Philip Ardagh: 12 books

Find out how the pope got confused with a potato, about the footballer who ate the ref's notebook and why it is a terrible idea to have your name and date of birth tattooed on your neck, in this splendid romp through the most impressive mistakes, blunders, misunderstandings, faux pas, howlers and...

PARP!" Pssst! Do you know the story about Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) and the, er, farting courtier? One day, when bowing low to Her Majesty, the Earl of Oxford couldn't help but break wind. The poor man felt SO embarrassed that he left the court - and some say the country - for SEVEN...

Eddie Dickens finds himself far from home in the heathery highlands of Scotland for some Further Adventures embracing a whole host of new characters and firm favourites such as Malcolm the stuffed stoat. Including Dubious Deeds, Horrendous Habits and The Final Curtain, fans of Philip Ardagh will gobble up this great gift edition.

Mr Grunt's a man with a mission. He has to get a Person of Great Importance (or POGI) to someone called Mrs Bayliss by the twenty-fifth. Alive and well. And he can't tell anyone more than that, not even his lovely wife, Mrs Grunt, because there will be people trying to snatch the POGI and so the POGI...

John Drawbridge has moved to Widemoat Castle to learn to become a knight. And there is a LOT to learn. . . How to charge with a lance on horseback without falling off. Why the spiral staircases always go up in a clockwise direction. How to defend the castle against invading parties. Why the plates...

Meet Mr and Mrs Grunt. Oh, go on. They're not that bad. No, actually, they ARE. Maybe worse, even. But Sunny, their sort-of son, is okay. They stole him from a washing line as a baby. He was hanging by his ears, which probably explains why they're so wonky (but not why he has sticky-up hair that NEVER...

Over the years, the Gruntshave made more than a few enemies. But fortunately they’re all safely behind bars. Or are they? There’s been a prison break-out, and three of them are after REVENGE. It’s time for the Grunts to go On the Run… This last book brings back some familiar faces from the series and solves a couple of mysteries too…

AWFUL END When both of Eddie Dickens's parents catch a disease that makes them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly round the edges and smell of hot water bottles, it's agreed he should go and stay with relatives at their house Awful End. Unfortunately for Eddie, those relatives are Mad Uncle Jack and Even-Madder...

THOMAS SNOOP is in training to become a SPY. Entrusted with a TOP SECRET mission by the mysterious Lord Severn, right-hand man to the Tudor king, Thomas must travel to the magnificent Goldenhilt Hall - in the guise of a servant - in order to uncover traitors plotting against the crown. It will take...

Oh no! The Grunts are on the loose. And this time they're in a VERY sticky situation. When Mrs Grunt's mother, the gloomy Ma Lunge, enters a Preserves, Jams and Jellies competition, what could possibly go wrong? Plenty. Add a nose-biting squirrel, escaped bees, rogue fireworks and crashing biplanes...

Jane Pinny has moved to the very grand Lytton House to be a Maid Of All Work. And being a Maid Of All Work means that she has to do... well, ALL the work, obviously! Cleaning, dusting, scrubbing, washing - there's SO much to do in a Victorian country house. But when a priceless jade necklace belonging...

Kitty Cask is a smuggler's daughter. In the Cornish coastal village of Minnock, Kitty and her family make their living as "free traders" - secretly bringing contraband goods into the country while evading the corrupt redcoats who work for the King. Kitty isn't supposed to be involved in...