It is, she discovers, a bogwoppit, an animal assumed extinct, and one of many that come up through the drains from the outside pond. Biography: Ursula Moray Williams was born on 19 April 1911 at Petersfield, Hampshire, ten minutes after her twin sister, Barbara.

Her classic stories often involved brave creatures who overcome trials and cruelty in the outside world before finding a loving home.

You didnt have to make excuses for her or pity her like other unwanted children in other stories of this type. The story is interesting, I remember being gripped by it as a kid, and with a group of my friends, because it has more tragedy in it than most books for kids that age, and yet it's fun, quirky, and has so many things in it that you want in a story at that age. Many people will know Ursula Moray Williams for her more famous books, Gobbolino the Witch’s Catand The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse, both of which I loved, but my favourite of her books was always Bogwoppit.

There are host of well-developed and hilarious characters here, all interacting in madcap ways, to make an entertaining and fulfilling story. I love it just as much today as I did back then, and I think it’s a brilliantly constructed, cleverly written and humorous story that will appeal to any generation.

It seems as though Samantha and her aunt will never agree - until one day Aunt Daisy mysteriously disappears and Samantha plans a big rescue operation! Shirley Hughes has created some beautiful illustrations to accompany the text which really enhances the story, and I loved repeatedly reading this tale of an ordinary girl who has an extraordinary adventure and ends up with everything she ever wanted. Aunt Daisy wants to get rid of them all, but Samantha grows very fond of one and can't bear to part with him. She certainly is not wanted when her aunt gets married and wants to move to America, so she gets palmed off on yet another aunt, who wants her even less. When Aunt Lily marries and moves to America, orphan Samantha is packed off to her Aunt Daisy, who has no time for children.