Books by Sandi Toksvig

A fascinating historical miscellany for every day of the calendar year

This long-awaited memoir from one of Britain's best-loved celebrities - a writer, broadcaster, activist, comic on stage, screen and radio for nearly forty years, presenter of QI and Great British Bake Off star - is an autobiography with a difference: as only Sandi Toksvig can tell it.

How unbelievably dull my life was. I did everything I was supposed to. I was such a good girl. I lived in the house he chose and cleaned a dead woman's furniture. I bought hats, who the hell wears a hat? And all the time I wanted to scream because I was so bored.On one dark and stormy night in the upper day room of the Silver Retirement Home, five elderly women are trading stories of their remarkable (or sometimes unremarkable) lives. With the storm floods rising and no rescue team in sight, the ladies are faced with the sudden realisation that in order to survive they are going to have to do what they have done for their entire lives - do it themselves!Silver Lining is a hilarious comedy by Sandi Toksvig. It tells the tale of a group of extraordinary yet forgotten women, who come together one treacherous night to recreate The Great Escape - senior-citizen style.It received its world premiere at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, on 3 February 2017 in a production by English Touring Theatre and Rose Theatre, Kingston.

11-year-old Slim Hannigan and her family left their home in Ireland to travel to America - in search of a better life. It has been so long and such a journey that Slim Hannigan and the rest of her family can't even imagine what home looks like anymore.

Because of the potato me and my family left our home and travelled 6,000 miles to find a new life... Slim Hannigan and her family are poor but happy. Theirs is a life filled with love and laughter - and a pet pig called Hamlet. But things change overnight, and suddenly they find themselves facing hunger and danger like they have never known...

Sandi Toksvig delivers an entertaining and fascinating guide to what to do and why in the confusing world of modern manners.

He shares his station with wise grandfather Garibaldi, his swaggering cousin Kicker and his best friend, Heavy Duty, the station cleaner. Kicker and Boris love football and when they see a brand-new football rolling down the station platform towards them, they can't resist the temptation to start a game.

London 1897 and a young girl, Valentine Grey, arrives in England. She's been brought up in the remote and sunny climes of India and finds being forced into corsets and skirts in damp and cold country insufferable. The only bright spot: her exciting cousin, Reggie. Reggie, and his lover Frank seek out the adventure the clandestine bars and streets of London offer and are happy to include Valentine in their secret, showing her theatre, gardens - even teaching her how to ride a bicycle. And then comes the Boer War and Reggie's father volunteers him; the empire must be defended. But it won't be Reggie who dons the Volunteer Regiment's garb. Valentine takes her chance, puts on her cousin's uniform, leaving Reggie behind and heads off to war. And for a long while it's glorious and liberating for both of the cousins, but war is not glorious and in Victorian London homosexuality is not liberating . . .

Sandi Toksvig - broadcaster, writer, actor, and seeker of all things whimsical, has turned her probing mind to many of the most intriguing questions of our times in the pages of the Sunday Telegraph for many years. Now, for the very first time, these musings have been collected in one hilarious collection. In The Chain of Curiosity, Sandi takes the reader on a side-splitting journey through life's peculiarities in a book packed with wit, wisdom and wonderment. From pondering the joys of World Pencil Day to examining the intricacies of applause etiquette, and from tip-toeing around the delicate art of school report vocabulary to researching the oddest way to meet a sticky end, the tickling tidbits and intriguing revelations contained within the book will delight Sandi's fans, both old and new.

When Amber, the littlest Viking, set out from Scandinavia to seek her fortune she must have got lost on her way! Now she's in Pegwell Bay with no one but her pet squirrel for company. When Katie, Gary and Joshua find her stranded on the beach, they decide to look after her. Now there's a Viking living in their garden!Having a Viking in the family isn't always easy. But when the garden is threatened by a nasty neighbour, Amber has some unusual - and hilarious - solutions to their problems . . .

FLYING UNDER BRIDGES is Sandi Toksvig's hugely enjoyable everyday tale of morals, marriage and murder.

Boris is a 'tube' mouse - he lives in the underground railway in London. One day, Boris discovers an accident and has todevise a brave and clever plan to save the day. Illustrated throughout by whacky cartoon pictures, this is an ideal story for children who have just learned to read.

Brought to you by Penguin. It's April 1940 and German troops are pouring onto the streets of Denmark. 12-year-old Bamse is ordered by his father to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. But Bamse and his daring friend Anton can't resist playing the occasional practical joke on the invading soldiers. When it becomes clear that the trouble isn't just going to pass them by, the people of Denmark 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. Many of the characters are based on Sandi's own family, including her father, Bamse, and the book was inspired by the stories her told to her. (c) Sandi Toksvig 2005 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

When Jessica loses her first tooth, Granny tells her to watch out for a trainee tooth fairy.

When Jessica brings her granny into school for 'Unusual Day' Miss Johnson thinks she's got muddled up with 'Family Day'. Her granny may be wearing a tracksuit and trainers, but she still looks like a fairly ordinary granny. However, when 'Unusual Day' is disrupted by a fire next door, everybody discovers just how unusual Jessica's granny is...

By turns a biography, a travel journal and a portrait of American women today, GLADYS REUNITED is also a testimony to the value of friendship.