
The Parent Agency
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.32
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Baddiel
-
By:
-
David Baddiel
About this listen
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.
Barry said, a third time, “I wish I had better parents!” 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…
©2014 David Baddiel (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
-
Birthday Boy
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: David Baddiel
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if it was every day? This is the story of Sam Green, who really, really, really loves birthdays. He loves the special breakfasts in bed. The presents. The themed parties. Blowing out the candles on his cake. Everything. He is so excited about his 11th birthday, in fact, that he wishes it was his birthday every day. So at first it's quite exciting when his birthday happens again the next morning. And again. And again. And again....
-
-
Perfect story
- By M. Hines on 01-21-22
By: David Baddiel
-
AniMalcolm
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: David Baddiel
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From David Baddiel, the brightest new star of children's books and winner of the Lollies award, comes a laugh-out-loud adventure for every child who ever wondered what it might be like to be a bit of an animal.... Malcolm doesn't like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is not full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.
-
-
What a GREAT listen for kids (and adults)
- By Serpil on 11-19-20
By: David Baddiel
-
The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: Harriet Carmichael, James Goode, Paul Panting, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing extraordinary has ever happened to Billy Smith. In fact, every single thing about him is ordinary, including his name. But when a documentary crew turns up at Billy’s school to film the new TV series School Daze, everything changes. Billy shouldn’t stand out: all the other kids are much more interesting than him. But when remixes of his boring class presentation go viral, Billy finds himself accidentally an overnight star.
By: David Baddiel
-
The Winglets Quartet
- The First Four Stories
- By: Tui T. Sutherland
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fiercetooth, a NightWing obsessed with what could have - and should have - been. Deathbringer, desperate to prove himself as the next great NightWing assassin. Six-Claws, a loyal SandWing, who will soon find that loyalty comes with a price. Foeslayer the NightWing, a dragon in love turned kidnapper, and Prince Arctic of the IceWings, a runaway turned captive. In these four short stories, dig deeper into the world of Pyrrhia to discover what really happened.
-
-
Backstory
- By Heather Nyki on 10-20-20
-
The World's Worst Teachers
- By: David Walliams
- Narrated by: David Walliams
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of young listeners have loved the World's Worst Children tales. Now they will revel in this delightfully dreadful collection of the most gruesome grown-ups ever: The World's Worst Teachers. Think your teachers are bad? Wait till you meet this lot. These 10 tales of the world's most splendidly sinister teachers will have you running for the school gates. Dr Dread teaches science and is half man, half monster. Watch out for the ghastly Miss Seethe. She is always furious and she's on a detention rampage.
-
-
I loved this book
- By Monique on 05-18-20
By: David Walliams
-
The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Robbie Daymond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After angering his father, Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the 4,000-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus' favor. But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed.
-
-
Finally a good narrator
- By Michael on 05-08-16
By: Rick Riordan
-
Birthday Boy
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: David Baddiel
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if it was every day? This is the story of Sam Green, who really, really, really loves birthdays. He loves the special breakfasts in bed. The presents. The themed parties. Blowing out the candles on his cake. Everything. He is so excited about his 11th birthday, in fact, that he wishes it was his birthday every day. So at first it's quite exciting when his birthday happens again the next morning. And again. And again. And again....
-
-
Perfect story
- By M. Hines on 01-21-22
By: David Baddiel
-
AniMalcolm
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: David Baddiel
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From David Baddiel, the brightest new star of children's books and winner of the Lollies award, comes a laugh-out-loud adventure for every child who ever wondered what it might be like to be a bit of an animal.... Malcolm doesn't like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is not full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday.
-
-
What a GREAT listen for kids (and adults)
- By Serpil on 11-19-20
By: David Baddiel
-
The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous
- By: David Baddiel
- Narrated by: Harriet Carmichael, James Goode, Paul Panting, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing extraordinary has ever happened to Billy Smith. In fact, every single thing about him is ordinary, including his name. But when a documentary crew turns up at Billy’s school to film the new TV series School Daze, everything changes. Billy shouldn’t stand out: all the other kids are much more interesting than him. But when remixes of his boring class presentation go viral, Billy finds himself accidentally an overnight star.
By: David Baddiel
-
The Winglets Quartet
- The First Four Stories
- By: Tui T. Sutherland
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fiercetooth, a NightWing obsessed with what could have - and should have - been. Deathbringer, desperate to prove himself as the next great NightWing assassin. Six-Claws, a loyal SandWing, who will soon find that loyalty comes with a price. Foeslayer the NightWing, a dragon in love turned kidnapper, and Prince Arctic of the IceWings, a runaway turned captive. In these four short stories, dig deeper into the world of Pyrrhia to discover what really happened.
-
-
Backstory
- By Heather Nyki on 10-20-20
-
The World's Worst Teachers
- By: David Walliams
- Narrated by: David Walliams
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of young listeners have loved the World's Worst Children tales. Now they will revel in this delightfully dreadful collection of the most gruesome grown-ups ever: The World's Worst Teachers. Think your teachers are bad? Wait till you meet this lot. These 10 tales of the world's most splendidly sinister teachers will have you running for the school gates. Dr Dread teaches science and is half man, half monster. Watch out for the ghastly Miss Seethe. She is always furious and she's on a detention rampage.
-
-
I loved this book
- By Monique on 05-18-20
By: David Walliams
-
The Trials of Apollo, Book One: The Hidden Oracle
- By: Rick Riordan
- Narrated by: Robbie Daymond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After angering his father, Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disoriented, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the 4,000-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus' favor. But Apollo has many enemies - gods, monsters, and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed.
-
-
Finally a good narrator
- By Michael on 05-08-16
By: Rick Riordan
-
Gangsta Granny
- By: David Walliams, Joanna Ruiz
- Narrated by: Nitin Ganatra, Paul Panting
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A story of prejudice and acceptance, funny lists and silly words, this new book has all the hallmarks of David’s previous best sellers. Our hero Ben is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma’s house. She’s the boringest grandma ever: all she wants to do is to play Scrabble and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn’t know about his grandma.
-
-
The grandmother of Ben
- By Anonymous User on 03-30-25
By: David Walliams, and others
-
Keeper of the Lost Cities
- By: Shannon Messenger
- Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. No one knows her secret - at least, that’s what she thinks.... But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well...she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth....
-
-
Amazing!
- By Anonymous User on 11-26-18
-
The Ickabog
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The kingdom of Cornucopia was once the happiest in the world. It had plenty of gold, a king with the finest moustache you could possibly imagine, and butchers, bakers, and cheesemongers whose exquisite foods made a person dance with delight when they ate them. Everything was perfect - except for the misty Marshlands to the north, which, according to legend, were home to the monstrous Ickabog. Anyone sensible knew that the Ickabog was just a myth to scare children into behaving. But the funny thing about myths is that sometimes they take on a life of their own.
-
-
Oh, dear...
- By ili pika on 11-11-20
By: J.K. Rowling
-
Bad Dad
- By: David Walliams
- Narrated by: David Walliams, Peter Serafinowicz, Nitin Ganatra, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Walliams burst on to the American scene with his New York Times best seller Demon Dentist, and now he’s bringing his signature humor to this raucous tale of prison breaks and heists gone wrong in Bad Dad. Frank’s dad was a champion hot-rod racer, Gilbert the Great. But when a terrible accident sees him go from hero to zero, Frank and Gilbert are left with nothing - and in the grips of a wicked crime boss and his henchmen. After Gilbert is thrown in prison, only Frank can come to his rescue....
-
-
the book
- By k-love on 07-02-24
By: David Walliams
-
The Institute
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis' parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there's no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and 10-year-old Avery Dixon.
-
-
I really wanted to like this novel.. but..
- By Wendi on 09-21-19
By: Stephen King
-
Code Name Bananas
- By: David Walliams
- Narrated by: Peter Serafinowicz, Sarah Alexander, Genevieve Gaunt, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Eric practically lives at the London Zoo. And there’s one animal in particular he loves to spend time with: Gertrude the gorilla. But with German bombs raining over London, Eric realizes Gertrude is in terrible danger, and together with his Uncle Sid, a keeper at the zoo, the three go on the run. But while hiding out at the seaside, they uncover a top-secret Nazi plot…
-
-
The boy giggles to much.
- By Horse rider! on 11-06-23
By: David Walliams
-
Spaceboy
- By: David Walliams
- Narrated by: Akiya Henry, Reginald D. Hunter, Eric Meyers, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America. The 1960s. Stuck on a remote farm with her awful aunt, twelve-year-old orphan Ruth spends every night gazing at the stars, dreaming of adventure. One night she spots a flying saucer blazing across the sky…before crash-landing in a field. When the spaceship opens and reveals a mysterious alien, all Ruth’s dreams come true. But does this visitor from another planet have a giant secret?
-
-
Not excluding Genos
- By andie on 08-13-24
By: David Walliams
-
Paul, Big, and Small
- By: David Glen Robb
- Narrated by: Alex Boyles
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paul Adams is the shortest kid at his high school, and the school bullies relentlessly pick on him. He spends the entire day wishing school would end so he can escape to his favorite sport of rock climbing. Lily Small is athletic, attractive, and, despite her last name, is actually very tall. Another kid, who looks almost like a grown man, introduces himself with a long Polynesian name, but says everyone calls him "Big," and he seems to like the nickname! As they get to know each other, Paul, Big, and Small discover they have a lot in common as outsiders in their high school.
-
-
Great Reader
- By J. Dillman on 11-14-19
By: David Glen Robb
-
Bear Necessity
- A Novel
- By: James Gould-Bourn
- Narrated by: Rupert Holliday-Evans
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Danny’s life is falling apart. His eleven-year-old son, Will, hasn’t spoken since the death of his mother in a car crash a year earlier, and Danny has just been fired from his construction job. He’s behind on the rent and his nasty landlord is threatening to break his legs if he doesn’t pay soon. Danny needs money, and fast. After observing street performers in a local park, Danny spends his last few dollars on a tattered panda costume, impulsively deciding to become a dancing bear.
-
-
Dancing Panda’s, Sarcastic Strippers, and more
- By Chris Lane on 09-25-20
-
The Guncle
- By: Steven Rowley
- Narrated by: Steven Rowley
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian.
-
-
In two words . . . Loved it!!
- By Donna Rauch Lanford on 06-05-21
By: Steven Rowley
-
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
- By: Abbi Waxman
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book. When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all - or mostly all - excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster!
-
-
Engaging story but not well written
- By Rachel A. on 08-16-19
By: Abbi Waxman
-
The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane
- By: Kate O'Shaughnessy
- Narrated by: Catherine Taber
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn't collect herself: an old recording of her daddy's warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone's voicemail. It's the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him. Until the day she hears that laugh - his laugh - pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma's wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy's new show....
-
-
Sweet characters and story
- By JW on 03-06-25
Critic reviews
“Funny, sometimes moving, always engaging” Guardian
What listeners say about The Parent Agency
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs B Hastings-Jones
- 03-16-22
Best book
This is the best book I've listened to ! 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!