Alexander McCall Smith is professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He is also the author of over fifty books. These range from adult fiction to specialist titles, such as Forensic Aspects of Sleep, to a wide selection of children’s books. In 1999 The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was published. This book quickly became a bestseller and was voted one of the ‘International Books of the Year and the Millennium’ by the Times Literary Supplement. In America the success of the series was instant with sales exceeding two million in the USA alone. Winner of three Author of the Year awards in 2004 (British Book Awards, Booksellers' Association and Waterstone’s), and Bloomsbury Publishing are very proud and excited to be re-publishing Alexander’s key children’s books.

Jim and his friends are upset to hear that their school janitor's car has been stolen, and just before he's due to retire too. So Jim comes up with a bright idea for a way to help raise money to buy a new car: selling doughnuts. They start by making their own very delicious doughnuts to sell, but run into problems when demand exceeds supply. That's when Jim has another brainwave and decides the only way to make enough is to write a chain letter asking people to make more doughnuts. The doughnuts start rolling in and rolling in and soon Jim is up to his ears in them. It takes another inspired business idea to rescue a situation which is rapidly getting out of hand. This is the inspiring story of a boy with a big heart and big business ideas, from bestselling author, Alexander McCall Smith.