Archie Binns (1899–1971)

Followup to The Radio Imp. Following their mother's remarriage to policeman Patrick O'Donnel, Jim, Margaret and Mary move to the countryside. Gypsy magic follows them, this time in a rejigged television set that only works when it's upside down. The Absent-Minded Announcer provides not only entertainment and unexpected satire on the media and advertising, but a mystery that may be answered within the old farmhouse itself.

The story of a boy named Clint who finds an orphaned baby seal, which he names Buster, after its mother is killed. As Buster grows, Clint realizes that keeping a wild animal as a pet is not sustainable, leading to a heartfelt decision about Buster's future.

Archie Binns's first book for children, this is unusual for the time in having an inner-city, multicultural setting. The magic is of the time, a second-hand radio that plays programs of music and drama that are oddly appropriate, sometimes prescient or slyly satirical, and can't be found on the printed schedule. The episodes occasionally slip into sentimentality, but generally the narrative is straightforward about both the hardships and the community feeling of the postwar 'slums'.