The best stories from the youth of the most powerful writer of all round and flat worlds are gathered together in this volume: In fourteen stories, we see how a certain Terry Pratchett, a young reporter for a local newspaper, put the first of his madcap world designs on paper. Whether it's hair-raising adventures with a bad-tempered witch on a vacuum cleaner, a time-traveling television, or an encounter with an indomitable ant named 4179003 - Pratchett's very special sense of humor is already evident in these early stories, which, together with the witty illustrations by British artist Mark Beech, delight young and young-at-heart fans of the Discworld creator.