The boys at Linbury Court Preparatory School are eager to speed up the progress of space travel, and none more so than Jennings, whose first task is to find a suitable helmet. But is it really a good idea to take a dome-shaped glass-case, which previously housed a stuffed woodpecker, and place it over his head? Petrified paintpots!

Jennings and Darbishire's luck is in when they hitch a ride with an international cricketer, and could it be that they've done something right for once when they attempt to apprehend a suspected burglar? Bat-witted clodpoll! According to Jennings is one of a series of 25 books by Anthony Buckeridge. The Jennings stories originated in a series of radio plays for the BBC s Children s Hour, which proved so popular they spawned this delightful series of books.

The tales make liberal use of Buckeridge's inventive schoolboy slang ("fossilised fish hooks!," "crystallised cheesecakes!," and others)