The Orphans of St Halibut's

There's something fishy going on at St Halibut's in this hilarious adventure full of dastardly deeds and unlikely events from debut author Sophie Wills and million-copy bestselling illustrator, David Tazzyman.

Life at St Halibut’s Home for Waifs and Strays has been idyllic for two months, ever since the children buried their matron (don’t look like that – it was an accident!) Helpfully, the not-so-dear departed matron left behind a surprisingly large stash of money, which will keep them in black-market lemon sherbets for the rest of their lives. Tig, Stef and Herc just have to make sure nobody finds out they’re on their own,

But when they find out that St Halibut’s is to be inspected by DEATH (the Department for Education, Assimilation, Training and Health), they start to panic. They’ll need to convince the inspector that everything is peachy or they’ll be sent to the Mending House – where badly-behaved orphans go, never to return. As the big day approaches, the children start to think they might just pull it off. But when the inspector arrives, things don’t just go wrong, they get spectacularly out of hand . . .

Join Tig, Stef and Herc in this hilarious and quirky adventure about friendship and the power of the underdog from debut author Sophie Wills, illustrated throughout by the million-copy bestselling David Tazzyman.

About the Author

Sophie Wills grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. She failed the 11+, had a weekend job at a boarding kennels where she suffered workplace bullying from a goat and nurtured a dream to have a career she could do in her pyjamas. She worked at two London publishers before finally achieving her ambition by going freelance in 2003. She entered Mumsnet's first Bedtime Story competition in 2012 and Michael Rosen picked out as a winner her story about a pig-riding sheriff.

About the Illustrator

David Tazzyman is an internationally acclaimed award-winning illustrator. He worked as a commercial illustrator before falling into children's publishing in 2006, illustrating Andy Stanton's Mr Gum series which went on to win numerous awards, including the first Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2008. Now David mainly illustrates children's picture and fiction books and lives in Leicestershire with his partner and three children.