The Whispering Land Durrell Gerald Penguin Group

'For many years I had wanted to start a zoo . . . any reasonable person smitten with an ambition of this sort would have secured the zoo first and obtained the animals afterwards. but throughout my life I have rarely if ever achieved what I wanted by tackling it in a logical fashion.' • A Zoo in My Luggage is Gerald Durrell's account of his attempt to set up his own zoo, after years spent gathering animals for other zoos. Journeying to Cameroon, he and his wife collected numerous mammals, birds and reptiles, including Cholmondely the chimpanzee and Bug-eye the bush-baby • But their problems really began when they attempted to return with their exotic menagerie. Not only had they to get them safely home to Britain but they also had to find somewhere able and - most of all - willing to house them

Scholar, churchman, diplomat and theologian, Gerald of Wales was one of the most fascinating figures of the Middle Ages and The Journey Through Wales describes his eventful tour of the country as a missionary in 1188. In a style reminiscent of a diary, Gerald records the day-to-day events of the mission, alongside lively accounts of local miracles, folklore and religious relics such as Saint Patrick's Horn, and eloquent descriptions of natural scenery that includes the rugged promontory of St David's and the vast snow-covered panoramas of Snowdonia. The landscape is evoked in further detail in The Description, which chronicles the everyday lives of the Welsh people with skill and affection. Witty and gently humorous throughout, these works provide a unique view into the medieval world

Удивительный волшебник из страны Оз и другие повести. Содержит комментарии и вступительную статью. Худ. А. Б. Маркевич

Встаньте во главе небольшой группы переселенцев и создайте процветающую колонию, которой позавидует даже столица! Будет непросто: вашим подопечным нужны пища и кров, рабочие места и ваше покровительство. Вы должны грамотно распределять человеческие ресурсы, чтобы ни одна отрасль не простаивала в бездействии! Но помните, что каждый житель может показать свой характер

The barren, beautiful Cumbrian fells provide the bewitching setting for the adventures of Bill and Harry, two children who find wonder at every turn as they experience the Hollow Land. Everyday challenges give a daring edge to this rural work and play. There are mysteries to explore and uncover , like the case of the Egg Witch, and everyone is curious about the Household Name, a visitor from London, moving into the jewel of the territory, Light Farm • Gardam is at her best with this novel, which won the Whitbread award in 1981

Travel along with Tag, Skyla, and Blaze as they continue their search for the Ember Stone, in this series full of adventure, powerful dark magic, and fantasy! • Pick a book. Grow a Reader! • This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow! • In the third book in this page-turning series, Tag, Skyla, and Blaze journey to the Whispering Oak in search of the next piece of the Ember Stone. There, they find strange creatures called grumblebees. But where is the magical stone? Thorn's dark magic continues to spread

В "Шепчущей горе" Джоан Эйкен, маленьком городке Пеннигафф, найдена легендарная арфа Тейрту - и снова потеряна. Для юного Оуэна Хьюза и его друга Араба это начало захватывающей гонки за спасением арфы от зловещего лорда Малина. Изо всех сил стараясь не попасть к нему в руки, они погружаются в дикое приключение, включающее убийства, похищения людей, подземные миры, диких зверей, наводнения, лавины, таинственных детей Преисподней - и, прежде всего, человека, который не остановится ни перед чем, чтобы вернуть арфу обратно • Книга на английском языке • In The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aiken, the small town of Pennygaff, the legendary Harp of Teirtu is found - and lost again. For young Owen Hughes and his friend Arabis, it is the start of a hair-raising race to save the harp from sinister Lord Malyn

Be careful what you wish for... it may just come true • At The Mercury Theatre in London's West End, rumours are circulating of a curse • It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees • What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in nature. On stage, it's as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the Muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumours are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high

A master storyteller, Sjon weaves together Greek and Nordic myths with the legacies of the Second World War in this mesmerising novel, which reminds us that everything is capable of change • Valdimar Haraldsson is an eccentric Icelander with dubious ideas about the relationship between fish consumption and Nordic superiority. To his delight, in the spring of 1949, he is invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its voyage to the Black Sea • He is less delighted with the lack of fish on the menu. Worse, his fellow travellers show no interest in his 'Fish and Culture' lecture. They prefer the enthralling tales of the second mate, Caeneus, who every evening regales them with his adventures aboard the Argo, on Jason's legendary quest for the Golden Fleece

When I think of Byrne Hall - which I do more often than I'd like - it's the dead weight of the heatwave that comes back to me, and the smell of things going rotten • Freya Lyell is struggling to move on from her sister Stella's suicide five years ago. Visiting the bewitching Byrne Hall, only a few miles from the scene of the tragedy, she discovers a portrait of Stella - a portrait she had no idea existed, in a house Stella never set foot in. Or so she thought • Driven to find out more about her sister's secrets, Freya is drawn into the world of Byrne Hall and its owners: charismatic artist Cory and his sinister, watchful mother. But as Freya's relationship with Cory crosses the line into obsession, the darkness behind the locked doors of Byrne Hall threatens to spill out

Barcelona, 1952: General Franco's fascist government is at the height of its oppressive powers, casting a black shadow across the city. When wealthy socialite Mariona Sobrerroca is found dead in her mansion in the exclusive Tibidabo district, the police scramble to seize control of the investigation. Ana Marti Noguer, an eager young journalist, is surprised to be assigned this important story, shadowing Inspector Isidro Castro • But Ana soon realises that a bundle of strange letters unearthed at the scene point to a sequence of events dramatically different from the official version. She enlists the help of her cousin Beatriz, a scholar, and what begins as an intriguing puzzle opens up a series of revelations that implicate the regime's most influential figures

Beware of Russians bearing gifts • Defectors are not always welcome • Is the information they bring worth the cost of protecting them for the rest of their lives? Is it even genuine? Might they be double agents? • These are some of the questions facing MI6 when a Russian agent hands himself in to them in Denmark • As a team begins to assess his value, his former employers in the Kremlin develop a brutal plan to show that no defector will ever be safe • And they know where to find him. Which means there must be a mole in MI6 • So it is that the cavaliers of Six find themselves being interrogated by nondescript Jonas Merrick of Five - the man called back from retirement and his beloved caravan, the man the young guns call the Eternal Flame because 'he never goes out