Showing results by author "Frank Cottrell-Boyce" in All Categories

Find out why it's not easy being green in the hilarious new story from Frank Cottrell Boyce: The Astounding Broccoli Boy! Rory Rooney likes to be prepared for all eventualities. His favourite book is Don't Be Scared, Be Prepared, and he has memorized every page of it. He could even survive a hippo attack. He knows that just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it won't ever happen.... But Rory isn't prepared when he suddenly and inexplicably turns green.

A little boy turns the perfect crime into a work of art.

Dylan is the only boy living in the tiny Welsh town of Manod. His parents run the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel garage - and when he's not trying to persuade his sisters to play football, Dylan is in charge of the petrol log.

Liam is too big for his boots. And his football strip. And his school blazer. But being super-sized height-wise has its advantages: he's the only eleven-year-old to ever ride the G-force defying Cosmic rollercoaster - or be offered the chance to drive a Porsche. Long-legged Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space. Is Liam the best boy for the job? Sometimes being big isn't all about being a grown-up.

Here's a bittersweet story about the perils and pleasures of pounds and pennies. It will make you laugh and cry. Two bothers, Damian and Anthony, are unwittingly caught up in a train robbery during Britain's countdown to join the Euro. Suddenly finding themselves with a vast amount of cash, the boys have just one glorious, appalling dilemma - how to spend it in the few days before it becomes worthless.

Uh-oh! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is stuck in reverse. And Little Harry's pressed a button that means she's reversing through time - with the Tootings aboard. When they finally come to a stop, it's at the feet of a very hungry-looking T. rex. How are the Tootings - and Chitty - going to get out of this one? More fun, fast, feel-good adventure with the world's greatest car...driven by the world's most hapless family.

When the Tooting family find a vast abandoned engine and fit it to their camper van, they have no idea of the adventure that lies ahead. The engine used to belong to an extraordinary flying car - and it wants to be back on the road again...fast! The Tootings can haul on the steering wheel and pull the hand brake as hard as they like, but their camper van now has a mind of her own. It's not long before they're hurtling along on a turbocharged chase as Chitty tracks down her long-lost bodywork.

Eleven-year-old Noah sneaks along on his big sister's geography field trip. Everything goes wrong! Six kids are marooned on an uninhabited island. Their teacher has vanished. They're hungry. Their phones don't work, and Noah has broken the internet. There's no way of contacting home... Disaster! Until Noah discovers a treasure map and the gang goes in search of gold.

The Tootings are stuck in 1966! Somebody's stolen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and left them behind. But that's not their biggest problem. Their biggest problem is that Little Harry's been kidnapped by whoever nicked their magical car. There's only one solution. The Tootings must find the Potts - the family that originally built Chitty. Sharing their combined knowledge of how Chitty works, the families stand a chance of rescuing Little Harry and finding the most brilliant car in the world.

The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Now Prez has come to live with them. But, though he seems cheerful and helpful, he never says a word. Then one day Prez answers the door to someone claiming to be his relative. This small, loud stranger carries a backpack, walks with a swagger and goes by the name of Sputnik. As Prez dithers on the doorstep, Sputnik strolls right past him and introduces himself to everyone in the household.

When Alfie goes to Airport Lost Property, he finds more than he bargained for. A lot more. Because there's a giant robot called Eric hidden away on the shelves. Eric has lost one leg and half his memory. He's super strong but super clumsy. He's convinced that he's the latest technology, when he's actually nearly 100 years old and ready for the scrap heap.

Two refugee brothers from Mongolia are determined to fit in with their Liverpool schoolmates, but bring so much of Mongolia to Bootle that their new friend and guide, Julie, is hard-pressed to know truth from fantasy as she recollects a wonderful friendship that was abruptly ended when Chingis and his family were forced to return to Mongolia. Told with the humour, warmth, and brilliance of detail which characterises Frank Cottrell Boyce's writing, The Unforgotten Coat is a magical and compelling story.

Cousins Middy and Nathan love magic. The on-stage, cape-swirling, bunny-out-of-a-hat kind. For Middy, it’s all about patience and practice. She uses magic skills to help her out of tricky situations. Nathan is a show-off and a total danger magnet, he is drawn to the sensation, spectacle and audience. So when the famous Blackpool Tower dramatically vanishes the night of the Grand Lights Switch-On, showman Nathan announces live on TV that they will magic it back home.

After serving in the First World War, Milne wrote a number of well-received plays, but his greatest triumph came when he created Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and, of course, Christopher Robin, the adventurous little boy based on his own son. Goodbye Christopher Robin inspired the film directed by Simon Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. It offers the listener a glimpse into the relationship between Milne and the real-life Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the magical world of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Like the creation myths they supersede, the revelations of science are seared into our collective imagination through storytelling. From Archimedes' bath to Newton's apple, vivid accounts of scientific discovery help us understand the principles behind each theory, and add to the larger narrative of how the universe works, and how we came to be here. This anthology draws out and distils science's love of narrative from a wide range of scientific disciplines, weaving theory into very human stories.

Miranda has just updated her Facebook profile. But her husband Billy is baffled. Why is she claiming to love songs she's never heard of? How can she have forgotten her own children? Is she really Miranda? And if so, how and why is she doing this? A thought-provoking story about the afterlife by acclaimed teen author Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Nadia Shireen and Frank Cottrell Boyce have been shipwrecked on the Island of Brilliant with nothing but a pair of hammocks, a pile of children’s books and the world’s greatest ukulele band (The Ukulele Uff Trio) to keep them going. Everyone wants the best for their children. Everyone should know that reading for pleasure not only increases educational attainment but also helps build happiness and resilience. If you’re going to read for pleasure you need choice. Nadia and Frank will be chatting about what’s new and brilliant in children’s writing with the help of visitors to the ...

When new boy Rafa and his friends accidentally stray onto the set of a major Hollywood blockbuster, the last thing they expect is to become extras. Rafa’s likeness to the famous movie star, BB, gives him VIP access to all areas, including the banquet of catering doughnuts! While Rafa is getting a glimpse into the glamorous world of celebrity, his big brother has gone on the run—and is becoming famous for the wrong reasons. Luckily, the film crew’s next location might just bring the two boys closer. It’s up to Rafa to keep acting the part so that they can get back together—and home.

One of a series of plays by British screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce looking at the punk generation three decades on, with each play telling a different, but connected, story. In Parallel Lines, Julie is a singer in an ageing Blondie tribute band. An invitation to the reunion of the audience at an Adverts gig in 1977 brings some skeletons dancing from the cupboard. Starring Doon Mackichan as Julie, with Sian Reeves, Rosie Cavaliero, Ivan Kaye, Paul Viragh, Joseph Tremain, Sarah Bedi, John Rowe and Ben Crowe.

In der kleinen walisischen Stadt Manod am Fuße eines Schieferbergs ist alles grau: der Himmel, die Häuser, und es regnet jeden Tag. Für Dylan aber ist Manod der beste Ort der Welt - Mit der Autowerkstatt der Familie, einer kleinen Hühnerschar und einem Vater, der alles reparieren kann. Doch eines Tages bringt ein wahrhaft außergewöhnliches Ereignis Farbe in den grauen Ort: Die Kunstwerke der Londoner National Gallery werden vorübergehend in das stillgelegte Bergwerk ausgelagert!