'The very essence of all illustration for children's books' said The Times on Christmas Eve, 1878, shortly after the publication of Caldecott's first two picture books, or Toy Books as they were calle
The famous stage-designer Ivan Bilibin was a self-taught artist who was lucky enough to be offered the commission of a lifetime at the very start of his career. In 1899 the Department for the Producti
A terrific football treble from the master of soccer fiction: THE BIG GAMEKeen young footballer Andrew Weston is sure that his skills in defence will help the school team win every match. Until he dis
Peter and the Wolf was composed by the great Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev to introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra. This timeless tale is beautifully retold and illustrated with
In the comic masterpiece which established him one of the greatest writers in the English language, Naipaul follows the fortunes of Mr Biswas, the outsider who refuses to conform to the customs of his
In a book which put South America on the map, Marquez tells the story of a community lost in the depths of that mighty continent where time passes slowly. The book's magic realism is its distinguishin
A fictional autobiography of a rumbustious adventurer and poker-player who sets off his native Chicago in the spirit of a latter-day Columbus to rediscover the world - and more especially, twentieth-c
The story of Macon 'Milkman' Dead, heir to the richest black family in a midwestern town, as he makes a voyage of rediscovery, travelling southwards geographically and inwards spirituality. Through th
This is a history of India since independence, seen through the eyes of characters born on the day that independence was granted. The book is a multi-layered narrative, in which the complexities of th
Each of the 21 chapters in this autobiography takes its title and starting point from one of the elements in the periodic table. Mingling fact and fiction, science and personal record, history and ane
A burlesque epic in the tradition of The Good Soldier Schweik, this title exposes the absurdity of war by applying its own demented logic to America's involvement in Korea. The 'catch' is that soldier
Foreshadowing his later detailed accounts of the Soviet prison-camp system, Solzhenitsyn's classic portrayal of life in the gulag is all the more powerful for being slighter and more personal than tho
Tells a story of an individual making good by her own efforts, an orphaned girl sent to live with an elderly brother and sister who really want a boy to help on the farm.
Originally published as a serial in the children's monthly magazine ST NICHOLAS, LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY was Frances Hodgson Burnett's first children's novel and on its publication in book form in Octo
'One of the most important works...of the twentieth century' The TimesShadows of the Mind is a profound exploration of what modern physics has to tell us about the human mind. A visionary descriptio
From familiar fairy tales and legends - "Red Riding Hood", "Bluebeard", "Puss in Boots", "Beauty and the Beast", vampires and werewolves, the author has created a collection of dark, sensual, fantasti
The search for diamonds, a crucial scientific breakthrough and a mythical ruined city set off this adventure into the heart of the Congolese jungle. The American expedition is led by Karen Ross, despe
