9-12

Key Features Description Halloween with the Herdmans is always a disaster. Every year, these six kids wreak havoc on the whole town, stealing candy, spray-painting other kids, and taking anything that's not nailed down. Now the mayor has had it, and he's decided to cancel Halloween altogether! That means no candy for anyone! Find out how the Herdmans manage to turn this disaster into the best Halloween ever! Halloween with the Herdmans is always a disaster. Every year, these six kids wreak havoc on the whole town, stealing candy, spray-painting other kids, and taking anything that's not nailed down. Now the mayor has had it, and he's decided to cancel Halloween altogether! That means no candy for anyone! Find out how the Herdmans manage to turn this disaster into the best Halloween ever! Standards RL.5.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. RL.5.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

This hilarious novel stars the Herdmans, the worst kids in the world, who made their first appearance in author Barbara Robinson's classic The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

In The Best School Year Ever, Imogene, Claude, Ralph, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys Herdman haven’t changed a bit. They still set things on fire and knock the other kids black and blue.

One day the teachers ask all the students to think of compliments for their classmates, and Beth Bradley picks Imogene Herdman’s name. At first, Beth can’t think of anything good, but soon she begins to see Imogene in a new light.

Maybe behind all of the outrageous pranks, there is something good about the Herdmans?

The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, and swear. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale—the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies—has a lot of people up in arms. And their wild antics cause havoc throughout the play’s production. But the actual pageant is full of surprises for everyone, starting with the Herdmans themselves, as they ultimately lead the town in finding the true meaning of Christmas. They will make this year’s pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

In October 1843, Charles Dickens ― heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher ― began work on a book to help supplement his family's meager income. That volume, A Christmas Carol, has long since become one of the most beloved stories in the English language. As much a part of the holiday season as holly, mistletoe, and evergreen wreaths, this perennial favorite continues to delight new readers and rekindle thoughts of charity and goodwill.
With its characters exhibiting many qualities ― as well as failures ― often ascribed to Dickens himself, the imaginative and entertaining tale relates Ebenezer Scrooge's eerie encounters with a series of spectral visitors. Journeying with them through Christmases past, present, and future, he is ultimately transformed from an arrogant, obstinate, and insensitive miser to a generous, warmhearted, and caring human being. Written by one of England's greatest and most popular novelists, A Christmas Carol has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.

Would You Rather . . .

Sniff Ronaldo's stinky sock or chew Buffon's smelly glove?

Pick your gaffer’s nose or be left on the substitutes’ bench forever?

Lick your best mate’s football boots or wash your team’s kit all year?

Kiss Harry Kane’s socks or wear Heung Min-Son’s boxers on your head for a day?

Packed full of gross, silly and bonkers WOULD YOU RATHER questions about football! If you love the Match Annual then you'll love Would You Rather? brought to you by MATCH! the makers of the UK's #1 footy magazine. Perfect for any young footy fan looking for a laugh.

From the makers of the UK’s best football magazine! MATCH is the UK’s bestselling football annual and is top of Christmas wish lists for footy fans everywhere. Inside the Match Annual 2023 you can find the ultimate guide to the 2022 World Cup, epic interviews with the stars, plus the UK and Ireland dream team and also discover everything you need to know about Messi, Ronaldo, Kane, Salah, Mbappé, Maguire, Hazard, Pogba and all the other top footballers. Plus, it’s packed with legendary Prem No.7s, the craziest stories from lockdown, brain-busting quizzes, the greatest Premiership team ever, bonkers pics, footy stars emojis, cool cartoons and loads more! Don’t miss it!

From the makers of MATCH!, the country's most popular football magazine! Topping Christmas lists across the UK, MATCH! Annual 2024 is a must-have for footy fans.

Inside this year’s edition, you'll find the ultimate guide to the games ahead, from the UEFA Champions League Final to Euro 2024! Check out the Premier League's most exciting young talent and discover the all-time legends with the most goals and assists combined!

Also, there's a wicked Women's World Cup 2023 scrapbook, tons of brain-busting quizzes, WSL stats special, the chance to colour-in Haaland, footy statue LOLs, an EFL club selector, hilarious cartoons, in-depth profiles on epic entertainers like Bellingham and Saka, and loads more!

Don’t miss it!

From the makers of the UK’s best football magazine!

Inside the MATCH Annual 2025, readers can build the ultimate player using superstars from the Premier League, check out the craziest football haircuts through the years, swot up on the 2025 Women’s Euros, learn about the best academies on the planet, and look back on Jurgen Klopp and Emma Hayes’ rocking reigns in England!

Plus, don't miss the best moments from Euro 2024, epic profiles of the world's top wonderkids, tons of brain-busting quizzes, cool cartoons, the chance to design your own boots, pick your MLS team, LOL at the funniest footy snaps, and loads more!

Don’t miss it!

Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times - battling monsters, Titans, even giants - but these days the modern-day son of Poseidon is hoping for a regular final year at school.

Too bad the Greek gods have other plans, and three new quests for Percy to complete.

First up: the cupbearer of the gods, Ganymede, is missing his golden chalice. Not only is this embarrassing (why do the gods keep losing their magical items?), it's also potentially disastrous. One sip from the cup will turn any mortal into a powerful god. And the old gods do not take kindly to newbies.

Can Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover find the chalice before it falls into the wrong hands? And even if they do, will they be able to resist its awesome power. . .?

Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times – battling monsters, Titans, even death himself – so graduating high school should be a piece of cake, right?

Wrong. Percy needs three college recommendation letters from the gods before his final school year comes to an end. And one thing Percy knows, the Greek gods don’t do anything for free.

He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s lost chalice. Now, to secure his second letter, Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover must agree to a new challenge – pet-sitting for the goddess Hecate while she’s away over Halloween week. They just need to follow her simple rules:

1. Look after her pet polecat and mastiff like their lives depend on it (because they do).
2. Don’t touch anything – especially Hecate’s magic potions!

But when Grover’s curiosity gets the better of him, the friends find themselves with a giant goat, a destroyed mansion, and Hecate’s (terrifying and potentially deadly) pets on the loose in New York City.

Now the trio have only days to find the pets and restore the mansion to order – or face the full fury of Hecate and her horrifying three-heads. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.