A funny, non-fiction picture book all about one of the world’s most popular animals – owls!Learn about owls in this funny, fact-filled picture book. Let Professor Olaf put you through your paces at Owl School. He’ll teach you how to eat, sleep, hoot and even hide like an owl. Have you got what it takes? With gorgeous, humorous illustrations by Maddie Frost.
First scholarly edition of a bestselling historical novelExplores thesocio-political themes of the novel and deemed as relevant today as they were over 200 years agoSituates work in the genealogy of the historical novel and examines its literary and cultural influenceScholarly annotations clarify the historical context: the French Revolution, the related war in Poland, and Britain's response to Polish refugees in the 1790sPublished in 1803, Thaddeus of Warsaw is a beguiling romance that also exposes the hardships faced by migrants in Britain two hundred years ago. Jane Porter tells the story of a dashing Polish refugee, Thaddeus Sobieski, who must escape hostilities in his homeland. In London he faces poverty and prejudice, but his courage and goodness bring him to the attention of a circle of women who, in a surprising role reversal, either aid or woo him. He must also solve the mystery of his birth by discovering and confronting the British father who abandoned him.A carefully contextualised introduction to the novel and its author situates the work in the genealogy of the historical novel, examining its literary and cultural influence. Supporting materials include contemporary reviews, poems on Poland and correspondence regarding the novel's early success.
A uplifting and touching story about curiosity and caring that is perfect for sharing.Stella is a great detective. She can’t help noticing everything around her – clouds shaped like horses, wheelie bins with faces, a lonely glove on a fence, people that look like their dogs and even a man with a furry hat that looks like a cat on his head. Stella tells Dad about everything she’s seen but Dad is worried that she’s going to hurt people’s feelings.But when Stella spots a sad lady in the park she knows that speaking up is just the right thing to do.
A warm and reassuring story of friendship, confidence and finding your voice.In the heart of the forest, everyone is getting ready for the Big Show. Bob is desperate to join in, but every time he tries to sing in front of anyone he gets so nervous that his trunk gets tangled and all he can do is squeak. Bob's friend Paloma shares her special secret to beat stage fright and helps him overcome his fears, but the moment he steps into the spotlight, it all goes wrong. Can Bob remember the secret and save the show?
A funny and informative picture book all about fabulous frogs!Have you ever wanted to leap twenty times your own body length? Can you drink through your skin? How about catching all your food with just your tongue? Come and join frog club to learn all about amazing amphibians in this funny, fact-filled picture book. Let Fabio Frog put you through your paces. He’ll teach you how to croak, wriggle, leap and catch flies! Have you got what it takes? With gorgeous, humorous illustrations by Neil Clark.
Jane Porter (17 January 1776 - 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Jane Porter was born in Durham as the third of the five children of William Porter and Jane n e Blenkinsop. Tall and beautiful as she grew up, Jane Porter's grave air earned her the nickname La Penserosa ("the pensive girl"). After her father's death, her family moved to Edinburgh, where Sir Walter Scott was a regular visitor. Some time afterwards the family moved to London, where the sisters became acquainted with a number of literary women: Elizabeth Inchbald, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Hannah More, Elizabeth Hamilton, Selina Davenport, Elizabeth Benger and Mrs Champion de Crespigny. Porter's siblings also achieved some fame in their lifetimes; her sister Anna Maria Porter was also a novelist; her brother Sir Robert Ker Porter was a noted painter. Porter is considered to have "crafted and pioneered many of the narrative tools most commonly associated with both the national tale and the historical novel." Her 1810 work The Scottish Chiefs, about William Wallace, one of the earliest examples of the historical novel, was very successful and the French version was banned by Napoleon). It has remained popular with Scottish children. The Pastor's Fireside (1815) was a story about the later Stuarts. Porter contributed to periodicals and wrote the play Switzerland (1819), which seems to have been deliberately sabotaged by its lead Edmund Kean and closed after its first performance. She is sometimes "credited" with the 1822 production Owen, Prince of Powys, which closed after only three performances, but this was actually the work of Samson Penley. Porter also wrote Tales Round a Winter Hearth (1821), Coming Out (1828), and The Field of Forty Footsteps (1828) with her sister, Anna Maria.
