PENNY DREADFUL IS A MAGNET FOR DISASTER

A combination of Horrid Henry and Just William in a skirt, this is wicked fun for the younger reader.

Penelope Jones (aka Penny Dreadful) is a perfectly normal nine year old, with the best of intentions. Except that everything she touches ends in chaos and disaster, usually embroiling Penny, her best friend Cosmo and her little cousin Georgie in complete mayhem. An advance review in The Bookseller said: 'There have been plenty of attempts at a Horrid Henry for girls but Penny Dreadful might just live up to the comparison .side-splittingly funny'. The disasters continue in Penny Dreadful is a Complete Catastrophe, with two further Penny Dreadful novels commissioned.

Joanna Nadin was born in Saffron Walden. Her earlier jobs include being a lifeguard, a theatre wardrobe assistant, a radio journalist and a TV cookery show producer. She used to work at 10 Downing Street, where she was a writer/adviser. Her debut novel was Maisie Morris and the Awful Arkwrights, and she has gone on to write a number of books for children of all ages, included the highly successful Rachel Riley series. She lives in Bath with her young daughter.