Elizabeth is desperate to play the piano in the end of school concert. But only one girl can be chosen & her rival Arabella is practising hard! Elizabeth knows Arabella is very good & might well be picked to play on the day
- so ignoring her looming exams she spends every waking minute practicing. When Arabella is still chosen over her she realises that not only will she not have a place in the school concert she might well also fail all her exams. Racing to get her revision done she finds a quiet spot in an old oak tree in the school grounds. It's very peaceful & lots of birds & other animals make their home in the tree. So when Elizabeth realises the tree is marked as one to be chopped down she's determined not to let it happen. But can she save the tree & manage to pass all her exams? It's going to be a fight to the finish...
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B. S. Johnson is a truly unique British writer a cult figure whose original & experimental fiction has since his tragically early death in 1973 been rediscovered by many subsequent generations of writers & readers. In many ways the heir to Joyce & Beckett Johnson played with form & narrative across many genres: novels plays poetry & memoir. To commemorate the eightieth anniversary of his birth two of the foremost scholars of B. S. Johnson Professor Philip Tew & Dr Julia Jordan have joined forces with Jonathan Coe author of the prize-winning biography Like a Fiery Elephant to offer a selection of his greatest uncollected or unavailable writing. Well Done God!

Includes:: his major prose work Arent You Rather Young to be Writing Your Memoirs? six plays & a selection of his remarkable journalism.

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When Jon Gibby wrote the third edition of his successful & popular book Betting on Flat Handicaps in 2005 he admitted that the growing influence of the betting exchanges & the ever increasing amount of information available to punters had made it harder to maintain an edge over the crowd. In order to preserve his advantage he has been searching for information not widely employed by other punters & to become better than them at interpreting it. Well-handicapped Horses has been fully updated & revised for the 2012 season to bring punters up to date with the enforced changes that the author has made to his methodology. It now

Includes:: 100 well-handicapped three-year-olds to follow in 2012.

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A powerful novel of love between women THE WELL OF LONELINESS brought about the most famous legal trial for obscenity in the history of British law. Banned on publication in 1928 it then went on to become a classic bestseller. Stephen Gordon (named by a father desperate for a son) is not like other girls: she hunts she fences she reads books wears trousers & longs to cut her hair. As she grows up amidst the stifling grandeur of Morton Hall the locals begin to draw away from her aware of some indefinable thing that sets her apart. & when Stephen Gordon reaches maturity she falls passionately in love
- with another woman.
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Leaving Swindon behind her to hide out in the Well of Lost Plots (the place where all fiction is created) Thursday Next Literary Detective & soon-to-be one parent family ponders her next move from within an unpublished book of dubious merit entitled Caversham Heights. Landen her husband is still eradicated Aornis Hades is meddling with Thursdays memory & Miss Havisham
- when not sewing up plot-holes in Mill on the Floss
- is trying to break the l&-speed record on the A409. But something is rotten in the state of Jurisfiction. Perkins is accidentally eaten by the minotaur & Snell succumbs to the Mispeling Vyrus. As a shadow looms over popular fiction Thursday must keep her wits about her & discover not only what is going on but also who she can trust to tell about it.. . With grammasites holesmiths trainee characters pagerunners baby dodos & an adopted home scheduled for demolition The Well of Lost Plots is at once an addictively exciting adventure & an insight into how books are made who makes them
- & why there is no singular for scampi. In the words of one critic: Dont ask. Just read it.


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The Well-Beloved completes the cycle of Hardys great novels reiterating his favourite themes of mans eternal quest for perfection in both love & art & the suffering that ensues. Jocelyn Pierston celebrated sculptor tries to create an image of his ideal woman
- his imaginary Well-Beloved
- in stone just as he tries to find her in the flesh. Powerful symbolism marks this romantic fantasy that Hardy has grounded firmly in reality with a characteristically authentic rendering of location the Isle of Slingers or Portland as we know it. Overt exploration of the relationship between erotic fascination & creativity makes this novel a nineteenth-century landmark in the persistent debate about art aesthetics & gender.

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The Well-Designed Mixed Garden" is a design book with a difference. Written for gardeners who are passionate about plants of all kinds (hence the mixed garden of the title) it reflects decades of professional experience & artistic innovation. As with her bestselling book " The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" master designer & plantswoman Tracy Di Sabato-Aust provides not only inspiration but also scrupulously organized information on design & connoisseur plants
- all from original research dating back to her degree work in horticulture. This paperback reprint is a master class of design fundamentals with an emphasis on often-neglected topics such as site evaluation color theory & planning for maintenance. It is also a gallery of detailed design plans that show how ideas are put onto paper & then translated into three

Dimensions. Lessons learned in its first two parts are strengthened in an " Encyclopedia of Plant Combinations"; each entry notes the design considerations at play & provides tips on how to keep the combination looking its best. & the lifetime care needs & unique design characteristics of featured plants are summarized in the useful charts & lists that conclude the book. The result is a nearly foolproof guide to every aspect of designing superior gardens with superior plants. With more than 250 color photos & illustrations this book is as much a feast for the eyes as it will be a trusted reference for the library shelf."


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What do we mean by wellbeing & what does it look like as it takes shape in early childhood? What can we do to support the wellbeing of children at home & in settings? This book provides some answers to these complex questions in a straightforward accessible way. Part 1: Iintroducing Wellbeing describes the backdrop for a new model of wellbeing outlining research & policy background & underpinning early childhood themes. Part 2: The Theory Of Wellbeing defines wellbeing itself describing the new model & the mechanism of wellbeing development called companionable learning. Part 3: Everday Wellbeing contains ideas & examples from homes & settings of real-life wellbeing. Chapter 6: All to play for is rich with ideas & examples of profoundly satisfying" wellbeing play. Part 4: Investing In Wellbeing is about professional development. It covers observation assessment & planning; the key person approach; when things go wrong; & integrating services across settings & communities. The book ends with the importance of collective wellbeing arguing that all young children need experiences of individual & collective wellbeing in their families & their communities. Essential reading for anyone studying early childhood & for managers & practitioners working with young children & their families this book is an inspirational guide to developing a framework for wellbeing from birth." ...

The archetype of the stern silent Englishman dedicated to his duty the Duke of Wellington had all the subtlety & variety of genius. WELLINGTON uncovers the sensitive child of Irish aristocrats pushed into the army making his name in India before returning to lead the Allied Armies to victory against Napoleon in the Peninsular War & at Waterloo. Swapping battlegrounds for political minefields Wellington emerges as a conservative Tory Prime Minister of a country demanding every variety of reform. Many strands gradually come together in his character to make at last the ideal he had always held out for himself; the retained servant of king & people. WELLINGTON triumphantly succeeds in revealing an unforgettable appealing & very human character. Magisterial vivid exhaustively researched sympathetic yet balanced rich in personal details but scholarly too. Elizabeth Longfords classic biography was greeted with a storm of acclaim. ...

Richard Holmes highly acclaimed military historian & broadcaster tells the exhilarating story of Britain's greatest-ever soldier the man who posed the most serious threat to Napoleon. The Duke of Wellington's remarkable life & extraordinary campaigns are recreated with Holmes' superb skill in this compelling book. Richard Holmes charts Wellington's stellar military career from India to Europe & in the process rediscovers the reasons Queen Victoria called him the greatest man the nineteenth century had produced. Combining his astute historical analysis with a semi-biographical examination of Wellington Holmes artfully illustrates the rapid evolution in military & political thinking of the time. Wellington is a brilliant figure idealistic in politics cynical in love a wit a beau a man of enormous courage often sickened by war. As Richard Holmes charts his progress from a shy indolent boy to commander-in-chief of the allied forces he also exposes the Iron Duke as a philanderer & a man who sometimes despised the men that he led & was not always in control of his soldiers. Particularly infamous is the bestial rampage of his men after the capture of Cuidad Rodgrigo & Badajoz. THE IRON DUKE is a beautifully produced book complete with stunning illustrations & colour plates. Richard Holmes' TV series to accompany THE IRON DUKE will be lavishly constructed in four parts & filmed on location in Britain India Spain Portugal France & Belgium. ...