With prose that is every bit as raw, intense and bitingly honest as the world it depicts, Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave contains a new afterword by the author in Penguin Modern Classics. Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a troubled teenager growing up in the small Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley. Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines's acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world. Ken Loach's renowned film adaptation, Kes, has achieved cult status and in his new afterword Barry Hines discusses his work to adapt the novel into a screenplay, and reappraises the legacy of a book that has become a popular classic. Barry Hines (b. 1939) was born in the mining village of Hoyland Common, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Leaving Ecclesfield Grammar School without any qualifications, Hines worked as an apprentice mining surveyor for the National Coal Board before entering Loughborough Training College to study Physical Education. Working as a teacher in Hoyland Common, he wrote novels in the school library after work, later turning to writing full-time. If you enjoyed A Kestrel for a Knave, you might like The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and Other Stories by Jack London, published in Penguin Classics.

This holiday, we proudly present to you this unique collection of the greatest Christmas stories. Over 250 of them are included by your favourite authors:Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Beatrix Potter, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Hans Christian Andersen, E.T.A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, Mark Twain and many more!

Custard Castle has three hundred dusty rooms, and only seven people. One of them is Wizard Watchit – whose spells have a habit of going horribly wrong! Four easy, humorous stories for younger children.Custard Castle has three hundred dusty rooms, and only seven people - not to mention a Thing that guards the treasure room… These four easy, humorous stories for younger children are perfect for reading aloud, or for confident readers to enjoy on their own.Princess Fifi’s Frog: when Fifi kisses a frog from the moat, it turns into a very odd prince indeed!The Surprising Storm: Wizard Watchit’s spells create some weird and wonderful weather… Dragon Dilemma: The tiny dragon under the stairs has suddenly grown huge and fierce! What can the King do?Spring Clean: Bella the maid finds a magic broom with a mind of its own!

Lupita Espinoza was a forty year old, single mom who often wished of being anywhere in the world other than Corpus Christi. But when a geologist in Antarctica appears in her bathroom mirror, Lupita begins a journey that will take her to places never dreamt possible. Queen Of Hearts is Part Four of the multi-part series "The Wonderland", a science fiction romance.Lupita Espinoza was a forty year old, single mom who often wished of being anywhere in the world other than Corpus Christi. But when a geologist in Antarctica appears in her bathroom mirror, Lupita begins a journey that will take her to places never dreamt possible. Queen Of Hearts is Part Four of the multi-part series "The Wonderland", a science fiction romance where the girl gets the guy, the aliens, and her place in the universe. In the fourth part, Lupita is stranded in Germany where she comes face-to-face with the creators of the Mirror Anomaly, and she must join forces with them in order to keep the device from falling into the wrong hands. But in doing so, she must decide to return to Antarctica and risk losing any chance of finding the one thing she's always wanted ... love.

Classic fairy tale about Prince Peter, who journeys to find the firebird, which keeps stealing the golden apples from the kings orchard. Non-illustrated version.A retelling of the classic Russian folk tale about the prince who must complete three challenges in order to bring the firebird back to the king. He has help along the way in the form of a white wolf. Even if he finds the firebird, will he be able to bring ot home?

Anton Chekhov's only full-length novel, this Penguin Classics edition of The Shooting Party is translated and edited by Ronald Wilks, with an introduction by John Sutherland. The Shooting Party centers on Olga, the pretty young daughter of a drunken forester on a country estate, and her fateful relationships with the men in her life. Adored by Urbenin, the estate manager, whom she marries to escape the poverty of her home, she is also desired by the dissolute Count Karneyev and by Zinovyev, a magistrate, who knows the secret misery of her marriage. When an attempt is made on Olga's life in the woods, it seems impossible to discover the perpetrator in an impenetrable web of lust, deceit, loathing and double-dealing. One of Chekhov's earliest experiments in fiction combines the classic elements of a gripping mystery with a short story of corruption, concealed love and fatal jealousy. Ronald Wilks's brilliant new translation of this work is the first in over seventy years. It brilliantly captures the immediacy of the dialogue that Chekhov was later to develop into his great dramas. This edition also includes an introduction by John Sutherland, suggestions for further reading and explanatory notes. Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was born in Taganrog, a port on the sea of Azov. In 1879 he travelled to Moscow, where he entered the medical faculty of the university, graduating in 1884. During his university years, he supported his family by contributing humorous stories and sketches to magazines. He published his first volume of stories, Motley Tales, in 1886, and a year later his second volume In the Twilight, for which he received the Pushkin Prize. Today his plays, including 'Uncle Vanya', 'The Seagull', and 'The Cherry Orchard' are recognised as masterpieces the world over. If you enjoyed The Shooting Party, you might like Chekhov's Plays, also available in Penguin Classics.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale about the queen, who gives birth to a lindworm.A barren queen gives birth to a lindworm after making a terrible mistake. Now she and the king must find him a bride, before their other son can marry his beloved.

'As unforgettable as Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" . . . a whirlingly imaginative storyline full of wonder and hope as well as warning.' - The TimesThe Ice Children is an exciting, contemporary, magical mystery adventure with a powerful message at its core. With black-and-white illustrations throughout by Penny Neville-Lee, this is a perfect gift for boys and girls of 8-12.At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park standing on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but no one can wake him.Finn's big sister, Bianca, suspects that the beautiful sparkling book Finn got from the library has something to do with it, but the book has vanished. Does the tall mysterious stranger who first discovered Finn know more than they will admit?Each day, more children are found frozen and Bianca realizes she's running out of time. Her quest to discover...