Showing results by narrator "Sophie Thompson" in All Categories

Ellen's life is turned upside down by the hilarious Mirror-Belle, a spirited princess who claims to be from somewhere mysterious and far away. She appears out of mirrors to tell Ellen magical stories and take her on exciting escapades. From going to ballet class to staying at Ellen's grandparents' house, causing mischief with their furry friends, having fun at Halloween and taking the princess test, you can always guarantee that wherever Mirror-Belle goes, trouble will follow.

One frosty winter's night, a pure white calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm in the light of a silver moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time. Hare knows immediately that if the calf is not saved, it will be the end of all things. According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come - rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire... and Hare vows to protect Mooncalf with his life.

Jeremiah Bourne is a boy with a remarkable gift. He can travel in time. Not by using a time machine, or stepping through a dimensional portal. It just happens to him, as though by accident. One minute he’s in the present day, the next, he’s 100 years in the past, standing in the London of 1910. Jeremiah has two questions: how did he get there - and how can he get back? On his quest for the answers, he enlists the help of Phyllis Stokes of The Society for Theosophical Research and her equally eccentric brother, Roger Allcot Standish, magistrate, spiritualist and dedicated nudist.

From the best-selling team behind What the Ladybird Heard, Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, Princess Mirror-Belle and the Party Hoppers is a delightful adventure perfect for independent listeners. Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that.

From the best-selling author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson, comes Princess Mirror-Belle, the exciting adventures of a princess with a difference. Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess and a very mischievous one at that. Join magically mischievous Mirror-Belle as she comes popping out of Ellen's mirror to sweep her into a variety of hilarious escapades.

From the best-selling author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson, comes Princess Mirror-Belle, the exciting adventures of a princess with a difference. Princess Mirror-Belle is perfect for fans of this best-selling team who are beginning to listen on their own. Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror.

A BBC comedy drama set in the world of a 'pile 'em high university'. Karen Poynter is the new head of the Geography Department - renamed Geographical Tourism - at Hayborough University, which is definitely not part of the elite Russell Group of top universities. Ranked 132nd in the UK academic league table; if you have a pulse, you can have a degree.

Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, and by Cloten, the Queen's doltish son. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find her husband, the banished Posthumus. On her journey, she unwittingly meets her two brothers, stolen from the court as infants. Posthumus, meanwhile, has been convinced by the villainous Iachimo that Imogen is unchaste and agrees to a test of her faithfulness.

Mary's little brother, Billy, seems perfectly normal, until one moonlit evening Mary finds him floating above his bed. From then on, whenever the full moon rises, Billy the Bird flies up, up and away and home again! In the second story, Jackson is a rabbit with a dream. He spends his days watching the tall sailing ships coming and longs to go to sea, too. So one day Jackson stows away on the Atalanta.

Ellen gets a big shock when her double appears out of the bathroom mirror. But Mirror-Belle is a double with a difference! She is a princess, and a very mischievous one at that. Join magically mischievous Mirror-Belle as she comes popping out of Ellen's mirror to sweep her into a variety of hilarious escapades - from exploring a hospital after Ellen falls off her bike to chasing after Mirror-Belle's Magic Ball. You can always guarantee that wherever Mirror-Belle goes, trouble will follow.

This fantastic magical adventure is perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime - or any time at all! Imagine Ellen's surprise when Princess Mirror-Belle climbs out of the bathroom mirror! She comes from a world where bubble fish swim in the bath, elves sleep in slippers and brave knights fight fire-breathing dragons. And while Ellen has chicken pox, Mirror-Belle has dragon pox - but she knows just the cure.

In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern estates in exchange for thousands of pounds - procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young, supple bodies for 14 days. It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles. But at what cost?

Look up into the starry sky on the night of the full moon and you'll see...a bird? A plane? No...a little boy! Eight-year-old Mary Bird has discovered a secret: Her four-year-old brother Billy can fly! Floating around his room is bad enough, but when he takes off out an open window, Mary's sure disaster isn't far behind. She may be right!

Trixy, Tammy, and Trig are three little girl pirates who live aboard The Lucky Lobster with their pets Mullet the dog, Kipper the cat, and a seagull called Gulliver. Their friends include some boy pirates and a friendly sea monster, and whenever they need to buy teabags or telescopes, all they need to do is to go to kind old Mr Spoons at Harbour Stores. When they hear about a nasty pirate who has been catching all the mermaids in the sea, they set sail to rescue the last mermaid left, tiny Miney-Mo.

Two enchanting adventures for Jessica, everyone's favourite Witch-in-Training, and her teacher Miss Strega. Jessica is learning the Witch Switch - how to magically change shape. But although being a cat can be great fun, it's also a tiny bit scary. What happens if a Witch Switch goes wrong? Meanwhile, what happens if an Ordinary Person finds out about the goings-on at Miss Strega's shop?

Jane Austen's enduring tale of romantic entanglement, read by Sophie Thompson. Emma is considered by many to be Jane Austen's finest work. Its heroine is fascinating, selfish, and manipulative, running riot with other people's emotions and relationships. The author employs her greatest skills to bring about Emma's consequent crisis, her awakening, and a happy resolution.

Hello, dear listener. Are you sitting, lying down, standing on your head, eating a jam sandwich comfortably? Then I'll begin.... I want to introduce you to a boy called Vince, whose birthday it is today.... Vince is a normal boy with an unusual dislike for animals. Well, you'd feel the same if your father was always working at a zoo and your mother had run off with a lion tamer. Then, on his ninth birthday, Vince discovers he has 'the gift'. He can talk to animals!

Digby the Diggedy Dog goes out into the garden to play. He digs a big, big hole. Dig, dig, diggedy, dig. And plays tag with two little frogs. Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the Early Soundplay series is packed with multiple repetitions of selected sounds and rhymes. The stories are expertly crafted to support children's developing speech sound awareness and vocabulary knowledge. These are key foundation skills for success with phonics, early reading, and spelling.

Chatty Bat loves to chitter chatter chat with everyone. It's very noisy with constant chatter until it's time to sleep - then no more chatter, not a peep! The Early Soundplay series is stories that are fun to share, with lots of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Helping develop children's speech sound awareness, an important building block for success in early spelling.

It's cold on the cliffs. Clarabelle the calf has lost her scarf. She shivers and sniffs, then giggles and laughs when she sees who's taken her scarf! Written by a speech and language therapist, each story in the award-winning Early Soundplay series helps parents and practitioners develop children's spoken and written language.