Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished.

Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Conrad and Sally Walden are home alone with their pet fish. It is raining outside, and there is nothing to do. Until The Cat in the Hat walks in the front door. He introduces them to their imagination, and at first it's all fun and games, until things get out of hand and the kids wreak havoc in the home their mother has neatly prepared for an upcoming party. So The Cat must go, go, go, before their parents get back.

The journey begins on a ship at sea in 1766, with a boy named Billy Marvel. After surviving a shipwreck, he finds work in a London theatre. There, his family flourishes for generations as brilliant actors until 1900, when young Leontes Marvel is banished from the stage. Nearly a century later, Joseph Jervis runs away from school and seeks refuge with a reclusive uncle in London. Albert Nightingale's strange, beautiful house, with its mysterious portraits...