"Robert Burns in Time and Place" is a brand new title in the "Scotties Books" series which contain a wealth of interesting facts, stimulating activities, web sites and suggestions for places to visit. The year 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns but studying the life and work of the poet is no longer just a celebration around his birthday, but can be embedded across the school curriculum. The book looks at Ayrshire, Scotland and the wider world as they were in his time and which shaped his experiences and his work.

The story of the Skye terrier who refused to leave his master's grave in Greyfriar's Kirkyard, Edinburgh, has been popular from Victorian times. This book tells the well-loved story and also gives the historical background with such sections as: The Lord Provost, William Chambers (who declared that 'no one's dog is everyone's dog' and gave Bobby the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh); William Brodie, the sculptor of the famous statue; Edinburgh's shocking health record; Bobby's Edinburgh; Bobby's breed - why the name? The book is illustrated with drawings and photographs and relevant objects from the collections of National Museums Scotland and its Scottish Life Archive. An eight-page activity section includes: Dog issues - true or false? How well do you know your dog? Wordsearch. Follow in Bobby's pawprints. Greyfriars Bobby is the latest title in the Scotties series of activity books for young readers. Each contains a wealth of interesting facts, stimulating activities, a list of websites and suggestions for places to visit.

In this book on the history of flight in Scotland you can: find out about the man who tried to fly off the wall at Stirling Castle and about Percy Pilcher and his fragile 'Bat' glider; be amazed at the story of Vincenzo Lunardi, and his balloon flight in 1785 from Edinburgh to Fife; see how aircraft are used in war, from the airships, and planes with open cock-pits, in World War I, to the Cold War V-bombers; read about UFOs in the 'Falkirk Triangle', the short-lived Rocket Post and much more; and check out how you can visit Concorde Alpha Alpha at the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian, and the other flying machines there.

Parliaments existed in Scotland, off and on, from about 1200 till there was the Union with the English Parliament in 1707. In 1998 the Scotland Act decreed that 'There shall be a Scottish Parliament' and the new, devolved Parliament opened on 1 July 1999. This Scotties activity book for children aged 9-12 gives the early history of Parliaments in Scotland and then looks in more detail at how the present Parliament in Holyrood works. Scotties are exciting, full-colour Scottish information books for young readers. Each title contains a wealth of interesting facts, stimulating activities for home or classroom use, a list of websites, and suggestions for places to visit.

Now rewritten and redesigned to include photographs of objects from National Museums Scotland, "The Clans" explains how the idea of clanship developed and traces the one-time hostility between Highlanders and Lowlanders. Readers can find out: where the clans were found; what the connection was with the Gaelic language; who the clan chiefs were, and how the clans were organised; how the clansmen dressed; where clan names came from; how to design their own tartan; and, how to write a praise poem or lament - and more. The book also includes a list of websites and suggestions for places to visit.

Part of the award-winninq "Scotties" series of activity books for children, "Scottish Vikings" tells their story from blood-curdling and violent beginnings to the end of Norse power in 1469. Follow the Vikings as they settled large areas of the north and west of Scotland. Find out: why the Vikings travelled west-over-sea to Scotland; when and where they settled; why they sometimes buried their chiefs in longships; how the Picts and Scots coped with these invaders; and what legacy the Vikings left behind. This new edition includes features such as: expanded and redesigned; an 8-page pull-out black and white section with games, puzzles and drawings for colouring in which can be photocopied by teachers for classroom use; and, photographs of Viking objects from the collections of the National Museums Scotland.

Encouraged by Burns Nights, ceilidhs and poetry slams, reading poetry aloud is a valued Scottish tradition, enjoyed by young and old alike. This anthology includes old favourites from Burns and Matt McGinn, and new classics from contemporary Scottish poetry. Covering a range of themes, from love to landscape, this wonderful collection really does have something for everyone.

In this wonderful collection of stories by some of Ireland's finest writers, including Carleton, Yeats and Lady Wilde, a legion of fairy folk - leprechauns, giants, witches and mermaids - help, hinder, charm and terrify their mortal neighbours. The fairy tales of Ireland are part of one of the richest folklore traditions in the world. These much-loved tales include the story of the farmer who offends the fairies by building on their dancing ground; the king who loses his wife in a chess game and the smith who learns his skill at working brass and iron during his seven-year apprenticeship to the giant Mahon MacMahon. The heroes and saints of the Celtic sagas are here as well, in beautifully written versions of the old bardic stories of Finn, Deirdre, Cuchulain and Brigid. Wielding the power to enthral and enchant, these ancient tales open the door to a strangely familiar world of mystery and magic.

Loosely chronological, this Selected Poems (comprising about half the poems of a consistently productive career) is a wry, witty and insightful collection, gathering together the various strands making up an ordinary life - family, early years, student days, the publishing trade, holidays in Brittany, climbing in the Scottish mountains, retirement in Fife, birdwatching, getting older, and many others. Taken together A Man Passing Through stands as a remarkable portrait of a life lived in and through letters.

Distinguished by irony, compassion and the author's own dry wit, these three novels paint a memorable picture of life in the streets, schools and tenements of Glasgow in the 1950s and 60s. With a unique vision of loneliness, old age, sexual longing, hot young blood and youth's casual cruelty, George Friel's books explore a dark comedy of tangled communication, human need and fading community. All these elements come together in the humorous parable of greed, religion and slum youth that is The Boy Who Wanted Peace; in the fate of old and disturbed Miss Partridge who is obsessed with the innocence of young Grace; and in the mental collapse of Mr Alfred, a middle-aged schoolteacher who is in love with one of this pupils. The humour, realism and moral concern of Friel's work clearly anticipate and stand alongside the novels of Alan Spence, Alasdair Gray, William McIlvanney and James Kelman.

Mystery and excitement abound in this lively collection of fairy tales, folklore and legends, which celebrate Scotland's enormously rich oral tradition and offers a carefully chosen combination of old favourites such as Tam Lin, Thomas Rymer and Adam Bell, as well as more modern stories by master story-tellers like Andrew Lang, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and John Buchan.

Grammar, the structure of a language, is often the subject of confusion. The Bloomsbury Grammar Guide is an easy-to-use handbook which provides the answers. Updated and revised throughout, the new edition is essential reading for all writers and readers of our increasingly dynamic and global language. It contains: * Words, phrases, sentences and clauses * Punctuation - where and how to use everything from the colon to the slash * Figures of speech and literary devices * Common errors - an A-Z list of easily confused words 'A Cook's tour of the English language' Oxford Times