The cat. by The Cat steals from houses in Hollywood. He steals from movie stars and nobody can stop him. Or can they? Natalie is a movie star. Nathan is her stand-in. Nathan does all of her stunts in the movie. But when Natalie and Nathan see The Cat driving away from Zak Wakeman's Hollywood home, they both go after him. Natalie drives fast. 'Be careful,' Nathan tells her. 'You have a movie to finish!'
A Connecticut yankee in King Arthur's court. by Hank Morgan is a happy young man in Connecticut, USA, in 1879 until one day someone runs into his office and shouts, 'Come quickly, Boss! Two men are fighting.' After this, something very strange happens to him, and his life changes forever.
Drive into danger. by 'I can drive a truck,' says Kim on her first day at work in the office. When Kim's passenger Andy finds something strange under the truck things get dangerous - very dangerous.
Escape. by 'I'm not a thief. I'm an innocent man,' shouts Brown. He is angry because he is in prison and the prison guards hate him. Then one day Brown has an idea. It is dangerous - very dangerous.
Fifteenth character. by It's an interesting job,' says Sally about her work at Happy Hills. And today is a very exciting day because Zapp the famous singer is coming. Everybody is having a wonderful time. But suddenly something goes wrong - very wrong.
Girl on a motorcycle. by 'Give me the money,' says the robber to the Los Angeles security guard. The guard looks at the gun and hands over the money. The robber has long blond hair and rides a motorcycle - and a girl with long blond hair arrives at Kenny's motel - on a motorcycle. Is she the robber?
The girl with red hair. by Every day people come to Mason's store - old people, young people, men and women. From his office, and in the store, Mark watches them. And when they leave the store, he forgets them. Then one day a girl with red hair comes to the store, and everything changes for Mark. Now he can't forget the beautiful face, those green eyes, and that red hair.
Give Us the money. by Every day is the same. Nothing exciting ever happens to me,' thinks Adam one boring Monday morning. But today is not the same. When he helps a beautiful young woman because some men want to take her bag, life gets exciting and very, very dangerous.
King Arthur. by It is the year 650 in England. There is war everywhere because the old king is dead and he has no son. Only when the new king comes can the fighting stop and the strange, magical story of King Arthur begin. But first, Merlin the ancient magician has to find a way of finding the next king . . .
Last chance. by How can Mr Frank be angry now?' thinks Mike happily. His film is good and he is the only cameraman on the volcano. Now he can go home. But then he finds Jenny and she is dying. Rocks start to move and Mike is afraid. Can they get off the volcano alive? And what happens to Mike's camera and film?
Mystery in London. by Six women are dead because of the Whitechapel Killer. Now another woman lies in a London street and there is blood everywhere. She is very ill. You are the famous detective Mycroft Pound; can you catch the killer before he escapes?
The mystery of manor hall. by Manor Hall is an old dark house with a mystery. Nobody can go into the music room. But one night Tom and Milly hear something. The noise is coming from the music room. Tom and Milly open the door. Someone in the music room is singing. Tom and Milly are afraid, but they can't move.Can Tom and Milly discover the mystery of Manor Hall?
New York café. by It is the year 2030, and an e-mail message arrives at New York Cafand#233;: 'I want to help people and make them happy!' But not everybody is happy about the e-mail, and soon the police and the President are very interested in the New York Cafand#233;.
Oranges in the snow. by 
Orca by When Tonya and her friends decide to sail around the world they want to see exciting things and visit exciting places. But one day, they meet an orca - a killer whale - one of the most dangerous animals in the sea. And life gets a little too exciting.
Pirate treasure. by Tom Creek's treasure is under the sea. Many men try to get the treasure, but many men die. "Our boat is ready. We are all good divers. Let's find the treasure! Yes?'"says John West to his wife and friends. 'Yes! Arr! Ooohh! they shout. They are all ready to go - but are they afraid of Tom Creeks's curse?
Police TV. by Every day someone steals money from people near the shops. We must stop this,' says Dan, a police officer. The police use TV cameras but it is not easy because there are so many suspects - who is the robber?
Red roses. by Who is the man with the roses in his hand?' thinks Anna. 'I want to meet him.' 'Who is the girl with the guitar?' thinks Will. 'I like her. I want to meet her.' But they do not meet. 'There are lots of men!' says Anna's friend Vicki, but Anna cannot forget Will. And then one rainy day . . .
Robin Hood. by 'You're a brave man, but I am afraid for you,' says Lady Marian to Robin of Locksley. She is afraid because Robin does not like Prince John's new taxes and wants to do something for the poor people of Nottingham. When Prince John hears this, Robin is suddenly in danger - great danger.
Sally's phone. by Sally is always running - and she has her phone with her all the time: at home, on the train, at work, at lunchtime, and at the shops. But then one afternoon suddenly she has a different phone . . . and it changes her life.
Star reporter. by There's a new girl in town,' says Joe, and soon Steve is out looking for her. Marietta is easy to find in a small town, but every time he sees her something goes wrong . . . and his day goes from bad to worse.
Starman. by The empty centre of Australia. The sun is hot and there are not many people. And when Bill meets a man, alone, standing on an empty road a long way from anywhere, he is surprised and worried. And Bill is right to be worried. Because there is something strange about the man he meets. Very strange . . .
Survive! by You are in a small plane, going across the Rocky Mountains. Suddenly, the engine starts to make strange noises . . . Soon you are alone, in the snow, at the top of a mountain, and it is very, very cold. Can you find your way out of the mountain?
Taxi of terror. by ow does it work?' Jack asks when he opens his present - a mobile phone. Later that night, Jack is a prisoner in a taxi in the empty streets of the dark city. He now tries his mobile phone for the first time. Can it save his life?
The white stones. by 'The people on this island don't like archaeologists,' the woman on the ferry says. You only want to study the 4,500 year-old Irish megalithic stones but very soon strange things begin to happen to you. Can you solve the mystery in time?
Vampire killer. by 'I am a vampire killer . . . and now I need help,' says Professor Fletcher to Colin. Colin needs a job and he needs money - but do vampires exist or is the professor crazy?
Aladdin and the enchanted lamp. by In a city in Arabia there lives a boy called Aladdin. He is poor and often hungry, but one day he finds an old lamp. When he rubs the lamp, smoke comes out of it, and then out of the smoke comes a magical jinnee. With the jinnee's help, Aladdin is soon rich, with gold and jewels and many fine things. But can he win the love of the Sultan's daughter, the beautiful Princess Badr-al-Budur?
Animals in danger. by People love and need animals. They keep them in their homes and on their farms. They enjoy going to zoos, and watching animals on films and on TV. Little children love to play with toy animals. But people are a great danger to animals too. They take their land, and cut down the trees where animals have their homes. They pollute the rivers and seas, and kill big animals for their skins or for medicine. Now there are about 7,000 species of animals in danger. What can we do to protect the animals of the world - from us?
The butler did it, and other plays. by How do you get a licence if you want to keep a monkey? What can you do if your wife has a lover? How can you see into the future? Where can you go for an exciting but cheap holiday somewhere hot and far away? How can you persuade your girlfriend or boyfriend to marry you? The characters in these six original short plays are looking for answers to these questions. While trying to solve their problems, people get into some very funny situations. Each play gives an amusing view of life today, and there is often an unexpected ending.
Christmas in Prague. by In a house in Oxford three people are having breakfast - Carol, her husband Jan, and his father Josef. They are talking about Prague, because Carol wants them all to go there for Christmas. Josef was born in Prague, but he left his home city when he was a young man. He is an old man now, and he would like to see Prague again before he dies. But he is afraid. He still remembers another Christmas in Prague, many long years ago - a Christmas that changed his life for ever . . .
Coldest place on Earth. by In the summer of 1910, a race began. A race to be the first man at the South Pole, in Antarctica. Robert Falcon Scott, an Englishman, left London in his ship, the Terra Nova, and began the long journey south. Five days later, another ship also began to travel south. And on this ship was Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian. But Antarctica is the coldest place on earth, and it is a long, hard journey over the ice to the South Pole. Some of the travellers never returned to their homes again.This is the story of Scott and Amundsen, and of one of the most famous and dangerous races in history.
Deserts. by This full-colour series presents engaging content about interesting places and subjects. Each title features colour photographs and a glossary to help with vocabulary comprehension. Exercises and suggestions for project work are also included. The books are graded at 400- to 1,400-word vocabulary levels. Audio CDs or cassettes are available for select titles.
England. by Twenty-five million people come to England every year, and some never go out of London. But England is full of interesting places to visit and things to do. There are big noisy cities with great shops and theatres, and quiet little villages. You can visit old castles and beautiful churches - or go to festivals with music twenty-four hours a day. You can have an English afternoon tea, walk on long white beaches, watch a great game of football, or visit a country house. Yes, England has something for everybody - what has it got for you?
Five short plays. by What do you do if you have a boring job in a restaurant, serving fast food to people who have no time to eat? Smile, and do your best? Perhaps it's better to find a place where time doesn't matter so much. What if you dream of travelling to other countries, but your friends just laugh? Do you stay at home with them? Or do you decide to be more adventurous? Perhaps you hear that someone has bought the last bag of salt in town. Do you buy a bag from him at a high price? Or try tomake him give you a bag? Our world is full of these kinds of problems. They make life interesting, and sometimes very funny. These five short plays show people trying to decide what to do in unexpected or difficult situations.
A ghost in love and other plays. by Do you believe in ghosts? Jerry doesn't. He's a nineteen-year-old American, who just wants a good holiday with his friend, Brad. They are travelling round the north of England by bicycle. But strange things begin to happen in the small hotel where they are staying. First, Brad seems to think that he has been there before. And then a girl called Ellen appears . . . The first of these three original plays is set in the seventeenth century, and the other two take place in modern times.In each play, a ghost comes back from the dead to change the lives of living people.
Goodbye, Mr. Hollywood. by Nick Lortz is sitting outside a cafand#233; in Whistler, a village in the Canadian mountains, when a stranger comes and sits next to him. She's young, pretty, and has a beautiful smile. Nick is happy to sit and talk with her. But why does she call Nick 'Mr Hollywood'? Why does she give him a big kiss when she leaves? And who is the man at the next table - the man with short white hair? Nick learns the answers to these questions three long days later - in a police station on Vancouver Island.
Japan. by What is Japan? It is everything new and modern: the Tokyo Sky Tree, 634 metres high; amazing cameras and phones; karaoke and manga; trains going past at 300 kilometres an hour. And it is everything ancient too: beautiful palaces; high mountains and hot springs; cherry blossom in the spring; quiet gardens with water and trees. Here the past meets the future all the time. From sumo wrestlers to robots, Japan has something amazing for everybody.
Les Misérables. by France, 1815. Jean Valjean leaves prison after nineteen years. These are dangerous and troubled times, and life is hard. Valjean must begin a new life, but how can he escape his past, and his enemy, Inspector Javert?"
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Reading a complete story in English gives students a great sense of achievement - and encourages them to read more. The Oxford Bookworms Library offers a variety of titles. The books are graded at six vocabulary levels ranging from 250 words (Starter) to 2,500 (Advanced).
A little princess. by Sara Crewe is a very rich little girl. She first comes to England when she is seven, and her father takes her to Miss Minchin's school in London. Then he goes back to his work in India. Sara is very sad at first, but she soon makes friends at school. But on her eleventh birthday, something terrible happens, and now Sara has no family, no home, and not a penny in the world . . .
London. by Come with us to London - a city as old as the Romans, and as new as the twenty-first century. There are places to go - from Oxford Street to Westminster Abbey, from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to Wimbledon Tennis Club. And things to do - ride on the London Eye, visit the markets, go to the theatre, run in the London Marathon. Big, beautiful, noisy, exciting - that's London.
The lottery winner. by Everybody wants to win the lottery. A million pounds, perhaps five million, even ten million. How wonderful! Emma Carter buys a ticket for the lottery every week, and puts the ticket carefully in her bag. She is seventy-three years old and does not have much money. She would like to visit her son in Australia, but aeroplane tickets are very expensive. Jason Williams buys lottery tickets every week too. But he is not a very nice young man. He steals things. He hits old ladies in the street, snatches their bags and runs away . . .
Love or money? by It is Molly Clarkson's fiftieth birthday. She is having a party. She is rich, but she is having a small party - only four people. Four people, however, who all need the same thing: they need her money. She will not give them the money, so they are waiting for her to die. And there are other people who are also waiting for her to die. But one person can't wait. And so, on her fiftieth birthday, Molly Clarkson is going to die.
Mary, Queen of Scots. by England and Scotland in the 1500s. Two famous queens - Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, the Protestant Queen of England. It was an exciting and a dangerous time to be alive, and to be a queen. Mary was Queen of Scotland when she was one week old. At sixteen, she was also Queen of France. She was tall and beautiful, with red-gold hair. Many men loved her and died for her. But she also had many enemies - men who said: 'The death of Mary is the life of Elizabeth.'
The meaning of gifts. by I'm afraid to look in the storeroom. All our food for the winter - where is it now? Inside those hungry guests! They never stop eating! And they never say thank you! And those children - my God, they eat more than their parents! Izzet Efendi and his family are afraid that their guests are never going to go home, but what can they do? Bookworms World Stories collect stories from around the world. This volume has stories by Turkish writers Huseyin Rahmi Gurpinar, Ayse Kilimci, Sait Faik, and Yalvac Ural.
The murder of mary jones. by At the start of this play, the court room is full for today's trial. Two young men, Simon Clark and Dan Smith, stand up. The clerk asks, 'Are you guilty of the murder of Mary Jones?' 'Not guilty!' they reply. But perhaps they are guilty. The police found the murder weapon in their stolen car, and there was blood on Simon's face. If the court finds them guilty, they will go to prison for a very long time. Can the lawyers find out the truth, by asking the right questions? Everyone in court wants to know who murdered Mary Jones, especially her mother, and her boyfriend, Jim. You can help to find the answer, too!
Mutiny on the bounty. by It is night in the south seas near Tahiti, and the ship HMS Bounty has begun the long voyage home to England. But the sailors on the ship are angry men, and they have swords and guns. They pull the captain out of bed and take him up on deck. He tries to run, but a sailor holds a knife to his neck. 'Do that again, Captain Bligh, and you're a dead man!' he says. The mutiny on the Bounty happened in April, 1789. This is the true story of Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian, and the ship that never came home to England.
Ned Kelly : A true story. by When he was a boy, he was poor and hungry. When he was a young man, he was still poor and still hungry. He learnt how to steal horses, he learnt how to fight, he learnt how to live - outside the law. Australia in the 1870s was a hard, wild place. Rich people had land, poor people didn't. So the rich got richer, and the poor stayed poor. Some say Ned Kelly was a bad man. Some say he was a good man but the law was bad. This is the true story of Australia's most famous outlaw.
New York. by What can you do in New York? Everything! You can go to some of the world's most famous shops, watch a baseball game, go to the top of a skyscraper, see a concert in Central Park, eat a sandwich in a New York deli, see a show in a Broadway theatre. New York is big, noisy, and exciting, and it's waiting for you. Open the book and come with us to this wonderful city.
The omega files. by In EDI (the European Department of Intelligence in Brussels) there are some very secret files - the Omega Files. There are strange, surprising, and sometimes horrible stories in these files, but not many people know about them. You never read about them in the newspapers. Hawker and Jude know all about the Omega Files, because they work for EDI. They think fast, they move fast, and they learn some very strange things. They go all over the world, asking difficult questions in dangerousplaces, but they don't always find the answers . . .
One-way ticket. by Tom Walsh had a lot to learn about life. He liked travelling, and he was in no hurry. He liked meeting people, anyone and everyone. He liked the two American girls on the train. They were nice and very friendly. They knew a lot of places. Tom thought they were fun. Tom certainly had a lot to learn about life. This is a collection of short stories about adventures on trains. Strange, wonderful, and frightening things can happen on trains - and all of them happen here.
The Piano Man by 
President's murderer. by The President is dead! A man is running in the night. He is afraid and needs to rest. But there are people behind him - people with lights, and dogs, and guns. A man is standing in front of a desk. His boss is very angry, and the man is tired and needs to sleep. But first he must find the other man, and bring him back - dead or alive. Two men: the hunter and the hunted. Which will win and which will lose? Long live the President!
Remember Miranda. by Cathy Wilson is driving to Norfolk, to begin her new job with the Harvey family. She is going to look after the two young children, Tim and Susan. Cathy meets the children's father, and their grandmother, and their aunt. She meets Nick, the farmer who lives across the fields. But she doesn't meet Miranda, the children's mother, because Miranda is dead. She died two years ago, and Cathy cannot learn anything about her. Everybody remembers Miranda, but nobody wants to talk about her .. .San Francisco. by 'It's a good place for gold,' said people in the 1840s, and they came from all over the world. 'It's a good place for a prison,' said the US government in the 1920s, and they put Al Capone there on the island of Alcatraz. 'It's a good place for love,' said the hippies in the 1960s, and they put flowers in their hair and came to Haight Ashbury. And San Francisco is still a good place - to take a hundred photographs, or see the Chinatown parade, or just to sit in a coffee shop and be in this interesting, different city ...
Scotland. by This full-colour, non-fiction series presents an engaging range of topics such as environmental issues, historical facts, and culture. Each title features colour photographs, exercises, a glossary, and information about the author. Four levels are available to help you find the right level for your students.
Sherlock Holmes and the sport kings. by Horseracing is the sport of kings, perhaps because racehorses are very expensive animals. But when they win races, they can make a lot of money too - money for the owners, for the trainers, and for the people who put bets on them to win. Silver Blaze is a young horse, but already the winner of many races. One night he disappears from his stables, and someone kills his trainer. The police want the killer, and the owner wants his horse, but they can't find them. So what do they do?They write to 221B Baker Street, London, of course - to ask for the help of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes and the duke's son. by Dr Huxtable has a school for boys in the north of England. When the Duke of Holdernesse decides to send his young son there, that is good news for the school. The Duke is a very important person, and Dr Huxtable is happy to have his son in the school. But two weeks later Dr Huxtable is the unhappiest man in England. Why? And why does he take the train down to London and go to Baker Street? Why does he need the help of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes? Because someone has kidnapped the Duke's son . . .
Sherlock Holmes: Two plays. by Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective the world has ever seen, and he knows it. As the famous bank-robber, John Clay, says to him, 'You think of everything, Mr Holmes. You're very clever.' People come to him with problems that no one, not even the police, can solve. Holmes sits, and thinks, and smokes his pipe, and in the end he finds the answer. In these plays, based on two of his stories, Holmes, helped by his old friend, Dr Watson, uses his great intelligence to solve two unusual and interesting cases.
Shirley Homes and the Lithuanian case. by Shirley Homes is a private investigator. She is clever with computers, and knows London like the back of her hand. She laughs when people say, 'Was Sherlock Holmes your grandfather?' Sherlock Holmes, of course, was not a real person, but, like Sherlock, Shirley has good eyes, and good ears. And she knows the right questions to ask.
Sister love and other crime stories. by Some sisters are good friends, some are not. Sometimes there is more hate in a family than there is love. Karin is beautiful and has lots of men friends, but she can be very unkind to her sister Marcia. Perhaps when they were small, there was love between them, but that was a long time ago. They say that everybody has one crime in them. Perhaps they only take an umbrella that does not belong to them. Perhaps they steal from a shop, perhaps they get angry and hit someone, perhaps theykill . . .
Titanic. by The Titanic was the most famous ship in history. But what really happened to the Titanic on that terrible April night in the North Atlantic? Why did it hit an iceberg? Why did it sink? Why did more than one thousand people die? This book looks at the true story - and gives some of the answers.
Under the moon. by It is the year 2522, and the planet Earth is dying. The Artificial Ozone Layer is only 300 years old, but it is breaking up fast. Now the sun is burning down on Earth with a white fire. There is no water. Without water, nothing can live. Trees die, plants die, animals die, people die . . . In a colony under the moon, people wait for news - news from home, news from the planet Earth. And in a spaceship high above Earth, a young man watches numbers on a computer screen. The numbers tella story, and the young man is afraid. The planet Earth is burning, burning, burning . . .
White death. by Sarah Harland is nineteen, and she is in prison. At the airport, they find heroin in her bag. So, now she is waiting to go to court. If the court decides that it was her heroin, then she must die. She says she did not do it. But if she did not, who did? Only two people can help Sarah: her mother, and an old boyfriend who does not love her now. Can they work together? Can they find the real criminal before it is too late?
William and Kate. by Everybody took photos of Prince William when he first arrived at the University of St Andrews. Crowds of photographers came to the little Scottish town next to the sea and took pictures of this new student the nineteen-year-old grandson of the Queen of England.
The witches of pendle. by Witches are dangerous. They can kill you with a look, or a word. They can send their friend the Devil after you in the shape of a dog or a cat. They can make a clay picture of you, then break it . . . and a few weeks later you are dead. Today, of course, most people don't believe in witches. But in 1612 everybody was afraid of them. Young Jennet Device in Lancashire knew a lot about them because she lived with the Witches of Pendle. They were her family . . .
Withered arm. by A woman and a man . . . words of love whispered on a summer night. Later, there is a child, but no wedding-ring. And then the man leaves the first woman, finds a younger woman, marries her . . . It's an old story. Yes, it's an old, old story. It happens all the time - today, tomorrow, a hundred years ago. People don't change. But this story, set among the green hills of southern England, has something different about it. Perhaps it is only a dream, or perhaps it is magic - a kind of strange dark magic that begins in the world of dreams and phantoms . . .
Ear-rings from frankfurt. by Richard Walton is in trouble again. He has lost his job, and he has borrowed money from his sister, Jennifer - again. And now he has disappeared. Jennifer is looking for him, and so are the police. They both have some questions that they want to ask him.(br /)How did he lose his job? Why did he fly to Frankfurt? Who gave his girlfriend those very expensive gold ear-rings?(br /)Only Richard can answer these questions. But nobody can find Richard.
Agatha Christie, woman of mystery. by What does the name 'Agatha Christie' mean? To many people, it means a book about a murder mystery - a 'whodunnit'. 'I'm reading an Agatha Christie,' people say. 'I'm not sure who the murderer is - I think it's . . .' But they are usually wrong, because it is not easy to guess the murderer's name before the end of the book.(br /)But who was Agatha Christie? What was she like? Was her life quiet and unexciting, or was it full of interest and adventure? Was there a mystery in her life, too?
Alice's adventures in wonderland. by There, on top of the mushroom, was a large caterpillar, smoking a pipe. After a while the Caterpillar took the pipe out of its mouth and said to Alice in a slow, sleepy voice, 'Who are you?'(br /)What strange things happen when Alice falls down the rabbit-hole and into Wonderland! She has conversations with the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, goes to the Mad Hatter's tea party, plays croquet with the King and Queen of Hearts .
Anne of green gables. by Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew want to adopt an orphan, to help on the farm at Green Gables. They ask for a boy, but they get Anne, who has red hair and freckles, and who talks and talks and talks.(br /)They didn't want a girl, but how can they send a child back, like an unwanted parcel? So Anne stays, and begins a new life in the sleepy, quiet village of Avonlea in Canada.(br /)But it is not so quiet after Anne comes to live there . . .
The beautiful game. by Some call it football, some call it soccer, and to others it's 'the beautiful game'. By any name, it's a sport with some fascinating stories. There is murder in Colombia, and a game that lasts for two days where many players never see the ball. There's the French writer who learnt lessons about life from playing football, and the women players who had to leave the club grounds because 'Women's football isn't nice'. The cups, the leagues, the World Cup finals, the stars, the rules - they're all a part of the world's favourite sport, the beautiful game.
The Canterville ghost. by There has been a ghost in the house for three hundred years, and Lord Canterville's family have had enough of it. So Lord Canterville sells his grand old house to an American family. Mr Hiram B. Otis is happy to buy the house and the ghost - because of course Americans don't believe in ghosts.(br /)The Canterville ghost has great plans to frighten the life out of the Otis family. But Americans don't frighten easily - especially not two noisy little boys - and the poor ghost has a few surprises waiting for him.
Changing their skies. by Then a letter came for Aloo from a famous college in America. They offered him a place . . . a place with a scholarship. Aloo could not believe it at first. He read the letter again and again.'(br /)Aloo is very happy, but soon he finds that it is not so easy. He will need money to live on, money for his plane ticket . . . And then there is Mother . . .(br /)Bookworms World Stories collect stories written in English from around the world. This volume has stories from Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania by African writers Steve Chimombo, Farida Karodia, and M. G. Vassanji.
The Children of the New Forest, Level 2 by England in 1647: King Charles is in prison, and Cromwell's men are fighting the King's men. These are dangerous times for everybody. The four Beverley children have no parents; their mother is dead and their father died while fighting for the King. Now Cromwell's soldiers have come to burn the house - with the children in it. The four of them escape into the New Forest - but how will they live? What will they eat? And will Cromwell's soldiers find them?
Climate change. by It's a terrible problem - or it's really not as bad as people say. There will be sudden big changes - or slower changes that we can learn to live with. It means the end for many animals, people, even whole islands - but will this happen soon, or hundreds of years from now? What is the true story about climate change? Why is it happening, and what can we do about it? If we learn about the past, then perhaps there will be time to make changes for the future...
Cries from the heart. by From Botswana to New Zealand, from Jamaica to Nigeria, from Uganda to Malaysia, from India to South Africa, these moving stories show us that the human heart is the same in every place. Children, wives, mothers, husbands, friends all have the same feelings of fear and pain, happiness and sadness.(br /)Bookworms World Stories collect stories written in English from around the world, and the eight stories in this book were selected from the winning entries in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. The writers are Sefi Atta, Adrienne M. Frater, Lauri Kubuitsile, Erica N. Robinson, Jackee Budesta Batanda, Janet Tay Hui Ching, Anuradha Muralidharan, and Tod Collins.
Dead man's island. by Mr Ross lives on an island where no visitors come. He stops people from taking photographs of him. He is young and rich, but he looks sad. And there is one room in his house which is always locked.(br /)Carol Sanders and her mother come to the island to work for Mr Ross. Carol soon decides that there is something very strange about Mr Ross. Where did he get his money from? How can a young man buy an island? So she watches, and she listens - and one night she learns what is behind the locked door.
Death in the freezer. by Ellen Shore's family is an ordinary American family, and Ellen is six years old when her brother Al is born. Her parents are very pleased to have a son, but Ellen is not pleased, because now baby Al comes first.(br /)And when they are adults, Al still comes first. He begins a rock band and makes records. Soon he is rich and famous - very rich, but he gives nothing to his sister Ellen. She has a difficult life, with three young kids and very little money. And she learns to hate her rich, famous, unkind brother . . .
The death of Karen Silkwood. by This is the story of Karen Silkwood. It begins with her death.(br /)Why does her story begin where it should end? Certain people wanted her death to be an ending. Why? What were they afraid of? Karen Silkwood had something to tell us, and she believed that it was important. Why didn't she live to tell us? Will we ever know what really happened? The questions go on and on, but there are no answers.(br /)This is a true story. It happened in Oklahoma, USA, where Karen Silkwood lived and worked . . . and died.
Five children and it. by When the children dug a hole in the gravel-pit, they were very surprised at what they found. 'It' was a Psammead, a sand-fairy, thousands of years old.(br /)It was a strange little thing - fat and furry, and with eyes on long stalks. It was often very cross and unfriendly, but it could give wishes - one wish a day. 'How wonderful!' the children said. (br /)But wishes are difficult things. They can get you into trouble . . .Ghosts international: Troll and other stories. by In Sweden, nobody wants a troll to come into their garden, but how do you stop them? On a lonely road at night in Oman, Abdul's car breaks down and he takes a ride with a stranger, but perhaps it is safer to walk. In England some young people play a scary game, and in Asia, a soldier returns home - at last.
Grace darling. by All they could hear was the wind, and the waves crashing on to the rocks. All they could see was the night. They could not see the ship, broken in two. They could not see the people holding on to the dark wet rock, slowly dying of cold. And they could not hear the cries for help - only the wind.(br /)How could they save the people on the rock? Was their wooden boat stronger than the iron ship? Were a man and his daughter stronger than the great waves that broke the ship in two?(br /)The Forfarshire was wrecked off the north-east coast of England in 1838. This is the true story of Grace Darling - a girl who became a famous heroine on that stormy night.
Hamlet. by This famous play by William Shakespeare, written in about 1600, is one of the finest in the English language.(br /)Why does Hamlet, the young Prince of Denmark, look so sad? Why does he often say strange things? His family and friends are worried about him. Perhaps he is mad!(br /)But Hamlet thinks that he has discovered a terrible secret about a recent crime in his family. Now he has no time for Ophelia, the sweet girl who loves him, or his friends, who were at school with him. He sits alone, and thinks, and plans. What will he decide to do? Will he ever be happy again?
Henry VIII and his six wives. by There were six of them - three Katherines, two Annes, and a Jane. One of them was the King's wife for twenty-four years, another for only a year and a half. One died, two were divorced, and two were beheaded. It was a dangerous, uncertain life.(br /)After the King's death in 1547, his sixth wife finds a box of old letters - one from each of the first five wives. They are sad, angry, frightened letters. They tell the story of what it was like to be the wife of Henry VIII of England.
Importance of being earnest. by This famous play by Oscar Wilde is one of the finest comedies in the English language. Algernon knows that his friend Jack does not always tell the truth. For example, in town his name is Ernest, while in the country he calls himself Jack. And who is the girl who gives him presents 'from little Cecily, with all her love'? But when the beautiful Gwendolen Fairfax says that she can only love a man whose name is Ernest, Jack decides to change his name, and become Ernest forever. Then Cecily agrees to marry Algernon, but only if his name is Ernest, too, and things become a little difficult for the two young men.
Ireland. by There are many different Irelands. There is the Ireland of peaceful rivers, green fields, and beautiful islands. There is the Ireland of song and dance, pubs and theatres - the country of James Joyce, Bob Geldof, and Riverdance. And there is the Ireland of guns, fighting, death, and the hope of peace. Come with us and visit all of these Irelands - and many more . . .
Jungle book. by In the jungle of Southern India the Seeonee Wolf-Pack has a new cub. He is not a wolf - he is Mowgli, a human child, but he knows nothing of the world of men. He lives and hunts with his brothers the wolves. Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther are his friends and teachers. And Shere Khan, the man-eating tiger, is his enemy. Kipling's famous story of Mowgli's adventures in the jungle has been loved by young and old for more than a hundred years.
Leonardo da Vinci by 'What does the world look like from the moon?' 'How do our bodies work?' 'Is it possible for people to fly?' 'Can I make a horse of bronze that is 8 metres tall?' 'How can we have cleaner cities?'
Love among the haystacks. by It is hay-making time on the Wookey farm. Two brothers are building the haystack, but thinking about other things - about young women, and love. There are angry words, and then a fight between the brothers. But the work goes on, visitors come and go, and the long hot summer day slowly turns to evening. Then the sun goes down, covering the world with a carpet of darkness. From the hedges around the hayfield comes the rich, sweet smell of wild flowers, and the hay will make a fine, soft bed . . .
Love of a king. by All he wanted to do was to marry the woman he loved. But his country said 'No!' He was Edward VIII, King of Great Britain, King of India, King of Australia, and King of thirty-nine other countries. And he loved the wrong woman. She was beautiful and she loved him - but she was already married to another man. It was a love story that shook the world. The King had to choose: to be King, or to have love . . . and leave his country, never to return.
Marco Polo and the silk road. by This full-colour, non-fiction series presents an engaging range of topics such as environmental issues, historical facts, and culture. Each title features colour photographs, exercises, a glossary, and information about the author. Four levels are available to help you find the right level for your students.
Murders in the Rue Morgue,. by The room was on the fourth floor, and the door was locked - with the key on the inside. The windows were closed and fastened - on the inside. The chimney was too narrow for a cat to get through. So how did the murderer escape? And whose were the two angry voices heard by the neighbours as they ran up the stairs? Nobody in Paris could find any answers to this mystery. Except Auguste Dupin, who could see further and think more clearly than other people. The answers to the mystery wereall there, but only a clever man could see them.
The mystery of allegra. by Allegra is an unusual name. It means 'happy' in Italian, but the little girl in this story is sometimes very sad. She is only five years old, but she tells Adrian, her new friend, that she is going to die soon. How does she know? And who is the other Allegra? The girl in a long white nightdress, who has golden hair and big blue eyes. The girl who comes only at night, and whose hands and face are cold, so cold . . .
Much ado about nothing. by There are two love stories in this fast-moving comedy. Brave young Claudio and Leonato's pretty daughter Hero are in love and want to marry, but Don John has a wicked plan to stop their wedding. Will he succeed, or will the truth come out? Will Claudio and Hero marry, after all? Beatrice and Benedick are always arguing with each other, but how do they really feel? Perhaps they are more interested in each other than they seem to be! Their friends work hard to bring them closer together.Oceans. by Thousands of years ago, people looked out across an ocean and asked themselves, 'What is on the other side?' And the bravest of them began to travel and find the answers - beautiful islands, frozen lands, different peoples ...And there are still interesting questions about the oceans. How do they change our weather? Why does the water go up and down twice a day? Why do most animals and plants live near the land? And what can possibly live at the bottom of the ocean, thousands of metres down, where there is no light? Surely nothing can stay alive in a place like that ...
One thousand dollars and other plays. by A housewife, a tramp, a lawyer, a waitress, an actress - ordinary people living ordinary lives in New York at the beginning of this century. The city has changed greatly since that time, but its people are much the same. Some are rich, some are poor, some are happy, some are sad, some have found love, some are looking for love. O. Henry's famous short stories - sensitive, funny, sympathetic - give us vivid pictures of the everyday lives of these New Yorkers.
The piano. by One day, a farmer tells a farm boy to take everything out of an old building and throw it away. 'It's all rubbish,' he says. In the middle of all the rubbish, the boy finds a beautiful old piano. He has never played before, but now, when his fingers touch the piano, he begins to play. He closes his eyes and the music comes to him - and the music moves his fingers. When he opens his eyes again, he knows that his life is changed for ever . . .
The pit and the pendulum and other stories. by Everybody has bad dreams. Horrible things move towards you in the dark, things you can hear but not see. Then you wake up, in your own warm bed, and turn over to go back to sleep. But imagine that you wake up on a hard floor, in a darkness blacker than the blackest night. You listen to the silence, and smell a wet dead smell. Death is all around you, waiting . . . In these stories by Edgar Allan Poe, death whispers at you from every dark corner, and fear can send you mad . . .
Rainforests. by Deep rivers, tall trees, strange animals, beautiful flowers - this is the rainforest. Burning trees, thick smoke, new roads and cities, dead animals, people without homes - this is the rainforest too. To some people the rainforests mean beautiful places that you can visit; to others they mean trees that they can cut down and sell. Between 1950 and 2000 half of the world's rainforests disappeared. While you read these words, somewhere in the world people are cutting down rainforest trees. What are these wonderful places that we call rainforests - and is it too late to save them?
Red dog. by Red Dog was a Red Cloud kelpie, an Australian sheepdog. His life was full of excitement and adventure. He travelled all over Western Australia, and never really had an owner, but he had many friends and he always knew where to go for a good meal. A collection of true stories about the life of a real dog in Western Australia.
Romeo and Juliet by This is the most famous of all Shakespeare's plays - a story of passionate young love. What's in a name? Does it really matter if you are called Montague or Capulet? When Romeo, son of Lord and Lady Montague, falls in love with the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, he finds out that it does matter. It makes all the difference in the world, because both families hate each other bitterly. For a time, Romeo and Juliet manage to keep their love secret. But when Romeo is sent awayfrom Verona, and arrangements are made for Juliet to marry Paris, a friend of her father's, hope begins to die. Can any of their friends help the young lovers to be together for ever?
Seasons and celebrations by In English-speaking countries around the world people celebrate Easter, Valentine's Day, Christmas, and other special days. Some celebrations are new, like Remembrance Day and Mother's Day; others, like the summer solstice, go back thousands of years. What happens on these special days? What do people eat, where do they go, what do they do? Why is there a special day for eating pancakes? Who is the 'guy' that children take onto the streets in November? And where do many people like tospend the shortest night of the year in England? Come on a journey through a year of celebrations, from New Year's Eve to Christmas.
Stories from the five towns. by Arnold Bennett is famous for his stories about the Five Towns and the people who live there. They look and sound just like other people, and, like all of us, sometimes they do some very strange things. There's Sir Jee, who is a rich businessman. So why is he making a plan with a burglar? Then there is Toby Hall. Why does he decide to visit Number 11 Child Row, and who does he find there? And then there are the Hessian brothers and Annie Emery - and the little problem of twelve thousand pounds.
Tales from longpuddle. by Tony Kytes is a favourite with the girls but he's not terribly clever. If you meet an old girlfriend and she asks for a ride home in your wagon, do you say yes? And then if you meet the girl you are planning to marry, what do you do? Very soon, Tony is in a great muddle, and does not know how to escape from it. These stories are set in an English country village of the nineteenth century, but Hardy's tales of mistakes and muddles and marriages belong in any place, at any time.
Voodoo island. by Mr James Conway wants to make money. He wants to build new houses and shops - and he wants to build them on an old graveyard, on the island of Haiti. There is only one old man who still visits the graveyard; and Mr Conway is not afraid of one old man. But the old man has friends - friends in the graveyard, friends who lie dead, under the ground. And when Mr Conway starts to build his houses, he makes the terrible mistake of disturbing the sleep of the dead . . .
The life and times of William Shakespeare. by William Shakespeare. Born April 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon. Died April 1616. Married Anne Hathaway: two daughters, one son. Actor, poet, famous playwright. Wrote nearly forty plays. But what was he like as a man? What did he think about when he rode into London for the first time . . . or when he was writing his plays Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet . . . or when his only son died? We know the facts of his life, but we can only guess at his hopes, his fears, his dreams.
The year of sharing. by Richard is bored with the quiet life of his village. He would like to have a motor-car and drive it . . . very fast. But Richard lives in a future world where there are no cars, only bicycles and small villages and green forests. And now he is twelve years old, and like the other children, he must do his Year of Sharing. He must live alone in the forest with the wild animals. He must learn to share his world; he must learn how animals live and eat and fight . . . and die.
Australia and New Zealand. by What do you find in these two countries at the end of the world? One is an enormous island, where only twenty million people live - and the other is two long, narrow islands, with ten sheep for every person. One country has the biggest rock in all the world, and a town where everybody lives under the ground; the other has a beach where you can sit beside the sea in a pool of hot water, and lakes that are bright yellow, green, and blue. Open this book and start your journey - to two countries where something strange, beautiful or surprising waits around every corner.
Bronte story. by On a September day in 1821, in the church of a Yorkshire village, a man and six children stood around a grave. They were burying a woman: the man's wife, the children's mother. The children were all very young, and within a few years the two oldest were dead, too. Close to the wild beauty of the Yorkshire moors, the father brought up his young family. Who had heard of the Brontes of Haworth then? Branwell died while he was still a young man, but the three sisters who were left had anextraordinary gift. They could write marvellous stories - Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey . . . But Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte did not live to grow old or to enjoy their fame. Only their father was left, alone with his memories.
Card by Every town should have a 'card' - someone who gets talked about, someone who does mad and wonderful things, someone who makes you laugh. Bursley in the Five Towns has a 'card': Edward Henry Machin (Denry for short). Denry begins life in a poor little house where the rent is twenty-three pence a week. But before he's thirty, he's made a lot of money, and had more adventures than you and I have had hot dinners. The town of Bursley never stops talking about him. Whatever will young Denry do next?
Chemical secret. by The job was too good. There had to be a problem - and there was. John Duncan was an honest man, but he needed money. He had children to look after. He was ready to do anything, and his bosses knew it. They gave him the job because he couldn't say no; he couldn't afford to be honest. And the job was like a poison inside him. It changed him and blinded him, so that he couldn't see the real poison - until it was too late.
A cup of kindness. by In Edinburgh a detective listens to a confession; in Orkney an old man lives with the ghosts of his past. In the Outer Hebrides some travelers learn a lesson; in Glasgow a young woman steals a meeting with a famous actor; and in a small town somewhere a pigeon dies. These stories are as richly varied as the land of Scotland itself. Bookworms World Stories collect stories written in English from around the world. This volume has stories by Scottish writers Eona Macnicol, Malcolm Laing, Ian Rankin, George Mackay Brown, and Susie Maguire.
Dancing with strangers. by Sometimes I think this search is hopeless. So much has happened since I last saw my friends. Perhaps they have died or the rebels have taken them away. But I know I have to find Laker. I know she needs me.' In a country torn by war, it is easy to stop hoping. All Atita has is an old photograph. She does not even know if she will recognize Laker after all these years . . . Bookworms World Stories collect stories written in English from around the world. This volume has stories byAfrican writers Jackee Budesta Batanda, Jack Cope,Dinosaurs. by Imagine an animal with teeth as big as bananas - and a brain as big as an orange. Or a flying animal with wings as wide as a small plane. Think about a tail that could knock a man's head off, or a mouth with hundreds of teeth. Is it any surprise that people are interested in dinosaurs?
Ethan Frome. by Life is always hard for the poor, in any place and at any time. Ethan Frome is a farmer in Massachusetts. He works long hours every day, but his farm makes very little money. His wife, Zeena, is a thin, grey woman, always complaining, and only interested in her own ill health. Then Mattie Silver, a young cousin, comes to live with the Fromes, to help Zeena and do the housework. Her bright smile and laughing voice bring light and hope into the Fromes' house - and into Ethan's lonely life. But poverty is a prison from which few people escape . . .
The everest story. by It is beautiful to look at, hard to reach, and terribly difficult to climb. Winds of 200 kilometres per hour or more scream across it day and night, while the temperature falls to -20 °C or lower. Every year, some who try to climb the highest mountain in the world do not return. But for a century people have been coming to climb Everest - some alone, some in groups, but all with a dream of going to the highest place in the world. This is their story.Future energy. by Right now, all over the world, people are using energy. As we drive our cars, work on our computers, or even cook food on a wood fire, we probably do not stop to think about where the energy comes from. But when the gas is gone and there is no more coal - what then?
The human body factfile. by 
Information technology. by It is hard to imagine the modern world without information technology. At home, at work, and at play, mobile phones, e-mails and computers have become part of daily life. The story of information technology is a story of machines - from the ancient abacus to the small powerful computer chips of today. But it is also a story of people. Meet a woman who wrote computer programs two hundred years ago, a teenage millionaire, a man who began with a paperclip and ended with a house - and the criminals who want your name and your money. Come and discover the world of information technology.
Justice. by London: November. Terrorists blow up the Queen's coach outside Parliament. The Queen escapes, but five people are killed, and forty others badly hurt - ordinary, innocent people, like Alan Cole, the Queen's coachman, who loses his leg in the bombing. And for Alan and his daughter Jane there is more terror to come, in the search for the truth behind the bombing. Will the terrorists be caught and brought to justice? But what kind of justice? What can give Alan Cole his leg back, or give life back to people who have been blown to pieces by a bomb?
Kidnapped :The adventures of David Balfour in the year 1751. by I ran to the side of the ship. "Help, help! Murder!" I screamed, and my uncle slowly turned to look at me. I did not see any more. Already strong hands were pulling me away. Then something hit my head; I saw a great flash of fire, and fell to the ground . . .' And so begin David Balfour's adventures. He is kidnapped, taken to sea, and meets many dangers. He also meets a friend, Alan Breck. But Alan is in danger himself, on the run from the English army across the wild Highlands of Scotland . . .
The kiss: Love stories from North America. by 
Last Sherlock Holmes story. by For fifty years after Dr Watson's death, a packet of papers, written by the doctor himself, lay hidden in a locked box. The papers contained an extraordinary report of the case of Jack the Ripper and the horrible murders in the East End of London in 1888. The detective, of course, was the great Sherlock Holmes - but why was the report kept hidden for so long? This is the story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote. It is a strange and frightening tale . . .
Leaving No footprint. by Help your students read their way to better English with this new edition of the world's best graded readers - now with a new range of World Stories, fully revised Factfiles, more audio, and new tests. The new edition includes the original Bookworms stories, plus the Starters, Playscripts and Factfiles, making it easy for you to see the full choice of books at each Stage. The highly acclaimed seven-stage system of grading, from Starter to Stage 6, remains the same, helping you to find the right level for all your students.
The long white cloud : stories from New Zealand. by Nani Tama looked at each of us - Dad, Auntie Hiraina, my cousin Timi, and myself. His eyes were angry. 'You fullas want me to die here in this room? Looking at these four walls? When the whakapapa is not yet finished?' But Nani Tama gets his own way, and his grandson drives him through the night, to find the missing pieces from the family history. The stories in this volume of World Stories are by New Zealand writers James Courage, Witi Ihimaera, Philip Mincher , and Joy Cowley.
Martin Luther King. by The United States in the 1950s and 60s was a troubled place. Black people were angry, because they did not have the same rights as whites. It was a time of angry words, of marches, of protests, a time of bombs and killings. But above the angry noise came the voice of one man - a man of peace. 'I have a dream,' said Martin Luther King, and it was a dream of blacks and whites living together in peace and freedom. This is the story of an extraordinary man, who changed American history inhis short life.
The picture of Dorian Gray. by When we are happy, we are always good,' says Lord Henry, 'but when we are good, we are not always happy.' Lord Henry's lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party.
A pair of ghostly hands and other stories. by If you wake up in the night and hear a tap running somewhere in the house, what do you do? You get up, of course, and go and turn the tap off. A little later you hear the tap running again. You are alone in the house, and you know you turned the tap off. What do you do then? The ghosts in these stories all have unfinished business with the living world. They come back from the grave to continue their work, to keep a promise, to look for something they have lost. Sometimes they want tohelp people, sometimes they want to punish them - or kill them.
Playing with fire: stories from the Pacific Rim. by He smiled, showing teeth yellow from cigarette smoke. He looked at his desk diary, then at her papers again. 'Mmm... a hundred pesos a month, Why, that's one thousand two hundred pesos a year. Surely, you can afford to buy me a forty-peso dinner!'
The prisoner of Zenda. by We must leave for Zenda at once, to find the King!' cried Sapt. 'If we're caught, we'll all be killed!' So Rudolf Rassendyll and Sapt gallop through the night to find the King of Ruritania. But the King is now a prisoner in the Castle of Zenda. Who will rescue him from his enemies, the dangerous Duke Michael and Rupert of Hentzau? And who will win the heart of the beautiful Princess Flavia?
Railway children. by We have to leave our house in London,' Mother said to the children. 'We're going to live in the country, in a little house near a railway line.' And so begins a new life for Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. They become the railway children - they know all the trains, Perks the station porter is their best friend, and they have many adventures on the railway line. But why has their father had to go away? Where is he, and will he ever come back?
Recycling. by What will we do when there is nowhere to put our rubbish? Every day, all over the world, people drop cans, boxes, paper, and bottles into bins and never think about them again. And the rubbish mountains get bigger and bigger. But there is another way - a way that makes old paper into houses, broken bottles into jewellery, and old cans into bridges. Anyone can recycle - it's easy, it saves money, and it's a way to say, 'I care about the Earth.' Saving the world starts with you - here -now.
Skyjack. by When a large plane is hijacked, the Prime Minister looks at the list of passengers and suddenly becomes very, very frightened. There is a name on the list that the Prime Minister knows very well - too well. There is someone on that plane who will soon be dead - if the hijackers can find out who he is! And there isn't much time. One man lies dead on the runway. In a few minutes the hijackers will use their guns again. And the Prime Minister knows who they are going to kill.
Space. by Is there anyone who has not looked at the dark sky, and the shining points of light above us, and asked themselves questions about what is out there? Where did our planet come from? When did the universe begin? Could we live on another planet? And one question above all - is there life anywhere else in space?Begin a journey into space - where spacecraft travel at thousands of kilometers an hour, temperatures are millions of degrees, and a planet may be hard rock - or a ball of gas. In space, everything is extraordinary . .
The star zoo. by In our world today a hummingbird is a small, brilliantly colored bird that lives in the tall trees of tropical forests. In the far distant future, Hummingbird (Hummy for short) is a girl of sixteen who lives somewhere in the Galaxy, on a planet called Just Like Home. She has the name 'Hummingbird' in big letters on all her clothes, but she has never seen a real hummingbird. She has never seen any living animal or bird at all. The Book of Remembering says that there were once many animals on a planet called Earth, but that was before the Burning, a long, long time ago . . .
Tales of mystery and imagination. by The human mind is a dark, bottomless pit, and sometimes it works in strange and frightening ways. That sound in the night . . . is it a door banging in the wind, or a murdered man knocking inside his coffin? The face in the mirror . . . is it yours, or the face of someone standing behind you, who is never there when you turn round? These famous short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, that master of horror, explore the dark world of the imagination, where the dead live and speak, where fear lies in every shadow of the mind . . .
Three Strangers and Other Stories, Level 3 by On a stormy winter night, a stranger knocks at the door of a shepherd's cottage. He is cold and hungry, and wants to get out of the rain. He is welcomed inside, but he does not give his name or his business. Who is he, and where has he come from? And he is only the first visitor to call at the cottage that night . . . In these three short stories, Thomas Hardy gives us pictures of the lives of shepherds and hangmen, dukes and teachers. But rich or poor, young or old, they all have the same feelings of fear, hope, love, jealousy . . .
Through the looking-glass. by I wish I could get through into looking-glass house,' Alice said. 'Let's pretend that the glass has gone soft and . . . Why, I do believe it has! It's turning into a kind of cloud!' A moment later Alice is inside the looking-glass world. There she finds herself part of a great game of chess, travelling through forests and jumping across brooks. The chess pieces talk and argue with her, give orders and repeat poems . . . It is the strangest dream that anyone ever had . . .
Tooth and claw: Short stories. by Conradin is ten years old. He lives alone with his aunt. He has two big secrets. The first is that he hates his aunt. The second is that he keeps a small, wild animal in the garden shed. The animal has sharp, white teeth, and it loves fresh blood. Every night, Conradin prays to this animal and asks it to do one thing for him, just one thing. This collection of short stories is clever, funny, and shows us 'Nature, red in tooth and claw'. In other words, it is Saki at his very best.
The USA. by Everybody knows about the United States of America. You can see its films, hear its music, and eat its food just about everywhere in the world. Cowboys, jazz, hamburgers, the Stars and Stripes - that's the United States. But it's a country with many stories to tell. Stories of busy cities, and quiet, beautiful forests and parks. Stories of a country that fought against Britain, and then against itself, to make the United States of today. Stories of rich and poor, black and white, Native American and immigrant. And the story of what it is really like to be an American today . . .
Wind in the willows. by Down by the river bank, where the wind whispers through the willow trees, is a very pleasant place to have a lunch party with a few friends. But life is not always so peaceful for the Mole and the Water Rat. There is the time, for example, when Toad gets interested in motor-cars - goes mad about them in fact . . . The story of the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad has been loved by young and old for over a hundred years.
Black beauty. by When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back, or to pull a carriage behind him, he finds it hard at first. But he is lucky - his first home is a good one, where his owners are kind people, who would never be cruel to a horse. But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses, whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead. Black Beauty soon finds this out, and as he describes his life, he has many terrible stories to tell.
Cranford. by Life in the small English town of Cranford seems very quiet and peaceful. The ladies of Cranford lead tidy, regular lives. They make their visits between the hours of twelve and three, give little evening parties, and worry about their maid-servants. But life is not always smooth - there are little arguments and jealousies, sudden deaths and unexpected marriages . . . Mrs Gaskell's timeless picture of small-town life in the first half of the nineteenth century has delighted readers for nearly 150 years.
Desert, mountain, sea. by Three different parts of the world, but all of them dangerous, lonely places. Three different women, but all of them determined to go - and to come back alive! Robyn Davidson walked nearly 3,000 kilometres across the Australian desert - with a dog and four camels. Arlene Blum led a team of ten women to the top of Annapurna - one of the highest mountains in the world. Only eight came down again. Naomi James sailed around the world alone, on a journey lasting more than 250 days.
Disaster! by From out of the sky, from under the earth, from far out at sea - disaster comes. We build and invent new things - and sometimes bring disaster on ourselves. Today television and the Internet mean that we can watch disasters as they happen, and see their terrible results. From Pompeii to the Asian Tsunami, from the Great Fire of London to Chernobyl, the stories of disasters are frightening, but they have much to tell us. Disasters bring stories of fear, pain, loss, and death - but also of people whose extraordinary bravery and feeling for others will touch your heart.
Doors to a wider place. by When it came to football, Billy was different. Black hands grab the ball. Black feet kick the ball. Black hopes rise up with the ball to the sickly white sky. No one can stop him now. He forgets about the river, and the people of his blood . . .' But who can forget their own past? Billy finds that the ties which hold him to the people of his blood are strong indeed . . . The stories in this volume of World Stories has stories by Australian writers Mena Abdullah and Ray Mathew, Judith Wright, Archie Weller, Dal Stivens, David Malouf, Marion Halligan.Eat Pray Love. by 'Elizabeth Gilbert, a successful writer, had everything -- a husband, friends, a big house in New York. But one day she realized she did not want any of it. Her marriage broke down, and she went through a long, painful divorce. A new relationship brought more heartbreak, deep depression followed, and in desperation, she started to pray. She decided to spend a year without any new relationships, and to travel to Italy, India, and Indonesia, searching for meaning in her life. This memoir is the true story of her journey of discovery through pleasure, religion, and back to love again.
Gandhi. by Who will speak for the poor? Who will listen to slaves, and those who have no rights? Who will work for a future where everyone is equal? Who will give up his house, job and money to fight for people who are shut out by everyone else? "I will," said Mohandas Gandhi. And he began to fight in a way the world had not seen before - not with weapons, and wild crowds, and words of hate, but with the power of non-violence. This is the story of a man who became the Father of the Nation in his own country of India, and a great leader for the whole world.
Great crimes. by The doctor took great care of his patients. Everybody agreed about that. And a lot of his women patients were old and ill, so it was only natural that a lot of them would die. Everyone agreed about that too. Until some of the women who died were not very old, or very ill - and someone began to ask questions about Dr Harold Shipman . . . Many great crimes end in a question. Not all the answers are known. Read about Dr Harold Shipman and discover the love, hate, death, money, and mystery behind this and other great crimes.
Gulliver's travels. by Soon I felt something alive moving along my leg and up my body to my face, and when I looked down, I saw a very small human being, only fifteen centimetres tall . . . I was so surprised that I gave a great shout.' But that is only the first of many surprises which Gulliver has on his travels. He visits a land of giants and a flying island, meets ghosts from the past and horses which talk.
History of the English language. by About a quarter of the people in the world today speak or use English. In homes and schools, offices and meeting rooms, ships and airports, people are speaking English... How has this happened? How did English begin, and what will become of it in the future? The history of the English language is a journey through space and time, from thousands of years ago to today and beyond, and to all parts of the world. Come on that journey and meet the monks and soldiers, the kings and scientists, the printers, poets, and travellers who have helped to make the English of today.
Hound of the Baskervilles. by Dartmoor. A wild, wet place in the south-west of England. A place where it is easy to get lost, and to fall into the soft green earth which can pull the strongest man down to his death. A man is running for his life. Behind him comes an enormous dog - a dog from his worst dreams, a dog from hell. Between him and a terrible death stands only one person - the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes.
Lord Jim. by A hundred years ago a seaman's life was full of danger, but Jim, the first mate on board the Patna, is not afraid of danger. He is young, strong, confident of his bravery. He dreams of great adventures - and the chance to show the world what a hero he is. But the sea is no place for dreamers. When the chance comes, on a calm moonlit night in the Indian Ocean, Jim fails the test, and his world falls to pieces around him. He disappears into the jungles of south-east Asia, searching fora way to prove himself, once and for all . . .
Lorna Doone. by One winter's day in 1673 young John Ridd is riding home from school, across the wild lonely hills of Exmoor. He has to pass Doone valley - a dangerous place, as the Doones are famous robbers and murderers. All Exmoor lives in fear of the Doones. At home there is sad news waiting for young John, and he learns that he has good reason to hate the Doones. But in the years to come he meets Lorna Doone, with her lovely smile and big dark eyes. And soon he is deeply, hopelessly, in love . ..
Nelson Mandela. by In 1918 in the peaceful province of Transkei, South Africa, the Mandela family gave their new baby son the name Rolihlahla - 'troublemaker'. But the young boy's early years were happy ones, and he grew up to be a good student and an enthusiastic sportsman. Who could imagine then what was waiting for Nelson Mandela - the tireless struggle for human rights, the long years in prison, the happiness and sadness of family life, and one day the title of President of South Africa?
Persuasion. by At nineteen Anne Elliot refuses an offer of marriage from Frederick Wentworth, persuaded to do so by Lady Russell, a friend of her dead mother. Wentworth is a sailor, with no money and an uncertain future, says Lady Russell - just a nobody, certainly not worthy of a baronet's daughter. Eight years later Wentworth returns, a rich and successful captain, looking for a wife. Anne is still unmarried, but Captain Wentworth clearly prefers the company of the two Musgrove girls . . .
The scarlet letter. by Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter 'A' stands for 'Adultery'. In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was a child of sin. Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne. And what will happen to her sinful lover - the father of her child?
Silas Marner. by In a hole under the floorboards Silas Marner the linen-weaver keeps his gold. Every day he works hard at his weaving, and every night he takes the gold out and holds the bright coins lovingly, feeling them and counting them again and again. The villagers are afraid of him and he has no family, no friends. Only the gold is his friend, his delight, his reason for living. But what if a thief should come in the night and take his gold away? What will Silas do then? What could possibly comfort him for the loss of his only friend?
The price of peace: Stories from Africa. by Careful, Connie, please. Your little sister's eyes are looking angry. Look at the sudden lines around her mouth, Connie, a sister is a good thing. Even a younger sister. 'Mercy, who are you going out with?' Connie gets an answer to her question, but it is not the answer she wants to hear. And what is the price of peace between sisters?
The thirty-nine steps. by I turned on the light, but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold. Scudder was lying on his back. There was a long knife through his heart, pinning him to the floor.' Soon Richard Hannay is running for his life across the hills of Scotland. The police are chasing him for a murder he did not do, and another, more dangerous enemy is chasing him as well - the mysterious 'Black Stone'. Who are these people? And why do they want Hannay dead?
Three men in a boat. by I like work. I find it interesting . . . I can sit and look at it for hours.' With ideas like this, perhaps it is not a good idea to spend a holiday taking a boat trip up the River Thames. But this is what the three friends - and Montmorency the dog - decide to do. It is the sort of holiday that is fun to remember afterwards, but not so much fun to wake up to early on a cold, wet morning. This famous book has made people laugh all over the world for a hundred years . . . and they are still laughing.
A time of waiting: Stories form around the world. by When did you last meet a polar bear, or go to a magician for help? These stories offer many different experiences. Some are strange, some are scary, some are sad, some are blackly funny. A few are shocking - when Lin Lin returns home for a funeral, she learns a dark and terrible family secret which may destroy her.
The unquiet grave: Short stories. by If you find a locked room in a lonely inn, don't try to open it, even on a bright sunny day. If you find a strange whistle hidden among the stones of an old church, don't blow it. If a mysterious man gives you a piece of paper with strange writing on it, give it back to him at once. And if you call a dead man from his grave, don't expect to sleep peacefully ever again. Read these five ghost stories by daylight, and make sure your door is locked.
Washington square. by When a handsome young man begins to court Catherine Sloper, she feels she is very lucky. She is a quiet, gentle girl, but neither beautiful nor clever; no one had ever admired her before, or come to the front parlour of her home in Washington Square to whisper soft words of love to her. But in New York in the 1840s young ladies are not free to marry where they please. Catherine must have her father's permission, and Dr Sloper is a rich man. One day Catherine will have a fortune of 30,000 dollars a year . . .The price of peace: Stories from Africa. by Careful, Connie, please. Your little sister's eyes are looking angry. Look at the sudden lines around her mouth, Connie, a sister is a good thing. Even a younger sister. 'Mercy, who are you going out with?'Connie gets an answer to her question, but it is not the answer she wants to hear. And what is the price of peace between sisters?
The accidental tourist. by Everyday life in Baltimore, USA, is full of problems - getting the washing done, buying groceries and dog food, avoiding the neighbors . . . After the death of his son and the departure of his wife, Macon's attempts to run his own life become increasingly desperate - and more and more odd. Meanwhile, he has to get on with his work, writing tourist guides for business people. Then his dog Edward starts to bite people, and he has to send for Muriel, the dog trainer. And day by day, Macon's life gets more and more complicated.
The age of innocence. by Into the narrow social world of New York in the 1870s comes Countess Ellen Olenska, surrounded by shocked whispers about her failed marriage to a rich Polish Count. A woman who leaves her husband can never be accepted in polite society. Newland Archer is engaged to young May Welland, but the beautiful and mysterious Countess needs his help. He becomes her friend and defender, but friendship with an unhappy, lonely woman is a dangerous path for a young man to follow - especially a young man who is soon to be married.
The bride price. by When her father dies, Aku-nna and her young brother have no one to look after them. They are welcomed by their uncle because of Aku-nna's 'bride price' - the money that her future husband will pay for her. In her new, strange home one man is kind to her and teaches her to become a woman. Soon they are in love, although everyone says he is not a suitable husband for her. The more the world tries to separate them, the more they are drawn together - until, finally, something has to break.
David Copperfield by Please, Mr Murdstone! Don't beat me! I've tried to learn my lessons, really I have, sir!' sobs David. Although he is only eight years old, Mr Murdstone does beat him, and David is so frightened that he bites his cruel stepfather's hand. For that, he is kept locked in his room for five days and nights, and nobody is allowed to speak to him. As David grows up, he learns that life is full of trouble and misery and cruelty. But he also finds laughter and kindness, trust and friendship . . . and love.
Far from the madding crowd. by Bathsheba Everdene is young, proud, and beautiful. She is an independent woman and can marry any man she chooses - if she chooses. In fact, she likes her independence, and she likes fighting her own battles in a man's world. But it is never wise to ignore the power of love. There are three men who would very much like to marry Bathsheba. When she falls in love with one of them, she soon wishes she had kept her independence. She learns that love brings misery, pain, and violent passions that can destroy lives . . .
The great gatsby. by Gatsby's mansion on Long Island blazes with light, and the beautiful, the wealthy, and the famous drive out from New York to drink Gatsby's champagne and to party all night long. But Jay Gatsby, the owner of all this wealth, wants only one thing - to find again the woman of his dreams, the woman he has held in his heart and his memory for five long years.The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, is one of the great American novels of the twentieth century. It captures perfectly the Jazz Age of the 1920s, and goes deep into the hollow heart of the American Dream.
The riddle of the sands. by When Carruthers joins his friend Arthur Davies on his yacht Dulcibella, he is expecting a pleasant sailing holiday in the Baltic Sea. But the holiday turns into an adventure of a different kind. He and Davies soon find themselves sailing in the stormy waters of the North Sea, exploring the channels and sandbanks around the German Frisian Islands, and looking for a secret - a secret that could mean great danger for England. Erskine Childers' novel, published in 1903, was the first great modern spy story, and is still as exciting to read today as it was a hundred years ago.
Sense and sensibility. by Sometimes the Dashwood girls do not seem like sisters. Elinor is all calmness and reason, and can be relied upon for practical, common sense opinions. Marianne, on the other hand, is all sensibility, full of passionate and romantic feeling. She has no time for dull common sense - or for middle-aged men of thirty-five, long past the age of marriage. True love can only be felt by the young, of course. And if your heart is broken at the age of seventeen, how can you ever expect to recover from the passionate misery that fills your life, waking and sleeping?
Barchester towers. by Mrs Proudie, the warlike wife of the new Bishop of Barchester, brings the Reverend Slope into the Bishop's Palace to help dominate her husband and rule the local clergy. But Slope is a snake in the grass, determined to find a rich wife, to win advancement for himself, even to fight Mrs Proudie if necessary. Their battle becomes a furious dance, involving rich, pretty Widow Bold, angry Archdeacon Grantly, man-eating Signora Neroni, gentle Mr Harding, confused Parson Quiverful and hisfourteen noisy children. This classic comic story is Trollope's most famous novel.
Cry freedom. by They said Steve Biko was a man of violence; then why did he talk of peace? They said he wanted revolution; so why did he talk of friendship? They said he died of hunger; why was his body broken and bruised? This is the story of a man's fight with the government of South Africa. It is the story of all people who prefer truth to lies. It is the story of all people who cry 'Freedom', and who are not afraid to die.
Jane Eyre by Jane Eyre is alone in the world. Disliked by her aunt's family, she is sent away to school. Here she learns that a young girl, with neither money nor family to support her, can expect little from the world. She survives, but she wants more from life than simply to survive: she wants respect, and love. When she goes to work for Mr Rochester, she hopes she has found both at once. But the sound of strange laughter, late at night, behind a locked door, warns her that her troubles are only beginning.
The joy luck club. by There are so many things that a mother wishes to teach her daughter. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to keep hoping, when hope is your only joy. How to laugh for ever. This is the story of four mothers and their daughters - Chinese-American women, the mothers born in China, and the daughters born in America. Through their eyes we see life in pre-Revolutionary China, and life in downtown San Francisco; women struggling to find a cultural identity that can include a past and a future half a world apart.
A passage to India. by A mysterious incident at the Marabar Caves, involving Adela Quested, newly arrived from England, and Dr Aziz, an Indian doctor, leads to a drama that divides the British and Indian communities in anger, distrust, and fear. Forsters great novel brings to life all the dangers and misunderstandings of colonialism but, as Forster himself wrote, the story is about something wider than politics, about the search of the human race for a more lasting home, about the universe as embodied in the Indian earth and the Indian sky, about the horror lurking in the Marabar Caves...
Tess of the D'Ubervilles by A pretty young girl has to leave home to make money for her family. She is clever and a good worker; but she is uneducated and does not know the cruel ways of the world. So, when a rich young man says he loves her, she is careful - but not careful enough. He is persuasive, and she is overwhelmed. It is not her fault, but the world says it is. Her young life is already stained by men's desires, and by death.
Vanity fair. by When Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley leave school, their feet are set on very different paths. Kind, foolish Amelia returns to her comfortable home and wealthy family, to await a suitable marriage, while Becky must look out for herself, earning her own living in a hard world. But Becky is neither kind nor foolish, and with her quick brain and keen eye for a chance, her fortunes soon rise, while Amelia's fall. Greed, ambition, loyalty, folly, wisdom . . . Thackeray's famous novel gives us a witty and satirical picture of English society during the Napoleonic wars.
The woman in white. by The woman in white first appears at night on a lonely heath near London and is next seen at a grave-side in Cumberland. Who is she? Where has she come from, and what is her history? She seems alone and friendless, frightened and confused. And it seems she knows a secret - a secret that could bring ruin and shame to a man who will do anything to keep her silent. This famous mystery thriller by Wilkie Collins has excitement, suspense, romance, and a plot that twists and turns on every page.