If you love Oi Frog and Friends, you'll adore this madcap animal alphabet story, guaranteed to get kids giggling - and learning! Dog's looking for animals to star in her new alphabet book. But she doesn't want 'ordinary animals'. No cats, dogs or lions. She's looking for animals who are different. Animals who are special. Animals who have ... the ABC Factor. Stick Insect is sure he has got the ABC factor - but will Dog and her fellow judges agree? From anacondas and aye-ayes to manatees, lemmings and naked mole rats, only the weirdest and more wonderful animals need apply. Britain's Got Talent meets Oi Frog - perfect for anyone who loves hilarious picture books and TV talent shows from Strictly to X Factor! Winner of the Hampshire Picture Book Prize!

The school show must go on, in the fourth hilarious mystery in the award-winning Anisha, Accidental Detective series! JUST ONE WEEK UNTIL SHOWTIME! I'm SO busy - our class is putting on a musical, and we only have ONE WEEK before curtain up. And, as it's nearly DIWALI, Granny Jas is cooking non-stop, and Auntie Bindi is determined to BRING THE BLING. I'm leaving the theatrics to Milo, but as the director's assistant I have LOADS to do...especially now everything is going WRONG. Even Molly the cat is forgetting her cues! Miss Jive believes the show is CURSED, but I think someone is trying to STOP THE SHOW! Time for me, ANISHA, ACCIDENTAL DETECTIVE, to step into the spotlight! Praise for the Anisha, Accidental Detective series: Winner of the Sainsbury's Children's Book Prize and of the Crimefest Best Crime Novel for Children Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award, the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Laugh Out Loud Book Award "DELIGHTFUL! Perfect for younger detectives - so funny and clever and sweet" Robin Stevens, author of the Murder Most Unladylike series "An absolute joy" Jennifer Killick, author of Crater Lake "Super funny and packed with lovable characters" Swapna Haddow, author of Dave Pigeon

Twin brothers, Mickey and Edward, are separated at birth as their mother cannot afford to keep them both. Raised only streets apart in the heart of Liverpool, the boys' lives take two very different paths. However, following a chance meeting, the pair form an unlikely friendship. But what will happen if they ever find out the secret of their shared history?

She wears her heart on her sleeve. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Something wicked this way comes! We're all familiar with these sayings. But where did they come from? Introduce young readers to the treasures of William Shakespeare with Shakespeare Illustrated Classics. Each title tells the tale of a popular play and is sure to inspire further Shakespearian study!

This book offers a comprehensive guide to teaching acting exercises that will unleash the inner creativity of students aged 8-18. Theories and techniques of some of the greatest theatre practitioners including Sanford Meisner, Constantin Stanislavski, Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen provide a basis for Samantha Marsden's original exercises for students between these ages. You won't find Duck, Duck, Goose, Zap, Zap, Boing - or any other traditional drama games in this book: instead, the craft of acting technique takes the limelight. These exercises have been tried and tested in the author's own classroom, and are guaranteed to inspire, ignite imagination and encourage heartfelt performances. Focus points used in leading drama schools such as voice, movement, relaxation, character development and understanding text are recreated for a younger student. They are easy to follow and will be fun, challenging and immensely rewarding for teachers and students alike. The book features a foreword by Paul Roseby, CEO and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre.

Chained to the hold of a slave ship bound for the Caribbean, a terrified young girl's only comfort is the voice of a woman she can't see. She is told 'Anansi stories', tales of the crafty spider whose cunning and humorous tricks give the girl the resilience and wit she needs to survive.

This pocket-sized activity book has pages and pages of fun activities on a stage school theme. Packed into a neat, portable size, it's the ultimate hands-on book for star-struck kids who love singing, dancing and show business! It's the perfect gift to keep the little stars of tomorrow entertained for hours whilst on the move or on holiday.

Lights, camera ... kidnap! 'Dreams of stardom; sibling rivalry & a gripping ending, Sister to a Star has it all & I gobbled up the entire book' BONKERS ABOUT BOOKS Evie is forever crossing swords with her twin. While she practises her after-school fencing, Tallulah is winning movie auditions. Neither of them could have imagined how their worlds would collide, but when Tallulah goes to Hollywood Evie goes too - as her sister's identical stand-in. But that changes, when the film needs some all-action sword-play. Soon Evie's the one enjoying the limelight - that is, until Tallulah goes missing ... An action-packed sibling adventure of twin rivalry, glamour and skulduggery set against the bright lights of Hollywood! Written by ex-Olympic fencer, Eloise Smith Features a diverse ensemble cast of brave and spirited kids you can't help but root for!

Drama games are not staged plays but a dynamic form in which children explore their minds and the world around them. They can use their play-acting in sensory games, pantomimes, story games with puppets, in creating masks and costumes, and much more.

Drama games allow children to get more in touch with themselves and what they want to be, and are a delightful way to discover the freedom, creativity, and expression of acting- and living.

The "SmartFun"Activity series encourage imagination, social interaction, and self-expression in children. To make the books easy to use, games are marked according to appropriate age levels, length of play time, and group size, using helpful icons. Most games are non-competitive and none require special skills or training. The series is widely used in homes, schools, daycare centers, clubs, and summer camp.

This is the ultimate activity book for star-struck kids who love singing, dancing and show business! Ideal for the superstars of tomorrow, this book is bursting with fun activities based on a stage school theme. With drawing, colouring and doodling activities, plus games, puzzles and things to make and do, there's something creative and fun to do on every page.

In his thirteenth year, Will Sparrow, liar and thief, becomes a runaway. On the road, he encounters a series of con artists--a pickpocket, a tooth puller, a pig trainer, a conjurer--and learns that others are more adept than he at lying and thieving. Then he reluctantly joins a traveling troupe of "oddities," including a dwarf and a cat-faced girl, holding himself apart from the "monsters" and resolving to be on guard against further deceptions. At last Will is forced to understand that appearances are misleading and that he has been his own worst deceiver. The rowdy world of market fairs in Elizabethan England is the colorful backdrop for Newbery medalist Cushman's new comic masterpiece.

Although a classmate says that she cannot play Peter Pan in the school play because she is black, Grace discovers that she can do anything she sets her mind to do.

A vibrant and enchanting debut novel about an orphan girl who discovers a magical circus, perfect for fans of Kelly Barnhill and Rebecca Stead! Maddy Adriana knows that magic is real. All her life, her heart has pulled her towards things too perfect to be ordinary. One day, that tug leads her to a magical street circus, hidden in plain sight among the canals and boardwalks of Venice Beach. For the first time in Maddy's life, she finally feels like she belongs. But the circus is in grave danger. Maddy will need to confront the frightening side of magic, as well as her own deepest fears, if she's to have any hope of saving the place she dreams of calling home. This unforgettable debut shows readers the magic of following your heart and finding where you belong.

Matt did it! His performance at the T Factor has given him the fame he dreamed of. Kitty is getting more gigs booked in with a whole new stable of comedic acts. Unfortunately, Matt hasn't had time to come up with new jokes so it isn't long before he is greeted with the worst heckle for a comedian: 'heard it before!'. But when Kitty suggests he takes a break to work on his routine, Matt can't stand to go back to his normal life. So he signs up with the stylish Excalibur Agency, brushing his concerns (and Kitty) aside. A life of celebrity awaits! But it doesn't take long for the shine to wear off and when they try and force him on to his first Live At the Apollo, without any preparation and no new jokes, how can Matt save himself from the ultimate humiliation?

"It is almost Friday night. Outside, the dark is getting darker," and here and there around the city ninety-two men and thirteen women are getting dressed to go to work. First they bathe and put on their underwear. Then they don special black-and-white apparel. Then when the one hundred and five people are completely ready, each takes a musical instrument and travels to midtown. There, at 8:30 tonight, they will work together: playing.

In these pages Karla Kuskin and Marc Simont combine their talents to give us a delightful and unusual inside view of one way an orchestra prepares.

Nominee, 1983 American Book Award
Notable Children's Books of 1983 (ALA)
1983 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1982 (NYT)
A Reading Rainbow Selection
1983 Teachers' Choices (NCTE)
Children's Books of 1982 (Library of Congress)

If you've ever wondered how a movie gets made, you're not alone. Author and illustrator Jeff Kinney didn't know either, but when his bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was turned into a live-action movie by 20th Century Fox, he learned how books get adapted for the screen in not one but three major motion pictures. Complete with photographs, script pages, storyboard sketches, costume designs, and original art by Jeff Kinney, The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary--now updated to include the new movie Diary of a Wimpy: Dog Days--is the perfect companion to the bestselling series.

Join Jada and Granny Jinks in this charming new series for readers aged 6+! Gorgeously illustrated throughout by Selom Sunu, and brimming with warmth, tricks and magic, this is the perfect read for fans of The Naughtiest Unicorn, Bad Nana and Wigglesbottom Primary! When Jada Jinks finds a box of magic tricks in her granny's flat, she uncovers her granny's SECRET dream of becoming a magician. Jada soon decides that she's going to help Granny Jinks fulfil her dreams, but one thing stands in her way - her dad, Jonny Jinks, who hates magic! Will Jada be able to help Granny Jinks pass the auditions for Dalton Green Magic Society, and will she learn some tricks of her own along the way? Inspired by the true story of Jenny Mayers - the first Black woman to be accepted into the Magic Circle. *Includes how-to magic tricks for you to try at home!* With themes of finding courage, making friends, managing relationships at home, school and in the community, this is a wonderful new series for readers aged 6 and up!

The tragedy of love thwarted by fate has always intrigued writers.  In the sixteenth century, William Shakespeare took this theme and fashioned one of the world's great plays: Romeo And Juliet.  In our own time, Shakespeare's drama has been used as a basis for the overwhelmingly successful musical play West Side Story.  Though one of these works is set among the nobility of Verona, and the other among immigrant families of New York's West Side, both tell the story of the plight of young star-crossed" lovers.



As Norris Houghton writes in his introduction: "What we see is that all four young people strive to consummate the happiness at the threshold on which they stand and which they have tasted so briefly.  All four are deprived of the opportunity to do so, the Renaissance couple by the caprice of fate, today's youngsters by the prejudice and hatred engendered around them....



"Poets and playwrights will continue to write of youthful lovers whom fate drives into and out of each other's lives.  The spectacle will always trouble and move us, even as the two dramas in this volume do today."

Aimed at a generation of short attention spans and a taste for razor-sharp comedy, the rapid-fire ZAP is a smart, farcical new play for high-school students that's ready to bring the house down.
When they're not dusting off the old classics -- over and over -- high-school drama departments are constantly in search of new material. But what play could possibly suit the point-and-click attention spans of kids born with remote controls in their cribs? Cue the lights for ZAP, a nonstop farce that juxtaposes seven different plays -- performed simultaneously -- with a comic genius reminiscent of masters from Monty Python to the Marx Brothers. Combining spot-on parodies of Anton Chekhov, Agatha Christie, Tennessee Williams, Samuel Beckett, Neil Simon and performance art and throwing in scenes from RICHARD III for good measure, ZAP flicks rapidly back and forth from play to play, with hilarious results. As characters from one play end up on the set of another, their befuddlement, exasperation, and brave attempts at improvisation are truly priceless. A hoot to read, ZAP is a dream to perform -- as high schools in California, New York, and Florida have already discovered.