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Have You Ever Wondered?
Have you ever wondered what the Tooth Fairy does with all the teeth she collects?
Where does she take them? What are they used for?
Join the Fairies of Tooth Fairy Land to discover the secrets behind the magic and learn why it’s so important to brush your teeth!
£7.99 -
Folk Tales of Old Europe
Be transported from the limestone caves of Slovenia to the coast of Norway, and from French salt pans to a village in Poland. John Weeks retells nine folk tales, each one set in a different country of Europe. They introduce the reader to an Irish weaver, to Scottish fishermen and to a Jewish dealer in violins. The stories share the familiar narrative features of folk tales all over the world – quests undertaken, wicked plots thwarted, mysteries revealed and kindness rewarded. Many of the familiar characters are there – trolls, an ogre and a cheating miller. But have you ever wondered what the characters in folk tales ate and drank? When not adventuring what work did they do to support themselves? What did they believe? As they journeyed what sort of landscapes did they cross? In his retellings John Weeks answers some of those questions. Each tale is grounded in a real landscape, with the features and the creatures distinctive to it. Something of the culture of each country is shown, so the reader will encounter the rivalries of tribal chiefs, piracy preying upon merchant shipping, and the poverty of feudal peasantry. Local ways of life are depicted, showing, for example, trade in amber, peat cutting and salt production. The tales are peopled by folk who embrace Christianity, by Jewish people and by those who acknowledge pagan spirits and Celtic deities. In notes to each of the tales the author briefly explains details, where necessary, and he refers to the sources, both literary and oral, which lie behind the stories. The result is a collection of tales richly contextualised to present a picture of Europe not in one era, but in an unspecified, distant past, a Europe at a time before modernity dulled the sparkle of its magic.
£13.99 -
Short Story Collection
Journey through humour and heartache in this eclectic collection of short fiction. From a miner’s grim reality to a dentist’s bungled procedure and a soldier confronting his enemy, these stories shine a raw light on the human experience. Feel the chilling isolation of ‘Behind Closed Doors I Hide’ and the bittersweet nostalgia of ‘It’s Never Too Late.’ With an array of voices and perspectives, author Pearl Marie Murdoch bears witness to hardship and hope, trauma and transcendence.
Whether tragic or comic, her brief tales leave an indelible imprint. Let Murdoch captivate you with her candid snapshots of life in all its messy glory. Candid, poignant, and peppered with regional dialect, this compilation offers a vibrant cross-section of characters. See familiar struggles through fresh eyes in this collection of provocative vignettes.
£6.99 -
Nessie and His Six Most Exciting Adventures
Six charming and funny stories for small children about a very friendly but very large monster that lives at the bottom of Loch Ness.
Nessie is very kind and always tries to do good things, often with very funny results.
The stories you can look forward to are: Nessie and the Fire Engine, Nessie in the Snow, Nessie and the Elephant, Nessie Helps His Friends, Nessie Goes on Holiday and Nessie and the Fishermen.
£8.99 -
Seventeen Going Under
Singer/songwriter Sam Fender has become a musical phenomenon with his passionate songs about growing up in England’s North-East.
Peter White has used those special songs as inspiration to create a collection of heart-warming short stories.
Seventeen Going Under is all about the trials and tribulations of growing up, with teenage anger and regret but also hope for the future. In Leave Fast, three young friends have to deal with the tragic death of their best mate and what to do with their lives. A chance meeting with a homeless guy changes one of them forever.
Spit of You centres on the complexities of family life, with a difficult father-son relationship contrasting with a wonderfully close bond between nana and her grandson. The Dying Light is the tale of a desperate young man determined to take his own life who finds a reason to live.
At the heart of Paradigms are the mental and physical effects of school bullying. Rhys Mackie is a beloved teacher who rails against the bullying he discovers and does something about it. Will We Talk is a quirky tale of two young 20-somethings who meet at a bar but things don’t quite go to plan.
In Mantra, Sophie Lyall believes looking out for life-changing windfalls, or trying to impress others, means you can miss the great things happening right now and the gift of life that gets taken for granted. Angel in Lothian begins with the vibrant, imaginary dream sequence of a young schoolboy that continues throughout his life.
£6.99 -
The Incredible Mrs Tomp
Set in the colourful town of Oombaroomba comes a charming story of an intrepid woman named Mrs. Tomp. Follow her exploits as she cleverly procures fertilizer, doles out folksy wisdom to her eccentric neighbours, and wrangles with the local authorities.
Though told with a wink and good humour, this tale touches on timeless themes of community, perseverance, and the human spirit. Mrs. Tomp’s antics will captivate readers as she faces life’s challenges with grit and grace. Some early readers have even compared this heartwarming story to the great Australian classics.
Pull up a chair and get to know the unforgettable Mrs. Tomp and the quirky residents of Oombaroomba in this delightful novel that will stay with you long after the last page.
£6.99 -
Winners
After a fantastic, fun hour at the best travelling fair ever, Sammy, Rory, Tom and Yasmina had spent almost all of their pocket money. So, Tom suggested that they could have a go at winning a prize at a stall where all tickets with a five or a zero were winners.
Naturally, the children were delighted to find a winning ticket, but the prizes on display were not quite right. What they really wanted was a prize they could easily share!
So, they ended up with a mysterious, lucky dip box. It was shiny purple and seemed to glitter in the funfair lights.
But it came with a whispered warning as the box squirmed impatiently - or did Sammy imagine it? What was in the box and were they really winners after all?
Children everywhere will love and be most intrigued by this magical tale of mischief and mayhem.
£8.99 -
The Mysteries of The Haunted Isle
The small Island of Eck, near the western shore of Scotland was a very nice place.
But people believed it was full of ghosts and no visitors came there.
Young Alan and his sister Jane, on vacation with their parents, wanted to discover the island. They did not expect that it would be the most unforgettable, and frightening adventure of their lives yet.
£9.99 -
The Secret Sign
Zara, a young slave girl, is thrilled to discover a mysterious secret sign scrawled in the dust. Hoping it will lead to the promised ‘power that is not cruel’ she desperately seeks for her temperamental master, Zara must navigate the treacherous world of slavery, unsure if she can trust her fellow slaves. When an accident forces her to flee, Zara encounters the enigmatic ‘people of the sign.’
As a burning Rome is left behind, Zara’s entire family journeys to a distant, more primitive land. Faced with arduous work, new dangers, and thrilling adventures, they forge friendships and confront unexpected challenges. When a family member is kidnapped and Zara’s fellow slave Andreas absconds, the stakes grow higher. Penniless, Andreas attempts to return to Rome, but will he succeed? And if he does, what fate awaits him in the city?
£7.99 -
The Boy Who Had Nothing
Tim, a quiet and old-fashioned boy, is the only child of his devoted parents, Mary and David. Despite his intelligence and quick learning abilities, Tim faces constant bullying at school and struggles to make friends. As he enters his teenage years, Tim’s world is shattered when he discovers that he was adopted as a baby. Heartbroken and feeling lost, Tim finds solace in an unlikely friendship with Jennifer, a girl from a nearby farm. As their bond grows, the two become inseparable, and Jennifer’s presence in Tim’s life sets in motion a series of events that will change his destiny forever.
£6.99 -
Lost and Found
Can you imagine losing your name? Yet this is what happened to Esme when a fun day in the park turned into something quite unexpected.
Luckily, a magic gnome and all his furry friends appeared.
But could they help? Where had her name gone? Would she find her way home?
£7.99 -
Fly Me to the Moon
‘The only thing to bother me
Is being home in time for tea’.
But Pip also yearns to soar through the air!
Mad adventures in mad verses using interesting words and unusual vehicles, to transport us all away from the humdrum of the kitchen and the classroom.
Lucky little Pip with his wild flights of fancy!
£10.99