Penguin Group

Educational and entertaining, these classic Wee Sing book and CD titles are now tailored for the most modern Wee Sing fans. Each 64-page book and one-hour audio CD are contained in reusable blister packages.

Picture a camel playing a clarinet and a squirrel on the sax — these are the images that will help youngsters learn their ABCs. Includes a 20-minute cassette where the letters are spoken and the instrument played, while an infectious melody anchors the concept firmly in the child's mind. Full color.

In a small Greek island village, a group of travelers from around the world and the local residents they encounter are brought together in unexpected ways when sudden tragedy strikes. In her inimitable style, Maeve Binchy shares with readers the lives of these strangers, learning their hopes, dreams, and fears as they move forward, forever changed by their experience. Here is the story of old Andreas, the gentle taverna owner who has spent many years regretting the argument that drove his only son to America; Elsa, the beautiful German reporter who gave up her television career and the man she loves once she learned the secret he hid from her; and Fiona, the Irish nurse and dutiful daughter, who's gone off to travel with the man everyone says is wrong for her, determined to show them all — even if everyone is right. This is also the story of David, the only son who loves his family but not the family business; Thomas, the Californian who is able to cope with his recent divorce but not with sharing his son with his wife's new husband; and Vonni, who rashly left behind her life in Ireland to follow her true love to this village thirty years ago — and who is wise for everyone but herself. A story that only Maeve Binchy could tell, told with the authenticity, charm, and grace that are her trademark, Nights of Rain and Stars will be rightly cherished by her millions of fans around the world.

Presents the legends, songs, and sayings of Uncle Remus, following the text of the first edition of Joel Chandler Harris' attempt to record traditional black stories of his time.

Anita is pushed to her limits-both professionally and passionately — when she is called in on what appears to be a case involving a vampire serial killer preying on strippers.

The Cold War is at its most chill. Alec Leamas, a seasoned British Intelligence officer whose entire East German network has been arrested or shot, leaves West Berlin for London, believing his career is over. But his master, Control, knows that Leamas is good for a last mission: one that will allow him to take his revenge on the ruthless East German counterintelligence chief who has killed or imprisoned his agents. And lurking discreetly in the background, George Smiley will be pulling the operational strings.

Designed to teach elementary concepts to young kids through music and song, each package contains a 16-page board book and a 20-minute CD which focus on a specific concept and use a kid-friendly theme.

Art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon is sent to Vienna to investigate a bombing and uncovers a portrait of evil stretching across sixty years and thousands of lives-and into his own personal nightmares.

Marcus and Doro were part of a left wing commune from the late 1960s until the early 1990s: lentils, free love, spliffs, Left politics, cheesecloth blouses, sex, housework and cooking rotis, crochet, and allotments. Their children have grown up rather different from them: primary schoolteacher Clara craves order and clean bathrooms, son Serge is pretending to his parents that he is still doing a Maths PhD at Cambridge, while in fact working making loads of money in the City; third child Oolie Anna, who has Downs Syndrome, is desperate to escape home and live on her own. Set half in Doncaster, half in London, this is a very funny riff on modern values, featuring hamsters, cockroaches, poodles, a Chicken and multiplying rabbits, told by Marina Lewycka in her unique and brilliant combination of irony, farce and wit.

'He was constantly harassed with the idea, that the next time he lifted his eyes, he would to a certainty see that face, the most repulsive to all his feelings of aught the earth contained'. Robert Wringhim knows himself to be one of the Elect: predestined for a salvation which nothing he can do, however criminal or bloody, will prevent. With conviction he records his own devout, dark work, committed in the company of his new friend Gil-Martin — who can pass for Robert, and carry other likenesses too. James Hogg's tale of religious fanaticism and evil is a chilling classic of the macabre, and its telling is as troublingly, compellingly duplicitous as Gil-Martin himself. Initially unappreciated, then bowdlerised, it has gone on to have appeal and influence as great as anything in Scottish literature.

'Lady Audley uttered a long, low, wailing cry, and threw up her arms above her head with a wild gesture of despair'. Robert Audley is pleased for his uncle when he brings home a pretty young bride, even though her past is shrouded in mystery. But when his old friend Talboys is treated strangely by Lady Audley, then goes suddenly missing, Robert has no choice but to begin investigations. Lady Audley's Secret epitomized the scandalous sensation fiction of the 1860s. Lady Audley herself, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past, embodied the concerns of the age with the rise of the middle class and with madness and morality.

Are love and devotion enough to create a happy family? When Andi married Ethan she not only got the man she loved but also the chance to be a mother, to his daughters Emily and Sophia. Unable to have a child of her own, Andi saw this opportunity at motherhood as a precious gift. If only it were that simple. For this is not a happy family, and the trouble lies with Emily. Her conflicted feelings towards her stepmother leave Andi feeling hated in her own home despite years of trying to reach out to her stepdaughter. And with each new drama, Emily drives Andi and Ethan further apart. Just as Andi starts to contemplate a life without Ethan and the girls, Emily comes home with some shocking news. News that will change their lives forever. In 1996 Jane Green revolutionized women's literature with Straight Talking and its free-spirited heroine Tasha. Fifteen years later, Jane a 2.5 million bestselling author, now a mother of four, married twice and dealing with all the things a woman in her forties faces on a daily basis, is releasing her best ever coming of age tale that will satisfy her most demanding fans.

There's more than one way of being a modern woman, not that the Devlin sisters would admit it... Harassed mum Julie used to be the easy-going one, but now she is struggling to keep sane. She needs support, but how could her sisters understand? After all, their lives are perfect. One drunken mistake is jeopardising everything lawyer Louise has worked so hard for. For a control freak like her, being out of control is terrifying. Despite herself, she too needs her sisters. And gorgeous Sophie's perfect designer lifestyle is falling apart at the seams. She can hardly bring herself to tell the other two the trouble she's in. The Devlin sisters think they have little in common. They might just be in for some big surprises...

There are several hundred billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy, yet out of all of these Earth is the only planet with intelligent life on it. Why? In The Reason Why John Gribbin shows just what it is that makes our planet so special. For the first time, he makes the link between the whole series of cosmic events that gave rise to our civilization — a unique set of circumstances that have not, and could not, occur anywhere else. John Gribbin is our best, most accessible guide to the big questions of science. In this book, he explores the biggest questions of all: why are we here, what does it mean to be alone in the universe — and do we have a future?

On the eve of America's Civil War a New York midwife makes a fateful decision... Mary Sutter, a brilliant young midwife, dreams of proving herself as capable as any man. But medical schools refuse to teach women. So when her heart is broken, she heads to Washington DC to tend the Civil War wounded. Assisted and encouraged by two surgeons, who both fall for her, and ignoring requests to return home to help her twin sister give birth, Mary pursues her dream of becoming a surgeon and saving lives — no matter the cost to herself or those she loves and no matter the harrowing conditions she has yet to face. A brilliant portrait of an unforgettable heroine and a powerful evocation of trauma in the aftermath of battle, My Name is Mary Sutter is an utterly original story of one woman proving she is a match for any man.

Yoga. A spiritual journey. A way of life. A chance to meet the friends you've been waiting for. At the beginning, it's all about the exercise. But for five of the women who take yoga classes at Edendale Studio it's soon about more than sharing tips for the perfect Downward Dog. It's about their hopes, fears and dreams. Katherine is falling in love, but terrified of screwing it up again and Graciela is determined to prove her critical mother wrong — although she'll have to prove herself right first. Imani's life has been shattered by a heartbreaking truth, while yoga teacher Lee loves to help everyone else, but is she truly happy? And they're all worried about Stephanie, who seems to have disappeared... So it comes as a shock to the women when Lee announces the studio is closing. Is it really namaste for Edendale — or can these now close-knit friends find a way to keep their beloved yoga class alive?

'He was blamed for endless disasters, from failed exams to a bridge collapse, an avalanche, even a shipwreck: all due, in the stupid opinion of, first, his fellow-students and, later, his colleagues, to the penetrating power of his evil eye...' Profound and compassionate, Primo Levi was one of the most astonishing literary voices to emerge from the twentieth century. Whether describing the most beautiful poem ever composed or an invention gone horribly wrong, these eight exquisitely wrought stories open up a rich, fantastical world of wonder, adventure and cruel twists of fate, where nothing is as it seems. This book contains: The Magic Paint, The Death of Marinese, Censorship in Bitinia, Knall, Gladiators, The Fugitive, Bureau of Vital Statistics, and Buffet Dinner.

John Taylor just discovered his long-gone mother created the Nightside — the dark heart of London — and intends to destroy it. To save his birthplace, he will have to travel back through a very distant — and probably deadly — past.

The author of Peter Rabbit and other tales, Beatrix Potter is still, after a century, beloved by children and adults worldwide. In this first Cottage Tale, Albert introduces Beatrix, an animal lover and Good Samaritan with a knack for solving mysteries. With help from her entourage of talking animal friends, Beatrix sets out to win over the human hearts of Sawrey, where she's just bought an old farm — and plans to stay.

After collapsing from an illness while attending a business meeting, a dying Artemio Cruz, a rich and powerful land owner in modern Mexico, is driven by conscience to recall his corrupt life.

Set in Lima, Peru this is the story of a bizarre love triangle whose participants may be the creations of Don Rigoberto's fertile imagination. The central characters are Rigoberto himself, a dull insurance executive by day, a pornogapher and sexual enthusiast by night; Lucrecia, his second wife; and Alfonso, his angel-faced young son. Husband and wife have been separated for a year because of a sexual encounter between the boy and his stepmother. Rigoberto misses Lucrecia desperately — filling notebooks with his memories, fantasies, and letters he will never send. Meanwhile, Alfonso visits Lucrecia, attempting to both win her love and reunite her with his father. A companion volume to In Praise of the Stepmother — where we were first introduced to these passionate characters — The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto is a compelling mix of fantasy and reality that always keep the reader guessing.

A small island in the North Atlantic, colonized by Rome, then pillaged for hundreds of years by marauding neighbours, becomes the dominant world power in the nineteenth century. As its power spreads, its language inevitably follows. Then, across the Atlantic, a colony of that tiny island grows into the military and cultural colossus of the twentieth century.

On any given morning, on the street corners of a Russian city, little kiosks suddenly appear. As soon as their shutters open, a queue forms, men and women lining up in the hope of a little bit of luxury: a pair of silk stockings or a box of chocolates. One morning news spreads that the exiled composer, Selinsky, will be returning to the city for one concert only, and there is one kiosk, somewhere, selling tickets to this most magical event of the year. So begins the story of a family, in which a ticket to Selinsky's concert means everything: for Sergei, the father, it holds the promise of an affair with another woman; for his wife, Anna, it offers the hope of winning back her faithless husband; for their son, Alexander, it means the possibility of escaping to the West.

It's Spitalfields, 1840. Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her Uncle in a rambling house in London's East End. She has few companions and little to occupy the days beyond her own colourful imagination. But then a murderer strikes, ripping open the chests of young girls and stuffing hair into their mouths to resemble a beak, leading the press to christen him The Man of Crows. And as Catherine hungrily devours the news, she finds she can channel the voices of the dead... and comes to believe she will eventually channel The Man of Crows himself. But the murders continue to panic the city and Catherine gradually realizes she is snared in a deadly trap, where nothing is as it first appears... and lurking behind the lies Catherine has been told are secrets more deadly and devastating than anything her imagination can conjure. With an elegant style and thrilling plot, The Pleasures of Men reveals the dark, beating heart of corrupt London during Queen Victoria's reign.