Space Drones - Conquering Nightmares

Zachary and his puppy, Wanda, love playing outside. But one day, a noisy drone falls from the sky and scares them!

That night, Zachary has a dream about big, scary robots.

He knows he needs to be brave and face his dream to make it go away.

With Wanda beside him, can Zachary show the robots he’s not afraid?

Join them on a brave bedtime adventure!

Speak Scruffy! Have a Go!

Scruffy is an adventurous dog who wants to explore the world but finds himself a little bit lonely and a little bit confused…until he has a go.

Speak Scruffy! Have a Go! is a French language-learning bilingual picture storybook, written for children of approximately 3–8 years of age. It introduces the concept of travel and languages. It is a first step in developing young children’s ability to communicate with French speakers, aided with pronunciation hints such as for ‘Thank you’ there is ‘Merci’ (mair-see). Families can communicate essential language with confidence when they travel. In addition to the enjoyment of learning a language, parents and teachers can foster an appreciation and respect for other cultures.

This is an entertaining, uplifting, interactive story about a dog’s journey, not just a travelling journey, but a journey which involves uncertainty, kindness, understanding the world better, perseverance, building confidence, celebrating difference and gaining a new language skill. It’s a fun, shared experience to be read over and over again.

Learning a language provides many benefits such as improving cognitive function. Languages are a lifelong skill that can be used in business and pleasure, enabling communication, discovery and a wider cultural understanding.

Speaking Volumes

How did a fishmonger’s son from Tyneside, growing up in the 1950s with a Geordie accent, become the person who recorded over 900 audiobooks and received an MBE from the Queen in the Birthday Honours of 2017?
This ‘charming’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘heart-warming’ memoir answers that question.

Reviews:

AudioFile magazine
“…not simply a reader but an artist of the spoken word…”
“…Gordon Griffin, an entire acting company in one person…”

“Witty and moving memoir of how a working-class boy becomes THE voice of the spoken word.
Honest and vivid account plus excellent advice for those of us who work with words.” Miriam Margolyes

Spirits of Severn

The River Severn is Britain's longest natural waterway. It rises in mid-Wales, where it is known as the Hafren. Both these names stem from that of a river goddess, known since prehistoric times as Sabrina. To stop anywhere along Sabrina's course, or on either side of her beautiful estuary, is to risk becoming absorbed and transfixed by her ever-moving, yet timelessly repetitive progress. Throw a net across Sabrina, from side to side, and you might catch a fish, but the body of her stream will pass straight through the mesh. Can words possibly convey the elusive majesty of her current, or adequately describe its multi-stranded sacred story? In Spirits of Severn, artist and mythographer Michael Dames - whose acclaimed work includes The Silbury Treasure, The Avebury Cycle and Mythic Ireland - brings the river's illusive legacy to the surface, while tracing her progress from her pair of sources to the furthest tips of her Mor Hafren estuary.

Spoils of War

On his 21^st birthday, Glenn spies his rogue of a grandad making his way through the throng of the party to where he stood at the bar. Victor is a war veteran and a hero from Dublin, but these days, fifty years later, he is seen usually outside of a pub. Loved by all the men and despised by the women, what secrets does he hide?

He tells Glenn a fantastic story of hidden war treasure and challenges his grandsons to go to North Africa and find it. The story is laughed off until Victor’s untimely death leaves the full-written story and a pot of money. The grandsons feel they have to follow Victor’s footsteps, and so begins across continents an adventure of murder, treasure hunting and love…

Spoony and the Lost Hammer of Darkerden

ARE YOU READY FOR ADVENTURE?

Join Spoony and his gadget building friend Weeble in an exciting tale of mythical creatures and a long hidden dwarven kingdom. Our two heroes must help Slammer the Haimen regain the Lost Hammer of Darkerden before the gate wards fail and the kingdom is exposed.

Will they locate the hammer in time or will Darkerden fall?

Spotty Paint

It’s a race against time! Everybody knows that when a new baby arrives, you must learn to do things at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, this can result in unforeseen problems, especially when it comes to spotty paint!

It takes a whole week to finish the job with lots of mishaps along the way.

The delightfully rhythmic beat and playful words creates a poetic feel to Spotty Paint, subtly introducing days of the week, things to count and colour recognition to pre and early readers.

Can you spot Grandma’s robin?

Spoz and friends: Tales of a London medical student

These delightful stories chart the stuttering and at times quite hapless progress of ‘the Spoz', (so named by his brother ‘the Woog') from Norwich schooldays through his time as a student at a prestigious London medical school in the 1970s. From his initial interview at St Thomas' Hospital - an institution he chose because he had never heard of it and on that rather dubious basis thought he was more likely to be accepted - to his final exams, the book documents the author's painful progress as an immature seventeen-year-old away from home for the first time. Sexually naïve, he devotes much of his time attempting to lose his virginity, while his excessive beer-drinking hampers his success and results in several awkward brushes with the London constabulary. Chronically impecunious and homeless for several months, Spoz devises various hair-brained money-making schemes and ultimately has to take extensive time out of his studies to work on a nearby building site. From there he witnesses the bombing of Westminster Palace by the IRA, while his absenteeism from classes almost results in a premature end to his already unpromising career. While always infused with the author's characteristic humour, the Tales of Spoz offer the reader a more serious yet unobtrusive social commentary on the problems of being a student in that era, charting the often tortuous transition of a group of young men from immature schoolboys to responsible young doctors.

Spring Summer Autumn Winter

Haiku poetry is a unique form of poetry in that it is regarded in itself as an intrinsic embodiment of ancient Zen philosophy, now powerfully resurgent in both the eastern and western worlds. In Spring Summer Autumn Winter, Zen Master Brahm’s collection of monastic haiku places him at the forefront of the few modern haiku poets who write within the classic traditions of the greatest Japanese haiku masters of past centuries.

His work has been described as captivating and inspirational and reflects his deep perception of the wonderment of nature and the breadth and beauty of the human condition. Above all, each haiku is a Zen lesson in mindfulness. In essence, this is a book of wisdom.

Sprite and the Two Talking Turtles

Matthew and Sprite are playing a game on the beach when Sprite loses the stick. They both hear a cry for help and come to the rescue.

Squiggly Diddly

Squiggly Diddly Spider is sitting happily in her web in the kitchen when suddenly she spots a juicy fly that she can enjoy for her tea; all she needs to do is catch him first! Squiggly is feeling very hungry, so she scrambles down to the floor where Mummy sees her, and Mummy doesn’t look very happy! Out comes the big sweeping brush, alongside Dad with his stomping shoe! Will Squiggly Diddly get splatted by Mummy or Dad? Or will she escape? Will Squiggly ever catch the yummy-looking fly and get to eat him for her tea? Or does the fly have another idea to save him so he doesn’t end up being on Squiggly Diddly’s plate?

Ssssh, She's a Spy

When Jasper unexpectedly inherits an enchanting Elizabethan house from his late Uncle, he embarks on a journey filled with unforeseen challenges. As he settles into his newfound ownership, he discovers that the house harbours a unique mix of elderly residents whose lives are far more complex than meets the eye.

Intrigue looms as Jasper wonders: has he stumbled upon a hidden nest of spies? And if so, who do they serve? The answers elude him, weaving a web of mystery and uncertainty. Caught in a tangle of secrets and deception, Jasper must navigate treacherous waters to uncover the truth.

Will the tangled threads of espionage be unravelled? Can Jasper find a way to untangle the complexities of the spies within his inherited home? In this captivating tale, the stakes are high, and the world of spies proves to be as enigmatic as it is complicated.