All I will say is - prepare to be astounded! Mildred Hubble has always been the worst witch at Miss Cackle's Academy, but she just knows this term will be different. She's done the best holiday project ever and she's sure that her form teacher, the fearsome Miss Hardbroom, will be impressed. Even her arch-enemy, Ethel Hallow, is being friendly to h...

This thought-provoking book examines in detail the beliefs, history and customs of all the major world religions, as well as taking a look at some less well-known faiths. The huge impact of religion on human affairs throughout history and some current religious issues are carefully and objectively discussed.

This is the story of 12 year-old Sade and her brother Femi who flee to Britain from Nigeria. Their father is a political journalist who refuses to stop criticising the military rulers in Nigeria. Their mother is killed and they are sent to London, with their father promising to follow. Abandoned at Victoria Station by the woman paid to bring them t...

Is discretion the better part of valour, or does conscience make cowards of us all? Are these our salad days, or is this the winter of our discontent? Exploring the entire works of William Shakespeare, this book brings the language, themes, plots and characters of his plays and sonnets to life. Written in plain English, The Shakespeare Book is the...

'Your battle wounds are scars upon my heart' wrote Vera Brittain in a poem to her beloved brother, four days before he died in June 1918 expressing the bitter sufferings of women as well as men in the terrible madness of the First World War. This, the first anthology of women war poets for over sixty years, will come as a surprise to many. It shows...

Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since...

'If the Sun were the size of a grapefruit, Earth would be the size of a grain of salt. Even the largest planet, Jupiter, would be only as big as a large pea.' Some things are so big or so old that it's hard to wrap your mind around them. In If, we look at these hard-to-imagine objects and events and compare them to things we can instantly see, feel...

A captivating selection of enduring verse by one of the Victorian era's most beloved poets. Christina Rossetti is unique among Victorian poets for the sheer range of her subject matter and the variety of her verse forms. Weaving connections between love and death, triumph and loss, heavenly joys and earthly pleasures, Rossetti's poems startle the i...

This Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to the teachings of the Buddha and to the integration of Buddhism into daily life. What are the distinctive features of Buddhism? Who was the Buddha, and what are his teachings? How has Buddhist thought developed over the centuries, and how can contemporary dilemmas be faced from a Buddhist perspec...

Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star's memoir. This is a...

That summer-more than ten years ago, while they were still in high school-Noelle McDowell and Thomas Sutton fell secretly in love. Secretly because their mothers had been locked in a bitter feud for decades. But despite the animosity between Sarah McDowell and Mary Sutton, Noelle planned to elope with Thom. Until he jilted her. This Christmas Noell...

Twas the night before Christmas, and Savannah was breezy. But there's trouble afoot - and it's heading toward Weezie.Seems BeBe's been holding a big secret backthat would make Santa's reindeer stop dead in their tracks. Can these two best friends wriggle out of these twists? Will they do it in time to ensure CHRISTMAS BLISS?

Seething resentments, well-kept family secrets, and a savage murder set the stage for Christmas in Cornwall in this cozy holiday installment of the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries. In December 1923, the formidable Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple has decided that for Christmas the family will all gather at Brockdene in Cornwall at the invitation of Lord Wes...

Every year at Christmas River's annual Gingerbread Junction Competition, pie baker extraordinaire Cinnamon aims to win, taking down any competitor who gets in her way. But when she finds a dead body in the woods behind her pie shop just days before the big competition, Cinnamon realizes that there's much more to worry about than cookies, frosting,...

As a fourteen-year-old, he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen, he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem, he was known as Detroit Red, a slick street operator. At nineteen, he was back in Boston, leading a gang of burglars. At twenty, he was in prison. It was in prison that Malcolm Little starte...

John Grant is author of about seventy books, including the highly successful Discarded Science, Corrupted Science, and Denying Science. For a number of years he ran the world-famous fantasy artbook publisher Paper Tiger. He has won the Hugo Award (twice), the World Fantasy Award, and various other international literary awards.

A delightful tale of victory against all odds from master storyteller, Michael Morpurgo. "Every fox in the whole town, in the whole country just about, is a football fan... And we all have an impossible dream." In a cosy den under a garden shed lives a family of foxes. They love to watch football - all foxes do. But their favourite team keeps losin...

Miranda loves to be different, and on Bring-your-pet-to-school Day she introduces everyone to her very DIFFERENT pet... Penelope the snake. Miss Bloat the headmistress doesn't think snakes should be allowed in school. But Penelope has other ideas... Introducing a spectacularly slithery new picture book packed with mischief and mayhem from two super...

Two baby penguins are missing and the rest of the City Zoo penguins set out across the zoo on a daring rescue.They hang with the monkeys, fish for clues in the aquarium, and try not to get spotted in the leopard's lair on a fast-paced adventure full of fun. The second hilarious story about the adventures of the irrepressible penguins of City Zoo, f...

An unforgettably funny animal adventure story about a little bird with big dreams in the brand new Awesome Animals series. Rory the rockhopper penguin loves showing off, but with few visitors to the zoo, life has become a little dull. If things don't improve the zoo might have to close. So when the keepers install PENGUINCAM Rory grabs his chance w...

Rory and his pals have got their flippers in a flap! The swimming, singing, snowboarding penguins of City Zoo have got competition. There's a new arrival at the zoo and he's stealing all the limelight! But is Frosty the polar bear cub friend or foe?