All legends start somewhere . . .After defeating the evil Grendilock and saving Cadno, the last firefox, Charlie Challinor is looking forward to a well-earned rest. But when a familiar face appears from the realm of Fargone, Charlie's family is once again swept up into adventure.Along with Lippy, Roo and new magical friend Blodyn, Charlie must travel to Fargone to face the dreaded Draig, the shadowy monster that is slowly draining the life from the land - and uncover the lost secret that links Draig's history to Charlie's own . . .The magical sequel to The Last Firefox, one of the most exciting children's debuts of 2022.
From the prize-winning author of Reasons to be Cheerful comes a story about the ebb and flow of female friendship over half a lifetime'A true gift of a novel, I utterly adored it. For as long as I could make it last, the world just felt a bit nicer' Meg Mason'Stibbe turns out more perfect, sharp, unique sentences than anyone else' Caitlin Moran'Stibbe has an extraordinary gift' Marian Keyes'Nina Stibbe makes being funny look easy, but that's just because she's very, very good at it' Clare Chambers________________________________________________Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else). But now, thirty years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and Norma out of reach on a wave of professional glory, Susan begins to wonder whether she has made the right choices about life, love, work, and, most importantly, friendship. Nina Stibbe's new novel is the story of the wonderful and sometimes surprising path of friendship: from its conspiratorial beginnings, along its irritating wrong turns, to its final gratifying destination. _________________________________________________'Nina Stibbe's very funny novels are full of charm, and her latest brilliantly captures the mordant humour of British suburban life' Evening Standard'I absolutely loved every single page of it! I honestly think it's the funniest thing she's ever written' Garth Jennings'I'm not surprised to see that Stibbe's writing has been compared to Jane Austen's' Emma Healey'I am already longing for Nina Stibbe's next book' Observer'Stibbe is one of the all-time greats' Daisy Buchanan'Clever and funny, it takes a sharp look at the intricacies of marriage, friendship, work and driving. As with all Stibbe's writing there is a pleasingly perfect balance of wisdom with jokes' Cathy Rentzenbrink 'Nina Stibbe is not just very funny but absolutely life-affirming' Jenny Colgan'For beautifully funny and well-observed comic writing, Nina Stibbe is your go-to author. In her latest release, a tale of lifelong friendship between Susan and Norma, she explores the mistakes, rivalries and love we all experience in life' Stylist'One of the great comic writers of our time' Irish Times
In this dazzling collection of stories, a son must repeatedly come out to his senile father while looking for a place that will care for the old man. An elderly couple confronts the note-taking fiction writer eavesdropping on their conversation. A famous actor in recovery has a one-night stand with the world's most surprising film critic. And in the beautifully romantic title story, a shy twenty-one-year-old studying Latin in Rome during "the year of my reinvention" finds himself face-to-face with the gorgeous Italian actress of his adolescent dreams. Funny, poignant, and redemptive, this collection takes the reader to Italy and Idaho, Washington and Mississippi. With his signature wit and bighearted approach to the darkest parts of humanity, Walter tackles the modern condition with a timeless touch.
'Delphi is a compact miracle of a book' Evie Wyld, author of The Bass Rock'Bold, brave and uncompromising, Pollard has found a way to write about the last couple of years which is both truthful and enjoyable to read, which I didn't think was possible' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Everyone is Still Alive'Dark and dangerous, disturbed and disturbing in equal measure - I loved it' Anna Hope, author of Expectation'I am sick of the future. Up to here with the future. I don't want anything to do with it; don't want it near me' It is 2020 and in a time more turbulent than any of us could have ever imagined, a woman is attempting to write a book about prophecy in the ancient world.Navigating the tightening grip of lockdown, a marriage in crisis, and a ten-year-old son who seems increasingly unreachable, she becomes fixated on our many forms of divination and prediction: on oracles, tarot cards and tea leaves and the questions we have always asked as we scroll and click and rage against our fates. But in doing so she fails to notice the future creeping into the heart of her own home. For despite our best intentions - our sacrifices and our bargains with the gods - time, certainty and, sometimes, those we love, can still slip away ...Heartbreakingly relatable and achingly funny Delphi is both a snapshot and a time capsule, deftly capturing our pasts, our presents, and how we keep on going in a world that is ever more uncertain and absurd.
Our words have POWER!And no one understands this more than Persephone the bee.Astronaut and telescopeRhinoceros; kaleidoscopePterodactyl; saxophonePomegranate; xylophone!Hermione, The Queen Bee, thinks Persephone should spend less time with words and more time on the hunt for flowers, which are getting harder and harder to find.But what if Persephone can use her words to help?Join Persephone in this read-aloud, read-again rhyming story about the power of our words, as well as the important task of protecting our bees. Packed with bright illustrations and plenty of word-play, The Bee Who Loved Words is the perfect way to introduce your little one to the joy of language.
Noor loves her mum, and all the other hijabi women in her family, but wonders why do they wear headscarves? Is it so they can hide snacks for later? Or because they're a super spy and hiding their secret identity?Full of curiousity, Noor sets out to find her answer, but her family are all busy and have no time to answer this important question. Just as Noor is ready to give up on her quest, her Ammu arrives home and knows just the thing to say. This heart-warming yet funny tale is a celebration of Muslim women, curious children, and family love.
"I AM a magical unicorn!"Join Peppa, George and all their friends for another adventure!Peppa has ALWAYS wanted to be a magical unicorn and Mummy Pig thinks she can help! But will Peppa's wishes come true? And what about her friends? Discover this hilarious, colourful bedtime story, perfect for fans of Peppa - and unicorns!Also Available:Peppa Pig: Peppa's Christmas UnicornPeppa Pig: Peppa's Magical UnicornPeppa Pig: Peppa's Dragon AdventurePeppa Pig: Peppa the MermaidPeppa Pig: Peppa's Fairy Tale
Why should we learn more than one language?Can it change the way we think?Does it have the power to transform how we see the world?You may think you speak only one language. In fact, your mind is interpreting multiple codes of communication. Some people speak Spanish, some Mandarin. Some speak poetry, some are fluent in maths. Humans are built for multilingualism.Drawing on cutting-edge research and theory, delivered with wit and lucid insight, psycholinguist Viorica Marian explores the ways in which the mind uses multiple languages and how, in doing so, we can open the doors to unique forms of creativity, brain health and cognitive control. Every new language we speak - whether it is coding or musical notes, Hindi or Arabic - shapes how we extract and interpret information. It alters what we remember, how we perceive ourselves and those around us, how we feel, the insights we have, the decisions we make and the actions we take.The Power of Language lays bare how we use different linguistic codes to think about the world - and change our place within it. Empowering and practical, this is the perfect guide for anyone interested in how language really works.
When did humans develop spiritual thought? What is religion's evolutionary purpose? And in our increasingly secular world, why has it endured?Every society in the history of humanity has lived with religion. In How Religion Evolved, evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar tracks its origins back to what he terms the 'mystical stance' - the aspect of human psychology that predisposes us to believe in a transcendent world, and which makes an encounter with the spiritual possible. As he explores world religions and their many derivatives, as well as religions of experience practised by hunter-gatherer societies since time immemorial, Dunbar argues that this instinct is not a peculiar human quirk, an aberration on our otherwise efficient evolutionary journey. Rather, religion confers an advantage: it can benefit our individual health and wellbeing, but, more importantly, it fosters social bonding at large scale, helping hold fractious societies together. Dunbar suggests these dimensions might provide the basis for an overarching theory for why and how humans are religious, and so help unify the myriad strands that currently populate this field.Drawing on path-breaking research, clinical case studies and fieldwork from around the globe, as well as stories of charismatic cult leaders, mysterious sects and lost faiths, How Religion Evolved offers a fascinating and far-reaching analysis of this quintessentially human impulse - to believe.
A Prospect Book of the YearAn epic new history of Ancient China told through the prism of a dozen extraordinary tombsThe three millennia up to the establishment of the first imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC cemented many of the distinctive elements of Chinese civilisation still in place today: an extraordinarily challenging geography and environment, formidable infrastructure, a society based on the strict hierarchy of the family, a shared written script of characters, a cuisine founded on rice and millet, a material culture of ceramics, bronze, silk and jade, and a unique concept of the universe, in which ancestors continue to exist alongside the living. Records of these early achievements, and their diverse and unexpected expressions, often lie not in written history, but in how people marked the end of their lives: their dwellings for the afterlife. Tombs, and the treasures within them, are almost the only artefacts to survive from Ancient China; their scale and sophistication rivals their equivalents in Ancient Egypt.Jessica Rawson, one of the most eminent Western scholars of China, explores twelve grand tombs - each from a specific historical moment and place - showing how they reveal wider political, dynastic and cultural developments, culminating in the lavish ambition of the First Emperor's monument, guarded by his army of terracotta warriors. Beautifully illustrated and drawing on the latest archaeological discoveries, Life and Afterlife in Ancient China illuminates a constellation of beliefs about life and death very different from our own and provides a remarkable new perspective on one of the oldest civilisations in the world.
The Times Book of the YearAndrew Roberts, one of Britain's premier historians, overturns the received wisdom on George III*Winner of the General Society of Colonial Wars' Distinguished Book Award, 2021*George III, Britain's longest-reigning king, has gone down in history as 'the cruellest tyrant of this age' (Thomas Paine, eighteenth century), 'a sovereign who inflicted more profound and enduring injuries upon this country than any other modern English king' (W.E.H. Lecky, nineteenth century), 'one of England's most disastrous kings' (J.H. Plumb, twentieth century) and as the pompous monarch of the musical Hamilton (twenty-first century).Andrew Roberts's magnificent new biography takes entirely the opposite view. It portrays George as intelligent, benevolent, scrupulously devoted to the constitution of his country and (as head of government as well as head of state) navigating the turbulence of eighteenth-century politics with a strong sense of honour and duty. He was a devoted husband and family man, a great patron of the arts and sciences, keen to advance Britain's agricultural capacity ('Farmer George') and determined that her horizons should be global. He could be stubborn and self-righteous, but he was also brave, brushing aside numerous assassination attempts, galvanising his ministers and generals at moments of crisis and stoical in the face of his descent - five times during his life - into a horrifying loss of mind.The book gives a detailed, revisionist account of the American Revolutionary War, persuasively taking apart a significant proportion of the Declaration of Independence, which Roberts shows to be largely Jeffersonian propaganda. In a later war, he describes how George's support for William Pitt was crucial in the battle against Napoleon. And he makes a convincing, modern diagnosis of George's terrible malady, very different to the widely accepted medical view and to popular portrayals. Roberts writes, 'the people who knew George III best loved him the most', and that far from being a tyrant or incompetent, George III was one of our most admirable monarchs. The diarist Fanny Burney, who spent four years at his court and saw him often, wrote 'A noble sovereign this is, and when justice is done to him, he will be as such acknowledged'. In presenting this fresh view of Britain's most misunderstood monarch, George III shows one of Britain's premier historians at his sparkling best.
The definitive history of the modern climate change era, from an award-winning writer who has been at the centre of the fight for more than thirty yearsIn 1979, President Jimmy Carter was presented with the findings of scientists who had been investigating whether human activities might change the climate in harmful ways. "e;A wait-and-see policy may mean waiting until it is too late,"e; their report said. They were right -- but no one was listening. Four decades later, we are haunted by the consequences of this inattention, and the years of complacency, obfuscation and denialism that followed. Today, the staggering scale and scope of what we have done to the planet is impossible to ignore: the seasons of fire and flood have crossed into plain view. Fire and Flood is a comprehensive, compulsively readable history of climate change from veteran environmental journalist Eugene Linden. Linden retells the story of the modern climate change era decade by decade, tracking the progress of four ticking clocks: first, the reality of climate change itself; second, advances in scientific understanding; third, the spread of public awareness; and fourth, the business and finance response. Like no previous writer, Linden has drawn together the elements of the biggest story in the world, in a book that it is gripping as history, as economic investigation, and as scientific thriller.
'One of the most important and timely books I've had the privilege to read' Corinne Fowler, author of Green Unpleasant LandA revelatory historical indictment of the long afterlife of slavery in the Atlantic world To fully understand why the shadow of slavery haunts us today, we must confront the flawed way that it ended. We celebrate abolition - in Haiti after the revolution, in the British Empire in 1833, in the United States during the Civil War. Yet in Black Ghost of Empire, acclaimed historian Kris Manjapra argues that during each of these supposed emancipations, Black people were dispossessed by the moves that were meant to free them. Emancipation, in other words, simply codified the existing racial caste system - rather than obliterating it. Ranging across the Americas, Europe and Africa, Manjapra unearths disturbing truths about the Age of Emancipations, 1780-1880. In Britain, reparations were given to wealthy slaveowners, not the enslaved, a vast debt that was only paid off in 2015, and the crucial role of Black abolitionists and rebellions in bringing an end to slavery has been overlooked. In Jamaica, Black people were liberated only to enter into an apprenticeship period harsher than slavery itself. In the American South, the formerly enslaved were 'freed' into a system of white supremacy and racial terror. Across Africa, emancipation served as an alibi for colonization. None of these emancipations involved atonement by the enslavers and their governments for wrongs committed, or reparative justice for the formerly enslaved-an omission that grassroots Black organizers and activists are rightly seeking to address today. Black Ghost of Empire will rewire readers' understanding of the world in which we live. Paradigm-shifting, lucid and courageous, this book shines a light into the enigma of slavery's supposed death, and its afterlives.
Cleopatra has always known she was destined to be queen of Egypt. And when she defeats her own brother to win the throne, it is clear that the gods are on her side. Join historian Dominic Sandbrook as we follow the most famous queen of all from Alexandria to Rome, through doomed love affairs and epic battles, to the serpent's bite which will change the course of history forever...The Adventures in Time series brings the past alive for twenty-first century children. These stories are every bit as exciting as those of Harry Potter or Matilda Wormwood. The only difference is they actually happened...
Join Danny and Dino as they search for Easter eggs in this EGGcellent lift-the-flap story! With rip-roaring rhyme and laugh-out-loud silliness, the Dinosaur that Pooped series has sold over 1.5 million copies around the world!Danny and Dino's big Easter traditionwas hunting for eggs on a chocolatey mission.This year they were looking in Fairytale Land.They needed some eggs for a feast they had planned!Danny and Dino are searching for Easter eggs in Fairytale Land! They hunt up beanstalks and inside the houses of the three pigs, and soon they have plenty of chocolate treats. But when they take an egg from a magical cave, they get into trouble with the cave's owner... a grumpy dragon! Can Dino's quick thinking and rumbly tummy save the day?This hilarious addition to the new lift-the-flap series features a host of hidden surprises. The poop-filled adventure is written by bestselling author duo Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, and brought to life by the preposterously talented Gary Parsons.More POOPTASTIC adventures:The Dinosaur that Pooped Christmas!The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet!The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past!The Dinosaur that Pooped the Bed!The Dinosaur that Pooped a Princess!The Dinosaur that Pooped a Pirate!For younger readers:The Dinosaur that Pooped a Rainbow (A Colours Book)The Dinosaur that Pooped Daddy! (A Numbers Book)
Explore Peppa's favourite places in this super sticker scenes book.Join Peppa in this adventure-filled sticker scenes book featuring lots of her favourite places. Have fun at the beach with Kylie Kangaroo in Australia, put on the perfect show at the theatre and splash about in giant muddy puddles! With lots to see and do, this book is perfect for keeping Peppa fans busy.Includes over 100 stickers and 13 exciting locations from the world of Peppa!Want more Peppa? Also Available:Peppa Pig: Peppa's Big Day Out Sticker Scenes BookPeppa Pig: Emergency Heroes Sticker BookPeppa Pig: Peppa's Holiday Fun Sticker BookPeppa Pig: Day at the Zoo Sticker Book
Discover the brand new story from Stuart Heritage!Introducing brothers, Pancakes and Cha-Cha. Pancakes and Cha-Cha are set for a perfect day of pizza and playing in the park... when they are surprised by a genie granting wishes!What in the whole wide world will they wish for? Treasure or magical powers? Or a pizza the size of a paddling pool? Or maybe - just maybe - they'll be surprised by something unexpected. Stuart Heritage and Nicola Slater, creators of the laugh-out-loud Jonathan the Magic Pony, are back with a warm-hearted, bedtime story about brotherly love, the art of compromise and an elephant covered in cheese.
An assassin, a soldier, a prince . . . and a deadly game of power, where no one knows the rules. Prepare to enter the world of Chaos and Flame - perfect for fans of Iron Widow and Legendborn. When Darling Seabreak's family were murdered by the ruthless House Dragon, she swore she'd get revenge. And as a deadly assassin, there's no one she'd rather take out than their bloodthirsty war general, Talon Goldhoard. Talon Goldhoard has no problem defending his lands from threats - even ones he hates, like the whispers of madness that surround his brother, the High Prince. So when he battles a ferocious girl who looks exactly like the one Caspian has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, Talon knows he must capture her alive - and find out exactly what kind of a threat she really is. What Talon is unprepared for is the thrilling chaos that Darling will bring into his life. With the world they both know appearing to catch fire all around them, these unlikely allies must navigate a game of power, betrayal, destiny - and love - that neither of them could ever have expected.
The perfect festive stocking filler for Christmasaurus fans, from the imagination of number-one-bestseller Tom Fletcher!Well, bless my baubles - it's nearly Christmas! And it's time to celebrate with the Christmasaurus Cracker. Get ready for:Not one but TWO adventure-packed Christmas stories: Crumpet Eve and The Magical North Pole;Jingle-worthy jokes and present-tastic puzzles;Fun festive facts;Tasty Christmas recipes; andDino-riffic decoration ideas!Merry Christmas from Tom Fletcher and the Christmasaurus!
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