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Operation Bunny

by

Sally Gardner

Illustrated by David Roberts

Emily Vole makes headline news when she's found abandoned as a baby, lying in hatbox at Stanstead Airport. She's adopted by Mr and Mrs Dashwood, who long for a child of their own, but they quickly tire of their adopted daughter, especially when her hair turns out to be the wrong colour and her eyes don't fit the Dashwood colour scheme. When Mrs Dashwood discovers she is having triplets, Emily is demoted to living in the laundry room, doing housework and taking care of her new 'siblings'.

 

Life is pretty miserable, until one day, hanging out the washing, Emily meets her mysterious next-door neighbour, Miss String, and her unusually large cat, Fidget, who prove to have some rather unusual abilities. Emily is enchanted to discover that magic is real, as well as to have found a real friend - but then Miss String dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances, leaving Emily a strange and unexpected inheritance. As the possessor of an old shop and a bunch of golden keys, Emily soon discovers its up to her to bring the old Fairy Detective Agency back into business - and to defeat the evil, fairy-snatching villain Harpella.

 

This quirky story from Sally Gardner is packed with magic, humour and imagination, as well as a touch of Roald Dahl-esque darkness. Young readers will be charmed by resourceful heroine Emily and her sidekick, Fidget who always has a cat joke or fishy quip to hand for any given situation.  David Roberts's entertaining illustrations are the perfect match for Gardner's pleasingly eccentric text. This first instalment of the Wings and Co series is great fun, and is sure to delight newly independent readers.

 

Publisher: Orion Children's Books
  • Sally Gardner

    Sally Gardner grew up amongst the drama of London’s law courts, as both her parents were lawyers. Having been branded ‘unteachable’ by some and sent to various schools, Sally was eventually diagnosed at the age of twelve as being severely dyslexic. Sally is now an avid spokesperson for dyslexia; she sees it a gift, not a disability, and is passionately trying to change how dyslexics are perceived by society.
     
    Sally published her first book in 1993, thus beginning her illustrious career as a writer-illustrator to great international acclaim. The Countess's Calamity won the Smarties Prize in 2003. Her first full-length novel, and a turning point in Sally’s career, was I, Coriander which won the Nestle Children’s Book Prize Gold Award in 2005. Her next novel The Red Necklace was shortlisted for the Guardian Book Prize in 2007, followed by the sequel, The Silver Blade. Her recent book, The Double Shadow, was hailed as ‘an astonishing departure for a writer who has found a new and very distinctive voice’. Sally lives in London.

  • David Roberts

    David Roberts was born in Liverpool and studied a degree in fashion design at Manchester Metropolitan University. After university he worked as a milliner and began to get work as a fashion illustrator but always felt his true calling was in children's book illustration. After working as a shelf stacker, egg fryer, hair washer, film extra and coffee-maker David finally realised his dream of becoming a children's book illustrator when his first book Frankie Stein's Robot, written by Roy Apps, was published in 1998 and shortlisted for the Mother Goose Award for emerging illustrators.

     

    Since then he has illustrated works by authors such as Philip Ardagh, Daren King, Julia Donaldson, Jacqueline Wilson, Tom Baker and Chris Priestley. He is also the creator of Dirty Bertie - a litle boy with bad habits.

     

    http://www.davidrobertsillustration.com/

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