an enormous estate and a Rolls-Royce more than buying twelve big, beautiful brown hens to keep in the living room. But Ape doesn't stop there. Soon there are rabbits and guinea pigs in the dining room, canaries in the music room, a noisy talking parrot in the kitchen, and a puppy who seems to be everywhere! Just when Ape's house is about to burst with little beasties, Joe and Jake--father and son Gypsies--lend a helping hand. But it takes a household disaster for Ape to realize he finally has the family he never had. With trademark Dick King-Smith humor, short chapters, and large type, this easy-to-read story is perfect for independent readers.

Flightless, helpless and often, frankly, more than a little silly, chickens are no match for the cunning, merciless foxes stalking their coop. Or are they? Thanks to a careless farmer and generations of determined foxes, the chickens on Foxearth Farm have evolved into quick-witted, long-legged, high flying fox dodgers. Then, just a week after a vicious fox ambush in the water trough, three sisters are hatched. And Ransome, Sims and Jefferies are no ordinary chicks: they grow up determined to fight back. They are the legendary Fox Busters …