A Fish Called Goldie

Goldie loved her life with Mrs Tilley! The goldfish bowl was right near the window in the lounge room, and Goldie just smiled so much. She was so happy to be living there! Mrs Tilley was very kind. She gave her lots of tasty flakes to eat, rocks and reeds for Goldie to play around and put a cloth over her bowl at night to keep her warm. But one day an ambulance came and took Mrs Tilley away. Goldie was alone.

When Mrs Tilley’s son took Goldie to a pet shop to sell, Goldie wondered what would happen to her. Find out what happens to Goldie next. Do you think smiling would help Goldie find a new home?

Join Goldie to find out about staying positive.

A Giraffe Called Stretch

Stretch was a huge, playful, gangly, hungry young giraffe! But he was also nosy, inquisitive, curious and adventurous…his big long neck enabled him to put his nose into places it maybe shouldn’t be put.

He lived in a big safari park in South Africa, and every time he strolled past the Lodge kitchen, Stretch could smell delicious smells coming his way! Even though he knew he shouldn’t put his nose into other people’s business, Stretch just couldn’t help but find a way.

Find out what happens next. What kind of trouble does Stretch get into in the kitchen?

Join Stretch to learn about being nosy.

A Glimpse of North Sudan

North Sudan is a largely unknown, thought-to-be-unsafe land. A Glimpse of North Sudan aims to correct that. This book is far more than a travelogue. From diaries and photographs of a safe, non-alcoholic, wonderful holiday, it tells of a short tour of a smiling poor people with an ancient, frequently violent history, pyramids and tombs in royal cemeteries with wonderful paintings and reliefs to behold. It is a largely desert country but where the Blue and White Niles combine to form a majestic life-giving river on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, there are descriptions of black Sudanese pharaohs of Egypt, the lifestyle of a Bedouin family along with British involvement in ruling the country (a section on the Battle of Omdurman led by Kitchener with a young, ambitious Winston Churchill in the ranks) and of the civil wars since independence in 1956. Finally, it suggests a way out of the cul-de-sac of poverty and deprivation. This book is a must-read for the general-interest reader of a forgotten, though fascinating, land.

A Little Look at Bottoms

Designer Tom Karen gives us a delightful series of drawings to amuse and inspire young readers. Children love to laugh at bottoms, and with this little book they will go back to their favourites again and again – from giraffes to jellyfish and bumblebees to bears.

A Midwife's Memoir

Following a long career as a midwife and then a community midwife, Carol retired in 2016, but she found she missed the excitement of bringing new life into the world, the joy and fulfillment of helping mothers to be, and the sheer pleasure of working in a small community.

She decided to record her experiences in this book as a tribute to all the wonderful mums and dads she gave help and advice to; some of the highs and lows, amusing and sometimes heart-breaking stories, and the unusual and unexpected events that occurred during that long career.

A Monkey Called Smoochie

Smoochie had five sisters and a brother, and he’d lived in a huge forest tree with his mum and dad his whole life! The chatter they made could be heard right across the treetops; so much laughter, games and playtime. But sometimes he would hear his parents getting angry and yelling at each other too.

One day when Smoochie saw his father leaving their tree and his mother sitting high up in their tree with her head in her hands, Smoochie started to worry. When his father didn’t come home, he began to worry even more.

Find out what happens next. How does Smoochie and his family adjust to the new situation?

Join Smoochie to learn about separated parents.

A Mozart Kind of Morning

Jo Stanton has lived all of her adult life in France, scraping together a living as a gardener and musician at one of the most famous chateaux in the Loire valley and caring for her elderly grandmother, but a chance encounter with former concert pianist Henri Arnaud, and his son Thomas, brings an unexpected change to her life. Henri offers her a job restoring his neglected garden in England, where he lives with Thomas, a writer, and their housekeeper Barbara.

Keen to escape the unwanted attentions from one of her colleagues, she agrees. However, the move has more consequences than she anticipated and brings to the fore her troubled past, rekindling supressed nightmares from her childhood. Will she ever be free from the guilt of what she has done?  As she falls in love with the garden and the family she has come to know, it becomes increasingly hard to hide her secret. But there is one man who is determined to uncover her past and help her, no matter what.

A story of loss, healing, and, ultimately, true love.

A School for Fish

The sea folk have a wonderful plan to build a school for all of the reef-dwelling creatures, but although they have an amazingly fun time they forget all that they have learnt as soon as they swim out of the classroom door.

Read on to find out what happens next in this charmingly illustrated book for young children.

A Squirrelly Tangle

A Rusty Tales Book

When a storm blows their tree down, our three young red squirrels are taken by one big mistake, far away from home. 

Join them on their journey back, leaping and flying from one adventure to another…and making new friends along the way. 

A Squirrelly Tangle is a poem for everyone who loves the wonderful wildlife we share our world with.

A Story of Hope and Happiness

This is a story of triumph over adversity – an absorbing, thought-provoking, sometimes amusing but often heart-rending account of British businesswoman Rosemary Bidwell’s struggles to set up and run an orphanage in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for orphaned street children – youngsters whose parents had been savagely killed in a truly awful civil war.

Read how, against seemingly insurmountable odds, Rosemary founded the Cotton Tree Children’s Trust charity in 2006 and set about raising thousands of pounds through donations, sponsorship, talks and myriad fund-raising events to give 20 African children a second chance in life.

Through her charity, Rosemary provided her charges not only with a roof over their heads, regular meals, clothing and general welfare and educational support, but love and affection.

Read, too, how Rosemary had to overcome all manner of obstacles on the way to achieving her goal: everything from corruption, bribery, fraud and interrogation by police for 11 hours without diplomatic representation to being falsely accused of child trafficking and suffering a suspected heart attack and having to be airlifted home.

Despite the trials and tribulations, Rosemary has overcome the many and varied setbacks she encountered over a period of 18 years. Today, thanks to her dedication, perseverance and Christian beliefs, the Cotton Tree children can now face the future with confidence and know that they have been given an opportunity to prosper in life that, sadly, has been denied to so many other Sierra Leone children.

A Summer's Tale

An adventure about the various animal characters in A Summer’s Tale in the beautiful setting of Snowdrop Hall, home to Lord and Lady Badger and their children. The adventure is full of fun, full of imagination, loveable animal characters with lots of magic, suspense and intrigue, as well as music, a memorable experience for all, but above all, a beautiful story that will draw the readers both young and old to be part of the amazing adventure and to join in, especially with the songs.

As always, the book has a strong conservation theme, this book is interlinked to the author’s other books. But the main message is that the book gives enjoyment, hope and happiness to all. After all, we are all children at heart.

A Tiger Called Luger

Luger was a handsome young tiger who, for some reason only known to him, just wasn’t happy with the way he looked! He tried everything he could to change the way he looked! He tried rubbing his stripes off, washing them off, covering them up with mud…because he wanted to look like someone else, like a lion.

Find out what happens next. Does Luger manage to hide his stripes?

Join Luger to learn about being yourself.