In the spirit of A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters stars Jaundice & Kale Bl&-two sisters who avoid excitement at any cost. Instead, they eat tasteless oatmeal, rarely venture into bright sunlight, & read only Dr. Snoote`s Dictionary, because storybooks are just too thrilling. Together, they await the return of their parents, who left for an errand years ago & have never come back. One day, a knock on the door leads to the Bland sisters` kidnapping by an all-female band of pirates-but this is only the beginning of their escapades. Filled with Roald Dahl-esque humour, hilarious high jinks, & swashbuckling, The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters: The Jolly Regina will appeal to middle-grade readers looking for an anything-but-bland adventure. ...

The Solovetski Islands are a remote, lonely archipelago in the south of Russia`s White Sea. Isolated & unknown, they represent Russia in miniature. The Polish journalist Mariusz Wilk, whose surname translates as ` Wolf`, retreated to these glaciated wastelands for several years to observe Russia & contemplate its nature, history, people & events in an attempt to touch the essence of the country. What resulted are a sequence of strong, haunting vignettes that explore the quintessence of soulful, village-orientated Russia, which exists outside of historical events & chronology. Once a craddle of the Orthodox faith & home to a fifteenth century monastry, the islands became a dumping ground for political prisoners, an experimental Gulag & a military test site. Much of the landscape is desolate & the islands languish in a state of decay & delapidation. Many of the 1000 or so inhabitants are unemployed, undernourished & alcoholic, trapped here by circumstances & poverty. However, Wilk discovers a bleak type of beauty on the islands & his descriptions of the smells, tastes & colours present throughout the landscape enrich the text. This unusual book opens up a very diferent Russia. Infused with empathy for the place & its people, this is an emotionally powerful account of life in an area that has largely dropped off most Western observers mental maps of the world. Stanfords Book of the Month September 2003 ...

Cook led three famous expeditions to the Pacific Ocean between 1768 & 1779. In voyages that ranged from the Antarctic circle to the Arctic Sea, Cook charted Australia & the whole coast of New Zeal&, & brought back detailed descriptions of the natural history of the Pacific. Accounts based on Cook`s journals were issued at the time, but it was not until this century that the original journals were published in Beaglehole`s definitive edition. ” The Journals” tells the story of these voyages as Cook wanted it to be told, radiating the ambition, courage & skill which enabled him to carry out an unrivalled series of expeditions in dangerous waters. ...

The 34cm (14) Journey globe offers nearly 5, 000 place names, featuring the National Geographic dual map
- political cartography
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What is it like to leave everything behind & travel many miles to somewhere unfamiliar & strange? A mother & her two children set out on such a journey; one filled with fear of the unknown, but also great hope. Based on her own interactions with people forced to seek a new home, & told from the perspective of a young child, Francesca Sanna has created a beautiful & sensitive book that is full of significance for our time. ...

Hop in the car & watch all that whizzes past the window as you head for home. You'll find all kinds of things to look at as you join in the catchy singalong song! This action-packed book is ideal for teaching different colours & types of transport & for developing map-reading skills. It is a perfect match for best-selling title We All Go Travelling By (9781841488806)
- over 50, 000 copies sold!
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Inspired by Dan Eldon`s wildly creative journals, this notebook allows anyone to create their own artist`s journal. Appealing for artists of all ages, the notebook features Dan Eldon`s artwork & h&-lettered"es from his journals as well as room to draw, collage, dream & write. ...

The extraordinary life of photojournalist, artist & avid adventurer Dan Eldon inspired a bestselling book, a foundation to support creative activism, & now a major feature film. Gathering together over 200 pages from Eldon`s journals, this revised edition of the critically acclaimed book features a new foreword by Kweku Mandela, a new afterword by Alicia Dougherty & Approx. 20 new pieces of art. It is the legacy of a young artist killed by an angry mob in Somalia just as his creative powers were beginning to be recognized by himself & others. Through these elaborately collaged & colorful pages, Eldon`s journey will continue to inspire many future generations to come. ...

`I have spent too long on plants & animals. Now it is time for human beings.` This haunting novel is based on the life of Anders Sparrman, the Swedish naturalist, who in the second half of the eighteenth century, became the last & youngest disciple of the scientist Carl Linnaeus. In his quest for new animal & plant specimens, Sparrman sailed to China at seventeen, joined Captain Cook on his second voyage to Antarctica & Tahiti, & made a pioneering journey on foot into the South African interior. In South Africa Sparrman witnessed the terrible cruelties of slavery, which made him a staunch abolitionist for the rest of his life. Wastberg uses his own extensive knowledge of South Africa & Sweden to create a strange, almost mystical narrative, that weaves passages from Sparrman`s letters & journals into his own spare prose. As he follows Sparrman from innocent student to sceptical adventurer to dedicated botanist to militant abolitionist, he evokes the beauty of the Swedish countryside, the squalid conditions on board ship, the dangers & geographical wonders of Africa &, finally, the late flowering passion that overtakes Sparrman`s life. In this magical, poetic novel, set between the end of the Enlightenment & the dawn of Romanticism, Wastberg`s narrative combines intellectual precision with emotional power. ...

`I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, & very frankly give them fruit for their songs.` Joseph ...