Sylvie and the Songman [Hardcover]

A compelling story full of magic and music, in which Sylvie must defeat the evil Songman.

Sylvie Bartram lives alone with Mr Jackson the dog and her eccentric composer father who invents strange and wonderful musical instruments. One day she returns from school to find a message left in toothpaste on the bathroom mirror; her father has been kidnapped. Later that night, the house is visited by a terrifying apparition - a half-man/half-creature who is searching for something and will not rest until he has found it . . . Sylvie uncovers an underground world of magic and evil, and with help from her friends, she must hold off a power that threatens the lives of all beings in the world. The Songman is at large, and is determined to steal music and use it for his own evil ends . . . An exhilarating and magical story that will appeal to all readers aged 9-14.

Sylvie Bartram's beloved dog, Mr Jackson, has lost his bark. The birds have stopped singing. And in the growing silence her dad - her dear music-making dad - has disappeared. Determined to find him, Sylvie and best friend, kite-flying, tone deaf George, are drawn into the nightmare world of the Songman, a world haunted by the terrifying Woodpecker Man in his swan-powered balloon, a world where nothing can sing and no one can speak. Only Sylvie can save the earth from its terrible, voiceless fate. By turns thrilling adventure and enchanting fantasy, Tim Binding's Sylvie and the Songman brims with music and magic, all wonderfully illuminated by Angela Barrett's exquisite pictures.

Something had happened to her, something which had changed her for ever. There were many things she did not understand, but she felt at home here, as if this place, this adventure, had been waiting for her all her life.

Tim Binding is an ex-editor of Picador and Penguin, and has had four highly praised adult novels published. He lives in Kent. This is his first book for children.