Farm Life Fiction

Join in the fun with the clever little ladybird as she thwarts the cunning plans of two greedy thieves, Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len, time and time again. From a plot to steal the farmer's fine prize cow to a wicked plan to take the queen's crown jewels, it's up to the tiniest, quietest creature of all to save the day. Featuring a cast of much-loved farmyard and zoo animals, sea creatures and even a magical mermaid, these fantastic rhyming stories from the stellar picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks are perfect for listening to together.

Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom's new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new "sisters", Andy and Reese. As if learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn't hard enough, having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers' market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family.

Grandpa Joe takes his grandson Timmy back to the site of his family’s farm, where the old house and a ramshackle barn still stand. The visit stirs up memories for Grandpa Joe—in particular, the majesty of his own father's shiny red tractor, now rusting in the forgotten fields.

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Sal and her mother are picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Meanwhile Sal's mother is being followed by a small bear with a big appetite for berries! Will each mother go home with the right little one?

Sylvester is a rock collector. One day he finds a magic pebble that makes wishes come true. He rushes home to share his good fortune with his parents. On the way, he’s frightened by a hungry lion and quickly asks the pebble to turn him into a rock, so the lion can’t eat him. It works - but there sits Sylvester on Strawberry Hill with no way to hold the pebble to wish himself back into a donkey. Seasons come and go as Sylvester’s parents desperately search for him....

Maren Winter is a world-renowned restaurateur who has built an empire. No one heeds the whispers of her retirement more closely than her three daughters, all in service to their mother’s legacy. On the night of Maren’s annual New Year’s Eve party, a line is crossed, and word of a humiliating family meltdown spreads like a Northern California wildfire through the culinary elite. It’s a golden opportunity for one of them to step into power—and a trigger for a spiraling descent into paranoia and blind ambition.

To some kids, Amelia's life sounds like the ultimate fantasy. She and her brothers are homeschooled by their adventurous parents, and the family travels around the country in an RV, scaling mountains, rappelling down canyons, and skiing down double black diamond slopes.There's just one problem - Amelia didn't inherit the family's daredevil gene. She's terrified of heights and would give anything to be reading instead of careening down a mountain. She's also desperate for the chance to attend a regular school and make real friends.

The Farm is the next step in the journey of the Living A Meaningful Life series. This installment is the more juvenile coming of age installment full of fun, adventure, and life lessons. They feature the first main character as a child, and thus include some “juvenile” and “coming of age” storylines and serve as a foundation for the series.

On her family’s farm, Jasmine and her best friend, Tom, find the ideal clubhouse for their animal rescue group. But much to their surprise, the shed is already home to a feral cat and her three kittens. When the mother cat leaves, abandoning one of her babies, Jasmine and Tom feel compelled to step in and raise the tiny kitten. But with a house full of rescued animals - and a veterinarian mother who has reached her limit - will Jasmine be able to keep another pet? Or is it someone else’s turn to make a new animal friend?

Beep! Beep! Have you heard the news? There is someone new on the farm! All the animals are curious and cautious about the newcomer—what will he be like? Does he neigh like a horse or oink like a pig? Does he have fur or feathers? Does he swim? Does he fly? Luckily, Blue knows just the thing to help his friends, old and new, feel at home!

When her chronically unemployed husband runs off to start a crocodile farm in Kenya with his mistress, Joséphine Cortès is left in an unhappy state of affairs. The mother of two - confident, beautiful teenage Hortense and shy, babyish Zoé - is forced to maintain a stable family life while making ends meet on her meager salary as a medieval history scholar. Meanwhile, Joséphine's charismatic sister Iris seems to have it all - a wealthy husband, gorgeous looks, and a très chic Paris address - but she dreams of bringing meaning back into her life.

In Polish: Charlotte, a prewar inhabitant of Berlin and daughter of a famous antiquarian, falls in love with much older Adolf Ziegler. He's a painter, womanizer, and Hitler's protege who paints nudes of “real, German women”. When Charlotte becomes Adolf's lover, she rejects Kristian's advances. However, Kristian is unable to forget about her...Piotr Adamczyk, the author of The House of Longing, this time presents a sensational, Polish-German epic with great love, politics, art, betrayal, and mystery in the background. It plays out in Nazi Germany and today's Poland.

All year long Lily and Liam look forward to Christmas on their grandparents' farm. It's always the perfect trip -- walking to the lilac library, trimming the tree, giving gifts. But this year, thanks to a white cow alone in the meadow, things will be different. This Christmas, Lily and Liam will find out the meaning of a true gift.

The Essential Classics: Volume 2 brings together 5 of the greatest classics ever written, perfectly read by an esteemed cast including Adjoa Andoh, Rupert Degas, Kobna Holdbrook Smith, Leighton Pugh, and Jonathan Keeble. Spanning the Atlantic, this collection includes stories of vampiric horror in Dracula, Orwell's modern masterpiece, Animal Farm, as well as Emily Brontë's timeless tale of love on the moors, Wutheirng Heights, and more.

Baby Zeke and his friends need to find shelter in a cave before the sun rises. All is going well until Otis decides to act tough and take on a player. With the lives of Otis and his chicken, Bob, at stake, will Zeke be able to rescue him? And what does a ewe have to do with it?

On a trip to the local fair, Jasmine and her best friend, Tom, discover an orphaned baby goat for sale. The owner says he cannot raise her, so this seems like the perfect use for their spending money. But getting the goat home without Jasmine’s parents realizing is nearly impossible, and so is keeping her inside a pen - Willow loves to jump! Jasmine decides to enter the goat in an agility contest (sheepdogs, move over) to show Mom and Dad just how wonderful Willow is.

When Jasmine discovers a tiny pup hiding under a hedge on her family’s farm, she can’t believe her eyes. The poor thing hasn’t had anything to eat or drink in a long time, and he is so weak he can barely lift his head. Luckily, Jasmine’s mother is a veterinarian, and the Green family can give the puppy lots of love and care. But even if the pup survives, he has a long recovery ahead, and it will be hard for him to trust after being hurt before. Will Jasmine be able to form a bond with her new animal friend? Or will his owner try to take him back?

Full of friendship and adventure, this charming story collection from Michael Morpurgo celebrates the way the countryside and its animals can leave an impression on a child’s heart forever. Full of friendship and adventure, these three uplifting stories capture the wonder, muck and magic of a city child’s week on the farm. Join in the daring rescue of a lost lamb, meet a boy who saves a family of swallows and discover how Barney the horse forever changes the life of the girl who looks after him.

January 1948 began a wonderful year for the Lechows. With Father newly returned to Western Germany from a Russian prison camp, they were together again and could enjoy a measure of security and happiness in The Ark, their railroad car home on Rowan Farm. It was a year that held for sixteen-year-old Margret in particular, both joy and sorrow. She found real satisfaction in entering Mrs. Almut's Great Danes in two important shows and in raising several young animals which were her very own.

Small but very determined, Sophie loves animals and is going to be a farmer when she grows up. She has herds of insects and acquires a snail, a rabbit, a cat and a dog. Sophie's cat, Tom, has surprised them all by producing four kittens. There are more animals to come in the year that Sophie hits six, finds a new farming ally, and makes a triumphant entrance into the sporting arena.