The Wind in the Willows belongs to the classic age of childrens classic novels. The charming exciting & humorous tales of the riverbank featuring Ratty Mole Badger & the conceited but irrepressible Toad of Toad Hall whose passion for motorcars lands him in many scrapes still continue to exert their charm over grown-ups as well as children. ...

This timeless story opens with Mole leaving his spring-cleaning & going above ground to explore the world beyond his burrow. Making friends with Ratty the two become inseparable & together they spend long summer days enjoying the delights of the river & its banks. Then they meet the impetuous Toad & the distinguished though slightly stern Mr Badger & find themselves caught up in a series of adventures to rescue Toad from his own reckless behaviour & return him safely to Toad Hall. Stolen cars prison sentences daring escapes & dastardly villains all feature in this classic tale of high-adventure & rock-solid friendship. The Wind in the Willows is a story full of beautifully-drawn characters. It is cherished from one generation to the next & so makes a perfect choice for a gift book as it will be enjoyed in equal measure by those tucked up in bed to hear the story for the first time & those who remember many of its lines fondly as they read the story aloud for their young listeners. This is a sumptuous & contemporary gift edition with stunning illustrations from David Roberts. ...

Walker Illustrated Classics" is a new series which brings together some of the best-loved stories ever told illustrated by some of today's finest artists. These exquisitely designed books with their magnificent words & glorious pictures are a pleasure to read
- & re-read. The classics have never looked so good! Kenneth Grahame's classic children's story tells the adventures of the amiable Mole the dapper Water Rat & the marvellous Badger as they endeavour to keep the wayward Toad out of trouble. It is sensitively abridged & beautifully illustrated with great charm & detail by Inga Moore."
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I hate school! I hate ratings! I won't reach higher! I won't strive harder! I won't make tomorrow better than today!" In the walled city of Aramanth exams are everything
- not only for children but for whole families. When Kestrel Hath dares to rebel the Chief Examiner humiliates her father & sentences the family to the harshest punishment. Desperate to save them Kestrel discovers that life in Aramanth was once different
- & if she can find the secret of the Wind Singer maybe life can change for the better once more. So she & her twin brother Bowman set out on a terrifying journey
- to the true source of the evil that grips Aramanth..."


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What's the hook? This gripping novel is packed with interesting things to say about an education system that over-relies on testing! What are the themes? Individual vs society family friendships & war. Teaching points? An excellent model for introduction irony & symbolism. ...

For readers new to The Dark Tower THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a st&-alone novel & a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story which features both the younger & older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland & his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City & arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. This Russian Doll of a novel a story within a story within a story visits Mid-World's last gunslinger Roland Deschain & his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV & Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter a skin man " Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland himself only a teenager calms the boy by reciting a story from the Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime ' The Wind through the Keyhole'. "A person's never too old for stories " he says to Bill. " Man & boy girl & woman we live for them." & stories like these they live for us. The back cover of the UK hardcover edition features some 8 000 faces of those who entered the Stephen King Faces competition. These faces are indiscernible to the naked eye on the actual covers but they can be found & identified with the zoom mechanism on http://www.stephenkingfaces.com/" ...

For readers new to The Dark Tower THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a st&-alone novel & a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story which features both the younger & older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland & his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City & arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. This Russian Doll of a novel a story within a story within a story visits Mid-Worlds last gunslinger Roland Deschain & his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV & Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger in the guilt ridden year following his mothers death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter a skin man Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beasts most recent slaughter. Roland himself only a teenager calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime The Wind through the Keyhole. A persons never too old for stories he says to Bill. Man & boy girl & woman we live for them. & stories like these they live for us. ...

THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. For readers new to The Dark Tower THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a st&-alone novel & a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story which features both the younger & older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland & his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City & arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis. This Russian Doll of a novel a story within a story within a story visits Mid-World's last gunslinger Roland Deschain & his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV & Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter a 'skin man ' Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland himself only a teenager calms the boy by reciting a story from the Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime ' The Wind through the Keyhole'. 'A person's never too old for stories ' he says to Bill. ' Man & boy girl & woman we live for them.' & stories like these they live for us. The back cover of the UK hardcover edition features some 8 000 faces of those who entered the Stephen King Faces competition. These faces are indiscernible to the naked eye on the actual covers but they can be found & identified with the zoom mechanism on http://www.stephenkingfaces.com/ ...

Toru Okada's cat has disappeared & this has unsettled his wife who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague & blameless life spent cooking reading listening to jazz & opera & drinking beer at the kitchen table are turned inside out & he embarks on a bizarre journey guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters each with a tale to tell. ...

All the thrills & spills of the Grand Prix are in this book! With three sturdy tracks embedded in the pages the two accompanying wind-up racing car toys can be raced overtaking one another crashing & swerving to be the first to reach the finish line. It contains all sorts of information & fun facts about motor racing including pit stops overtaking & getting ready to race. This is a perfect gift for young racing enthusiasts. ...