THIS is a wonderful collection of crazily magic short stories by a truly brilliant author.

There's a boy who gets kidnapped by a band of rats disguised as pirates, and a princess swallowed by a monster. A boy, abandoned as a baby inside a banana skin, is determined to track down his parents but almost gets abducted by aliens instead.

Finally, we meet the youngest of 17 sisters who overcomes a girl-eating sea-serpent. Each tale is full of surprises and non-stop action. A totally original book which should have readers clamouring for more. (Age 6-9)