Take the Stage

by Carol Ann Martin

Published 27 October 2021
At the bottom of Miss Heatherbell’s garden lives the last Wodge in the world.

Nancy and Dom’s photographer father is in the Antarctic, and Nancy and Dom are not. They’re staying with the eccentric Miss Heatherbell and her hordes of free-range guinea pigs. But Miss Heatherbell’s house is large and mysterious, full of surprising rooms, odd objects, and a creature called Wodge.

With Miss Heatherbell and Mrs Pikelet soon leaving for Sydney, Nancy and Dom must deal with a very annoying Mrs Biddlethorpe, a very hungry Wodge, a very bad-tempered fairy, and a very uninvited bulldozer – all the while rehearsing for the school concert. What could go wrong? 

Packed with daring escapades and oodles of laughs. With hints of classic adventure stories like Narnia and The Magic Faraway Tree, Wodge and Friends: Take the Stage is also bursting with outlandish and distinctly modern humour – perfect for 7+ fans of laugh-out-loud adventures such as How to Train Your Dragon.

There was a wild and secret place at the bottom of Miss Heatherbell’s garden.
It had been forgotten for years until we found it.


Nancy and Dom’s photographer father is going to the Antarctic to hang out with seals. Nancy and Dom are not. They’re going to stay with the eccentric Miss Heatherbell and her hordes of free-range guinea pigs, which doesn’t seem quite as exciting as meeting an elephant seal named Brian. But Miss Heatherbell’s house is large and mysterious, full of surprising rooms and odd objects. And it looks like something is hiding at the bottom of her enormous, overgrown garden …
  Packed with daring escapades and oodles of laughs, The Mystery in the Garden also features a particularly grouchy fairy statue, a nosy twerp of a neighbour and a mysterious creature with an all-consuming love for broccoli ice-cream. With hints of classic adventure stories like Narnia and The Magic Faraway Tree, The Mystery in the Garden is also bursting with outlandish and distinctly modern humour – perfect for 7+ fans of laugh-out-loud adventures such as How to Train Your Dragon.