Daedalus Books

Father Christmas is starting his rounds on Christmas Eve, but his little helper has forgotten to bring the gifts and sweets! Can she collect them all in time? Or will some children have no presents this year? This traditional story gives children a glimpse into the busy lives of Father Christmas and his helpers on Christmas Eve, showing the work of the angels up in the heavens and how all the creatures on Earth come to share in the joy of Christmas. Else Wenz-Vietor brings the magic of Christmas alive once more with her beautiful illustrations.

Lively, warm and friendly, this illustrated collection — plus a CD with Peter Yarrow, his daughter Bethany and cellist Rufus Cappadocia — will bring families together to read and to sing. Peter makes every tune sound fresh and irresistible and Terry Widener's appealing pictures capture the spirit of each song, from the wild waves and rocking boat of Sloop John B to happy dancers ready to Skip to My Lou. Included in the book and CD are: The Golden Vanity, Skip to My Lou, Cockles and Mussels, The Fox, Springfield Mountain, The Erie Canal, Rock-a My Soul, I've Been Workin' on the Railroad and Sloop John B.

These classic nursery rhymes come to life with bright, animated illustrations and moving parts. Children will enjoy playing with the moving parts while following the actions of the much-loved nursery rhyme.

A few simple tricks will carry you far in the social world, and the menagerie in this book will help you to master them, from the proper way to converse (don't open your mouth just to hear yourself roar) to good manners while bathing (don't hog the mud bath!).

Read about... AND SEE... Vampires, Werewolves, Yeti's, Medusa, Griffins and a Komodo Dragon in this amazing Pop up book featuring the most ghastly, grisly and scary creatures ever!

Meet your favourite «Harry Potter» heroes and villains and relive some of the most memorable and poignant moments from Harry's first six years at Hogwarts, in this beautifully designed pull-tab and lift-the-flap deluxe book.

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. Prepare yourself. From this wonderful writer who continues to astonish us, now comes a chilling ghost story.

It is a troublesome fact on which even Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi agree: there are things that men know and ladies do not, and vice versa. It is unfortunate, for example, when Mma Ramotswe's newest client is the big-shot owner of the ailing Kalahari Swoopers, that one thing lady detectives know very little about is football. And when the glamorous Violet Sephotho sets her sights on Mma Makutsi's unsuspecting fiance, it becomes exasperatingly clear that some men do not know how to recognise a ruthless Jezebel even when she is bouncing up and down on the best bed in the Double Comfort Furniture Shop. In her attempt to foster understanding between the sexes and find the traitor on Mr Football's team, Mma Ramotswe ventures into new territory, drinks tea in unfamiliar kitchens and learns to trust in the observational powers of small boys. And, as wise and warm-hearted as his heroine, Alexander McCall Smith reminds us that we must dig deep to uncover the goodness of the human heart.

Le Carre's fiercely compelling novel begins as a half-starved young Russian man is smuggled into Hamburg in the dead of night. Annabel, an idealistic German civil rights lawyer, determines to save him from deportation. Soon, her client's survival becomes more important than her own career-or safety.

How will the Second World War be remembered? Not as a series of strategic battles but as a dramatic turning point in world history, recorded through the personal accounts, diaries, and speeches of those that were there. World War Two: the Autobiography places centre stage the individual accounts of over 200 people who saw events unfolding before their eyes: from the first stirrings of Nazi aggression, to the phoney war and the Blitzkrieg; from the frozen wastes of the Eastern Front to life under the threat of the Blitz in London. This autobiography offers a panoramic view of the conflict and with entries from all the major figures of the war, including Churchill, Field Marshal Montgomery, Hitler, Stalin and Rommel, as well as accounts from the men and women on the front line, the home front and those unfortunate to be prisoners of war, from all sides of the conflict.

This exquisitely illustrated edition of Bill Bryson's best-selling biography of William Shakespeare takes the reader on an enthralling guide through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship. Bill Bryson's Shakespeare pairs our most celebrated writer in history with one of the most cherished writers in the English language today. In this elegant new illustrated edition, the superstitions, academic discoveries and myths surrounding the life of our greatest poet and playwright are evoked through a series of full-colour paintings, drawings, portraits, documents and photographs. Bryson also includes the recent discoveries of the Cobbe portrait and the remains of Shakespeare's first theatre in Shoreditch. Examining centuries of myths, half-truths and downright lies, Bryson — with his inimitable wit and intelligence — has attempted to make sense of the man behind the masterpieces. In a journey through the streets of Shakespeare's time, he brings to life the hubbub of Elizabethan England and a host of characters along the way. Bryson celebrates the glory of Shakespeare's language — his ceaseless inventiveness gave us hundreds of now indispensable phrases, images and words — and delights in details of his fall-outs and folios, poetry and plays.

THE POWERFUL NEW BESTSELLER FROM ONE OF THE NATION'S FAVOURITE STORYTELLERS Harry always knew he would go back on day! Eighteen years ago when he was a boy, he had made a decision that drove him from the pace he knew and loved. In those early years, between boy and man, he had carved out a life for himself, and somehow, he had found a semblance of peace.Yet through every waking moment during those long aching years, he was haunted by what happened when he was a boy. He had never forgotten that warm, carefree girl with the laughing eyes.The he recalled the sadness, the bad timings and even now, he could not forgive himself. They say you never forget your first love and it's true. You could have a dozen loving relationships and even settle down with someone you would die for, but your first love is always there, safe and protected in your heart and soul. Now for the first time in all those years, Harry is heading back. Excited, afraid, and full of doubts, he knows he has no choice. Rightly or wrongly, he needs to know the outcome of what happened all those years ago. And most importantly, he needs to find forgiveness.

The New York Trilogy is an astonishing and original book: three cleverly interconnected novels that exploit the elements of standard detective fiction and achieve a new genre that is all the more gripping for its starkness. In each story the search for clues leads to remarkable coincidences in the universe as the simple act of trailing a man ultimately becomes a startling investigation of what it means to be human. Auster's book is modern fiction at its finest: bold, arresting and unputdownable.

The White Castle, Orhan Pamuk's celebrated first novel, is the tale of a young Italian scholar captured by pirates and put up for auction at the Istanbul slave market. Acquired by a brilliant Turkish inventor, he is set to work on projects to entertain the jaded Sultan.

A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance. First published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics.

Based on a riveting historical episode, The Stalin Epigram is a fictional rendering of the life of Osip Mandelstam, perhaps the greatest Russian poet of the twentieth century — and one of the few artists in Soviet Russia who daringly refused to pay creative homage to Joseph Stalin. The poet's defiance of the Kremlin dictator and the Bolshevik regime — particularly his outspoken criticism of Stalin's collectivization rampage that drove millions of Russian peasants to starvation — reached its climax in 1934 when Mandelstam, putting his life on the line, composed a searing indictment of Stalin in a sixteen-line epigram and secretly recited it to a handful of friends and fellow artists. Would Stalin and his merciless state security apparatus get wind of this brazenly insulting poem? Would the poet's body and spirit be crushed under the weight of the state if they did? Narrated in turn by Mandelstam himself, his devoted wife, his great friends the poets Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova, along with vivid fictional characters, The Stalin Epigram is the page-turning tale of courage and the human spirit told in deftly poetic prose by a perceptive, talented writer. With the benefit of extraordinary research and an almost mystical empathy, bestselling author Robert Littell has drawn a fictional portrait of the beleaguered poet struggling to survive the running riot of Stalinist Russia in the 1930s. This memorable novel culminates in a wholly unexpected encounter that illuminates the agonizing choices Russian intellectuals faced during the Stalinist terror and explains what drew Robert Littell to the poignant subject in the first place.

Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell, when the story of Inkheart magically drew Meggie, Mo and Dustfinger back into its pages, life in the Inkworld has been far from easy. With Dustfinger dead, and the evil Adderhead now in control, the story in which they are all caught has taken an unhappy turn. Even Elinor, left alone in the real world, believes her family to be lost — lost between the covers of a book. As winter turns to spring, there is reason to hope — but only if Meggie and her father, and their loyal band of followers, are ready to make a dangerous deal with death.

Chestertonians and other readers will rejoice in the republication of this long-unavailable book of delights. Featuring the author's early work as well as previously unpublished material, this volume abounds in fairy stories, comic verses, and satirical ballads. Best of all, it features a treasury of Chesterton's distinctive colour and black-and-white illustrations. This is a reprint of the Sheed & Ward, New York, 1938 edition.

Ranging from the 10th to the 20th centuries, these ghostly tales mix the eerie, the terrifying, and the madly comic. Enhanced by the author's 30 illustrations of Irish homes and castles, 22 short stories feature The headless Rider of Castle Sheela, Mrs O'Moyne and the Fatal Slap, The Harpies of The Ghostly Catch, and more. This book is a reprint of the Creative Age, New York, 1947 edition.

A new tie-in edition of one of Agatha Christie's most well-loved Marple mysteries, published to coincide with major ITV series starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate — shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building. Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gilbrandsen's visit.

A new tie-in edition of one of Agatha Christie's most well-loved Marple mysteries, published to coincide with major ITV series starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his 'counting house' when he suffered an agonising and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals. Yet, it was the incident in the parlour which confirmed Miss Marple's suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme!

The quintessential Jazz Age writer, Fitzgerald masterfully portrayed the manners and morals of the wealthy and glamorous during the Roaring Twenties. This anthology includes 6 of his most popular stories: The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, the title tale, The Offshore Pirate, The Ice Palace, The Jelly Bean, and May Day. This is a dover original selection from Flappers and Philosophers and Tales of the Jazz Age, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1920 and 1922.

Doherty's inspired retellings of some of the best-loved stories of all time come alive thanks to Ray's rich and vividly detailed illustrations. This gorgeous collection of offers a diversity of fairy tale worlds sure to engage readers of all ages.

From the acclaimed author of The Whiskey Rebels and A Conspiracy of Paper comes a superb new historical thriller set in the splendor and squalor of eighteenth-century London. In Benjamin Weaver, David Liss has created one of fiction's most enthralling characters. The year is 1722. Ruffian for hire, ex-boxer, and master of disguise, Weaver finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, pitted against Jerome Cobb, a wealthy and mysterious schemer who needs Weaver's strength and guile for his own treacherous plans. Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from England's most heavily guarded estate, the headquarters of the ruthless British East India Company, but the theft of corporate secrets is only the first move in a daring conspiracy within the eighteenth century's most powerful corporation. To save his friends and family from Cobb's reach, Weaver must infiltrate the Company, navigate its warring factions, and uncover a secret plot of corporate rivals, foreign spies, and government operatives. With millions of pounds and the security of the nation at stake, Weaver will find himself in a labyrinth of hidden agendas, daring enemies, and unexpected allies. With the explosive action and scrupulous period research that are David Liss's trademarks, The Devil's Company, depicting the birth of the modern corporation, is the most impressive achievement yet from an author who continues to set ever higher standards for historical suspense.