Hitler's Canary

My brother stood up so quickly he almost knocked Mama over. "Why aren't you doing something? Do you know what the British are calling us? Hitler's canary! I've heard it on the radio, on the BBC. They say he has us in a cage and we just sit and sing any tune he wants." I knew I should be afraid, but I didn't know yet what of: the Germans? The British? The French? We were theater people. We didn't get involved in these things. It had nothing to do with us. Bamse is used to drama―his mother is a famous actress and his best friend, Anton, is one of the most daring boys in all of Denmark. Should he follow his father's advice and not stir up trouble―or follow his daring brother into the Resistance and take part in the most demanding role of his life? [Note: The character's name means "Teddy" in Danish and is pronounced "Bum Sir."]

Teen & Young Adult

Toksvig, Sandi

Historical Fiction

Square Fish

The Travels of Lady Bulldog Burton

This volume of Lady Bulldog’s diaries was discovered by accident in the British Library by editor Sandi Toksvig. The partially restored account of the Grand Tour undertaken by this intrepid Victorian traveler and her maid Jinks in 1880 includes a selection of Jinks’ original sketches. Of particular interest are the episodes involving Lady Burton’s initiation into the murky world of French opium dens, her entirely accidental participation in the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and a rather tiresome week on a Greek shipping vessel where, it is believed, designs for her groundbreaking double-gusset underpant first began to take shape.

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Little, Brown Book Group

Inge and Eve are part of the same generation, grew up in the same town, went to the same school together. But adult life has left them with nothing in common apart from their past - until the summer when their lives become entwined again, when one becomes a killer, and the other approves.

Flying under bridges

Little,Brown & Company

In the autumn of 1971, having been thrown out of a rather fancy private school, Sandi Toksvig was sent to the only remaining option - Mamaroneck High School, New York. Sandi was chosen for the lead role in a production of "The Skin of Our Teeth" by Thornton Wilder. Three girls were cast in the part of Gladys Antrobus, playing her at different ages of her life, and Sandi was the youngest. This was the beginning of a friendship with a group of females that still influences her to this day. Soon all the girls in the cast and crew were becoming members of The Gladys Society. In the end there were 12 of them. "The Gladys Society" records Sandi's travels in America catching up with her 11 fellows. Written at a time when Sandi is questioning the little things in life - like career choices and her national identity - she has some big decisions to make. En route, however, she also has time to explore dog training in New Jersey, the truth of the American Revolution and to attend a belly dancing wedding in a shopping mall in Georgia.

The Gladys Society

Little,Brown

Between The Stops EXPORT

Virago Press Ltd.

Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London where I was living, to where I sometimes work at the BBC in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way. From London facts including where to find the blue plaque for Una Marson, 'the first black woman programme maker at the BBC', to discovering the best Spanish coffee under Southwick railway arches; from a brief history of lady gangsters at Elephant and Castle to memories of climbing Mount Sinai and, at the request of a fellow traveller, reading aloud the Ten Commandments; from the story behind Pissarro's painting of Dulwich Station to performing in Footlights with Emma Thompson; from painful memories of being sent to Coventry at a British boarding school to thinking about how Wombells Travelling Circus of 1864 haunts Peckham Rye and anecdotes about Prince Charles, Monica Lewinsky and Grayson Perry; from Bake-Off antics to stories of a real and lasting friendship with John McCarthy, to the importance of family and the daunting navigation of the Zambezi River in her father's canoe; this Sandi Toksvig-style memoir is, as one would expect and hope, packed full of surprise. A funny and moving trip through memories, musings and the many delights on the number 12 route, Between the Stops is also an inspiration to us all to get off our phones, to look up and to talk to each other because as Sandi says: 'some of the greatest trips lie on our own doorstep'.

Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus: the long-awaited memoir from the star of QI and The Great British Bake Off

Humor & Entertainment

Virago

Based on a true story, this is a gripping, yet humorous account of a daring rescue in occupied Denmark.April 1940: German troops are pouring onto the streets of Denmark. 12-year-old Bamse and his daring friend Anton can’t resist playing practical jokes on the invading soldiers. When it becomes clear to the people of Denmark that the trouble isn’t going to pass them by, they decide to take action and Bamse and his eccentric family are about to take part in one of history’s most dramatic rescues — smuggling Denmark’s Jewish population across the water to Sweden, and safety.

Children's Books

Doubleday, UK

For as long as history has been recorded, girls haven't had much of a look in amongst all the great men we remember. But that doesn't mean they weren't there. And it doesn't mean that they didn't achieve great things, come up with wonderful inventions or win battles! Lots of people have heard of Joan of Arc, Boadicea and Florence Nightingale, but...Did you know that there were actually female Gladiators - Gladiatrices? Or that Nimkasi was the Sumerian Goddess of Beer? Or that it was Mary Jacob Phelps who invented the bra? In this book, Sandi Toksvig shows that His-tory is actually Her-story. Though they're often ignored or overlooked, they have changed the world. There's no question about it...Girls are best!

Girls Are Best

DOUBLEDAY

Based on a true story, this is a gripping, yet humorous account of a daring rescue in occupied Denmark. April 1940: German troops are pouring onto the streets of Denmark. 12-year-old Bamse and his daring friend Anton can’t resist playing practical jokes on the invading soldiers. When it becomes clear to the people of Denmark that the trouble isn’t going to pass them by, they decide to take action and Bamse and his eccentric family are about to take part in one of history’s most dramatic rescues — smuggling Denmark’s Jewish population across the water to Sweden, and safety. From the Hardcover edition.

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Corgi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Toksvig, Sandi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Toksvig, Sandi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Toksvig, Sandi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Hitler's Canary

The Travels of Lady Bulldog Burton

Flying under bridges

The Travels of Lady Bulldog Burton

The Gladys Society

Between The Stops EXPORT

Between the Stops: The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus: the long-awaited memoir from the star of QI and The Great British Bake Off

Hitler's Canary

Girls Are Best

Hitler's Canary