Moone Boy And The Marvellous Activity Manual

Do you want your own bobble hat and your own imaginary friend--just like Martin Moone? Then join Martin and his friend Sean Murphy in the marvelous world of Moone Boy! Enjoy an exclusive new Moone Boy story, a comic strip adventure, plenty of jokes and a bumper crop of activities and games, including Imaginary Friend top trumps, learn to draw Martin Moone and many more. Featuring all of Martin's friends (and enemies) and packed with advice on finding your own Imaginary Friend (IF), this manual is the ultimate companion for fans of the series.

Martin Moone is about to finish primary school and feels he hasn’t achieved very much. He’s desperate to get his picture on the school’s Winners' Wall and decides that entering the Invention Convention science competition will definitely earn him everlasting respect. But Martin - along with his teammates Trevor, Padraic and the ever terrifying Declan Mannion - is having trouble coming up with a winning idea. Martin’s imaginary friend, Sean, comes to the rescue, and together they concoct a plan to beat the snooty kids from the posh school in town. If they can get their hands on some Notion Potion, a mythical brain-boosting beverage, then Martin will have all the ideas he needs. And so the gang embarks on a dangerous (imaginary) journey in their quest to become 'Boyle’s first Junior Genius'. The Notion Potion is the hilarious third book in the Moone Boy series, based on the Sky TV series from dream team Chris O'Dowd and Nick Vincent Murphy

Successful film and TV star Chris O'Dowd collaborates with friend and fellow screenwriter Nick Vincent Murphy on Moone Boy: The Fish Detective, the second book in this hilarious illustrated series inspired by the Sky TV series they co-wrote.Martin's parents are strapped for cash: it's going to be a budget Christmas this year. So Martin plans to buy his own presents - and attempts, unsuccessfully, to get a job. Padraic puts in a word for him with his Auntie Bridget, who runs the local butcher's shop. But her shop is struggling as the fish shop across the road undercuts her, and Bridget just can't compete. No one knows how the owner, Francie Feeley, does it - especially since he doesn't seem to employ anyone at his fish factory. No one goes in; no one comes out - it's a mystery.Intrigued, Martin decides to go undercover and find out the truth, like a fish-mole - or a fish detective. Martin infiltrates the factory and discovers that Francie is illegally employing a gang of Brazilian fish-gutters. They're a lot of fun and one of them, Fabio, becomes Martin's good friend. But when Martin is exposed as a spy, he has to choose which side he's on. Will Christmas be ruined for the whole of Boyle?

"A highly enjoyable and amusing read." The Guardian Successful film and TV star, Chris O' Dowd, collaborates with friend and screenwriter Nick Vincent Murphy in this hilarious, illustrated series. Martin Moone is eleven and completely fed up with being the only boy in a family of girls. He's desperate for a decent wingman to help him navigate his idiotic life. So when best mate Padraic suggests Martin get an imaginary friend - or 'IF' for short - he decides to give it a go. His first attempt is Loopy Lou, a hyperactive goofball who loves writing rubbish rap songs. But Martin soon gets fed up with Lou's loopiness and decides to trade in his IF for someone a little less wacky. Enter Sean 'Caution' Murphy, an imaginary office clerk in a bad suit with a passion for laziness and a head full of dodgy jokes. Sean is full of tips and tricks to guide Martin through the perils of the playground, from dealing with his sisters' pranks to beating the bullying Bonner boys. But getting rid of Lou is not that easy, and having TWO imaginary friends is a recipe for trouble! PRAISE FOR THE MOONE BOY SERIES "Clever premise . . . This story should keep its target audience of pre-pubescent boys giggling." Kirkus Reviews "The wacky doodles and preteen humor (think fart jokes) make this an entertaining read for the middle-grade boy set." Booklist

The Invention of China in Early Modern England describes how several different English communities became aware of China. It begins by describing how early modern intellectuals used the utopian ideal of China to license all kinds of progressive innovation before chronicling how England’s growing commerce in southeast Asia radically changed China’s representation in the English discourse community. For the new community of English merchants proposing to trade in Chinese goods, China became the seminal example in the growing discourse community of English Orientalism. It was an absolute or arbitrary authoritarian state, associated with crooked business dealings, and cloaked in a rhetoric of secrecy and exclusion—a dangerous exception to the traditions, values, and identities of the emergent English speaking states. Finally, the book points out some of the ways that contemporary English language sources continue to represent this early modern English thought tradition, labelling the complexities of modern China with analytical vocabulary perhaps better suited to the pressing political anxieties of the seventeenth century.