A brilliantly funny, gripping novel - and the bestselling hardback children's debut of 2014 - from a born storyteller, The Parent Agency is an epic wish-fulfilment adventure for every child - and for the child in everyone.

"I wish I had better parents!" Barry said, a third time. And then suddenly the entire room started to shake...

Barry Bennett hates being called Barry. In fact it's number 2 on the list of things he blames his parents for, along with 1) `being boring' and 3) `always being tired'.

But there is a world, not far from this one, where parents don't have children. That's far too random for something so big and important. In this world, children are allowed to choose their parents.

For Barry Bennett, this world seems like a dream come true. Only things turn out to be not quite that simple...

Illustrated by Roald Dahl Funny Prize winner, Jim Field.

This book was recognised in the Ages 9-13 Years category by the Lollies.

This book has been graded for interest at 9+ years.

There are 384 pages in this book. This book was published 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Jim Field is a lead driven, pencil pushing, 12 volt DC enhanced, 25 frames per second, illustrator and animator of 2 headed dogs and hands with 3 fingers, caffeine filled, commission loving, led zeppelin fan. amen. David Baddiel is an author and comedian. His children's novels The Parent Agency, The Person Controller and AniMalcolm have been runaway bestsellers and The Parent Agency was the winner of the Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9 to 13-year-olds at the inaugural Laugh Out Loud Awards. David's children's books have sold over 1 million copies.