Animal spectacles, performing animals – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk Henley-on-Thames Sat, 13 Dec 2025 13:59:51 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-Bell-Background-Blue-32x32.png Animal spectacles, performing animals – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk 32 32 Pigcasso https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/pigcasso-2/ Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/?post_type=product&p=42338 When Joanne Lefson took on a piglet at her animal shelter, the young sow proceeded to eat everything in her stable but a paint brush. In a flash of inspiration, Joanne attempted to introduce the pig to the art of painting – and thus Pigcasso was born.

Starting out with a humble canvas on the sanctuary wall, Pigcasso’s paintings are now owned by the likes of George Clooney, she has a Swatch watch design partnership, a wine label, and has eclipsed the previous world record holder for animal art. She’s been commissioned by Nissan and has had exhibitions in Cape Town, Munich and Amsterdam. More than that, Pigcasso’s art funds the food and veterinary services for all the animals at the sanctuary.

Pigcasso is the story of this unique pig and of the circumstances that brought her and Joanne together to take the art world by storm and form a unique and unbreakable bond.

]]> My Friend the Octopus https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/my-friend-the-octopus/ Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/?post_type=product&p=23210

Twelve-year-old Vinnie Fyfe works in the tea-shop at Brightonaquarium, and waits for her milliner mother to return from Paris.The arrival of a giant octopus changes her life for ever as agripping mystery begins to unfold .]]>  

From the bestselling author of Darwin’s Dragons comes a high-stakes aquatic adventure, perfect for fans of The Murderer’s Ape!

England, 1893, and aquarium fever is at its height.

Twelve-year-old Vinnie Fyfe works in the tea-shop at Brighton aquarium, and waits for her milliner mother to return from Paris.

The arrival of a giant octopus changes her life for ever. Discovering a talent for art, Vinnie begins to draw the extraordinary beast.

She soon realises she can communicate with the octopus through colour and – as a gripping mystery begins to unfold – discovers what true courage really means …

  • The second middle-grade historical adventure by critically acclaimed Lindsay Galvin, author of Darwin’s Dragons
  • A gripping Victorian mystery with a touching connection between a young girl and an octopus at its heart
  • Strong STEM and natural history themes with an underwater twist
  • Effortlessly blends exciting adventure with a rip-roaring historical mystery and non-fiction elements

 

PRAISE FOR DARWIN’S DRAGONS:

‘A striking and original adventure … just the sort of story I love.’ EMMA CARROLL

‘WHAT a voyage! [Darwin’s Dragons] is everything you hope it will be …’ LUCY STRANGE

‘[A] beautifully fictionalised story’ THE TELEGRAPH

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