Not only can she sing and dance but she can write too. This British star has it all and here are my top 3 favorite books of hers. It would have been 5 but the other two I read are memoirs and did not not fit the criteria of my post here which was to focus on her fictional books.

The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles

My teacher used to read this outloud to us in 3rd grade, and it’s easy to see why she chose it. It’s a rolicking adventure tale in the vein of Wonderland. Three siblings, Ben, Tom and Melinda sneek into the spookiest house on the lane on Halloween only to find its inhibitant not scary at all. In fact he is a Professor and with a Mary Poppins-like magic, he seeks to journey to Whangdoodleland so he can see the last of the Whangdoodle himself. With such an interesting place, the children are all too happy to try to help him and see the creature for themselves. However, Whangdoodleland has an overprotective and slippery prime minister, Oily Prock, doesn’t want them to interfere with his pristine land and disturb the king and seeks to thwart them at every turn in the real world and in Whangdoodleland. Like I said, its very Wonderlandesque with its colorful, imaginative creatures and amazing places. Plus its message of creativity, hope and imagination is one for every child and every adult too.

Mandy

This is a heartwamring book about an orphan girl named Mandy. She lives in a rather nice orphanage, not like those corrupt and poverty-stricken ones of Oliver Twist but she still longs for something of her own. Ideally, a family. But she settles for an abandoned cottage she finds on her secret exploration of the world outside the orphanage walls. She makes it her own, stealing supplies and knickknacks to make it homey. It’s her little secret until. . . well to say more would give away the climax and the ending. As it is I revealed half of the plot. As you can see it is a simple yet very sweet story for lower schoolers to enjoy.

Dragon: Hound of Honor

Written with her daughter, this tale of the Scottish Highlands follow a dark, deceoptive family feud and the one dog that can save them all. While it’s not so much from the dog’s perspective or about Dragon, he is a vital character to it. I love how they echo the prose and grandness of epic scrolls from the medieval ages that inspired the story.