Naughty Mr Macaw

This particular story is about Olly’s local zoo and the adventures he has with some of the creatures who live there. After Olly’s father sees an article about the zoo in the local paper and how they might have to close down, he decides to take the family there for a day out. Whilst they are there, the family each decide to sponsor one of the creatures to help support the zoo and keep it open. This prompts a whole series of dreams where Olly imagines himself taking the animals the family have sponsored, out on various adventures. The story ends with Olly going to see where zoo animals come from and he learns what an important job they do in protecting endamgered species. This story aims to show young readers how important it is to support zoos which offer sanctuary to the worlds’ most endangered animal species. Whilst in an ideal world animals are best left in their natural habitat, this story aims to show that this is not always in their best interests to live in the wild. In cases where species are hunted down and killed for medicine, and where unrestrained habitat destruction occurs, zoo parks have an important role to play. Not only do zoo parks offer sanctuary for such animals, they also raise important publicity in respect to their plight in their natural habitats, which can be used to put pressure on politicians and world leaders to offer protection to such creatures and their habitats. They also offer important breeding opportunities so that colonies of the animals can be re-established in their original habitat, once conditions allow. In the latter part of the story, habitat destruction is illustrated very clearly in order to make young readers’/listeners conscious of how rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate.

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868 Japan modernized rapidly, transforming itself perhaps more quickly than any other country in history. However, the change was not without its conflicts, many of them still unresolved as the pleasures of modern society vie with a respect for the traditional Japanese lifestyle. As the literature of change and of the young, science fiction acts as a window to the modern mind and the uneasy alliance of the old and new. This book, filled with detailed reference to numerous stories, traces the origin and development of the genre from the mid-nineteenth century to today, thus exploring unique insights into Japanese attitudes to commercialism, spirituality, the media, war and international relations.

A classic selection of stories to read and share by one of the world's best-loved children's authors, Enid Blyton. Mr Galliano's famous circus has come to town! Join young Jimmy Brown and his family as they enter a thrilling world of incredible animals, colourful clowns and daring acrobats. Meet cheeky chimps, kindly elephants, fearsome tigers and one very special little dog called Lucky, as Jimmy discovers what it takes to become part of Mr Galliano's Circus. This book was previously published as The Circus Collection. It comprises three full-length books: Mr. Galliano's Circus (1938), Hurrah for the Circus! (1939) and Circus Days Again (1942), containing 26 stories in total.

Introduced by Douglas Gifford. This hilarious novel charts the rise and fall (and perhaps the rise again) of Magnus Merriman—would-be lover, writer, politician, idealist and crofter—moved by dreams of greatness and a talent for farcical defeat. Convinced that ‘small nations are safer to live in than big ones’, Magnus becomes a Nationalist candidate for the parliamentary seat of ‘Kinluce’. With details based on Linklater’s own experiences in an East Fife by-election in 1933, the way is set for a satirical and irreverent portrait of Scottish life, literature and politics in the 1930s. Nothing is sacred and no-one is spared. ‘A book full of remarkable passages . . . [with a] breathless tempo . . . it is wonderful writing.’ Herald

It's been six months since their last adventure aboard the S.S. Excalibur and Philipa and her friend Philip (who happens to be the son of the ship's captain) are both excited to meet the ship's new assistant cruise director, Herby Twining. Herby is a real jokester, the kind of guy who gets a kick out of shaking your hand with a buzzer hidden in his palm. Philip is quite entertained by Herby and appreciates his skills as an amateur magician, but when Philip's expensive and rare parrot, Don Quixote, goes missing and Herby seems like he might be a prime suspect, suddenly Phillip isn't laughing anymore.

A textbook for students in Japanese, communication, or international studies, assuming no previous background in Japanese language or culture. Donahue (Japanese studies, Nagoya Gakuin U., Japan) first surveys the perceptual barriers to communicating between Japan and North America, then examines the Japanese communication style, differences in discourse, and images of the Japanese in the mass media. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR