All About Cats is a collection of hilarious rhymes . . . all about cats! These short, funny rhymes are brought to life with illustrations from Axel Scheffler, the bestselling illustrator of The Gruffalo. Cats are sleek, and cats are slick. They read, and do arithmetic! Have you ever seen a cat playing a piano? Or taking a bubble bath with a rubber duck? Find out what cats really get up to when people aren't around! Axel Scheffler's charming and witty illustrations introduce all kinds of cats - making mischief, playing games, singing songs and out on adventures. This collection of hilarious, quirky poems by Frantz Wittkamp is wonderfully adapted from German to English for the very first time by celebrated children's author David Henry Wilson. With fourteen delightfully funny short poems, and full-page colour illustrations by Axel Scheffler, the genius illustrator of Room on the Broom, Zog, The Smeds and the Smoos and many more, this collection is sure to entertain children young and old, and is the perfect gift for any cat fan.

Following the critical and commercial success of Pattern and Ornament in the Arts of India, Henry Wilson has turned for this companion volume to a single theme. But what a theme: the variety of floral motifs in the exquisitely wrought details of India's architectural wonders is boundless, and one can only marvel at the way in which the basic elements of wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. From the illustrious Mughal Empire during its greatest period of monument-building and artistic creativity to the time of British rule, which brought with it an unprecedented period of peace that allowed great wealth to be concentrated on the arts, the richness of India's architecture is overwhelming. Henry Wilson's fine photographs reveals the skill, patience and pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have turned to floral motifs and rendered them with precision and life-enriching creativity. Juxtaposed with the photographs are Wilson's own graphic transpositions of the designs - a wealth of detailed drawings, all created by hand but with a stencil-like clarity that helps us understand the original historical patterns. The result is an invaluable sourcebook that will appeal not only to those interested in one of the world's oldest civilizations and greatest cultures, but also to anyone seeking inspiration for their own graphic creations.

Ernest Henry Wilson (1876 1930) was introduced to China in 1899 when, as a promising young botanist, he was sent there by horticulturalist Henry Veitch (1840 1924) to collect the seed of the handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata, for propagation in Britain. Subsequent trips saw Wilson bringing back hundreds of seed samples and plant collections, introducing many Chinese plants to Europe and North America. He wrote extensively about his travels in China: this two-volume work was published in 1913. Although much of the text is concerned with plant life, Wilson also gives a great deal of attention to the wider landscape around him. In addition, Wilson took a camera, and these volumes contain photographs of parts of China rarely seen by Europeans in the early twentieth century. Volume 1 covers his travels from Hupeh (Hubei) to Szechuan and into the Tibetan region before ending at Wa Wu Shan.

Ernest Henry Wilson (1876 1930) was introduced to China in 1899 when, as a promising young botanist, he was sent there by horticulturalist Henry Veitch (1840 1924) to collect the seed of the handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata, for propagation in Britain. Subsequent trips saw Wilson bringing back hundreds of seed samples and plant collections, introducing many Chinese plants to Europe and North America. He wrote extensively about his travels in China: this two-volume work was published in 1913. Although much of the text is concerned with plant life, Wilson also gives a great deal of attention to the wider landscape around him. In addition, Wilson took a camera, and these volumes contain photographs of parts of China rarely seen by Europeans in the early twentieth century. In Volume 2 Wilson examines how people in western China use their plants in medicine and agriculture, including the important tea industry.

Mock-heroic poetry is one of the most characteristic genres of English neoclassicism in the eighteenth century. Derived from French models, the mock-heroic became something more than merely a parody of the serious epic: relieved of its gravity, it was nevertheless a legitimate and independent form of epic poetry. This book is the first comprehensive study of the theory, the conventions and the history of the mock-heroic genre. In the first part, Ulrich Broich shows how mock-heroic poetry combines the characteristics of various discourses - epic, comedy, parody, satire and occasional poetry. The 'polyphonic' genre which emerges from this analysis stands in ironic contrast to the neoclassical ideal of decorum in a harmonious unity of discourse and form. The second part traces the history of mock-heroic poetry: its foreign sources, its beginnings in England, the 'rivalry' with other forms of comic narrative, and its decline in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Mock-heroic poetry is one of the most characteristic genres of English neoclassicism in the eighteenth century. Derived from French models, the mock-heroic became something more than merely a parody of the serious epic: relieved of its gravity, it was nevertheless a legitimate and independent form of epic poetry. This book is the first comprehensive study of the theory, the conventions and the history of the mock-heroic genre. In the first part, Ulrich Broich shows how mock-heroic poetry combines the characteristics of various discourses - epic, comedy, parody, satire and occasional poetry. The 'polyphonic' genre which emerges from this analysis stands in ironic contrast to the neoclassical ideal of decorum in a harmonious unity of discourse and form. The second part traces the history of mock-heroic poetry: its foreign sources, its beginnings in England, the 'rivalry' with other forms of comic narrative, and its decline in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Without a beginning and without an end, Tristram Shandy moves in many different directions, defying the conventional expectations of its readers. Wolfgang Iser shows how Sterne exploits the philosophy of his day and its cognitive deficiencies, using digression, humour and play to convey experience of subjectivity, and implicitly to expose the traditional concept of the self.

Molly loves to listen to her dad's bedtime stories. Once upon a time, he says, everyone was green, squirrels sang in choirs, tiny people lived in Aunt Elsie's pot plant and of course, rabbits could fly . . . but can all this really be true? Molly thinks her dad's just being silly as usual, but no-one's bedtime stories are as good as his. So cuddle up on the sofa and pick one of these fourteen fantastically funny stories to read together before bed. Which one will be your favourite?

Melanie von Bismarck's brilliant collection of short stories is cleverly translated from the German by David Henry Wilson, author of the Jeremy James series, and is brought to life by the warm, witty and richly detailed pictures by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo.

With a jacket, extra-thick paper, and a special ribbon to mark your place in the book, Flying Rabbits, Singing Squirrels and Other Bedtime Stories makes a great present – truly a book to treasure.

Perhaps more clearly than any other part of the biblical canon, the Psalms are human words directed to God. Yet, through the Holy Spirit, these honest, sometimes brutal words return to us as the Word of God. Their agonies and exaltations reflect more than the human condition in which they were created. Within the context of the canonical Psalter, they become the source of divine guidance, challenge, confrontation, and comfort. However, it is possible to misapply them. How can we use the Psalms in a way that faithfully connects God s meaning in them and his intentions for them with our circumstances today? Drawing on over twenty years of study in the book of Psalms, Dr. Gerald H. Wilson reveals the links between the Bible and our present times. While he considers each psalm in itself, Wilson goes much further, examining whole groups of psalms and, ultimately, the entire Psalter, its purpose, and its use from the days of Hebrew temple worship onward through church history. In so doing, Wilson opens our eyes to ageless truths for our twenty-first-century lives. Most Bible commentaries take us on a one-way trip from our world to the world of the Bible. But they leave us there, assuming that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. They focus on the original meaning of the passage but don t discuss its contemporary application. The information they offer is valuable---but the job is only half done The NIV Application Commentary Series helps bring both halves of the interpretive task together. This unique, award-winning series shows readers how to bring an ancient message into our postmodern context. It explains not only what the Bible meant but also how it speaks powerfully today."

Debt finance involving interest payments - the standard method in the global economy - goes against Qur'anic teaching and Shariah law. Wealth creation is therefore one of the greatest challenges facing Muslims and the Islamic world.

This book explores the longer term issues of Islamic capital accumulation and its contribution to the development of Muslim societies in the East and West. Although many of these societies remain poor, it is shown that there is much positive experience to learn from - especially that wealth creation is most successful when the institutions created to harness and deploy funds share the values of the societies they serve. It can be seen that adherence to religious values brings social development, and that moral financing makes good business sense.

The book includes:

* evaluation of Asian Islamic banking experiences

* assessment of Islamic banking efficiency and service quality

* analysis of Islamic insurance and risk management, and equity finance and venture capital

Countries covered include:

Iran

Pakistan

Sudan

Kuwait

Egypt

Malaysia

Bahrain

Jordan

Saudi Arabia

The book provides a comprehensive discussion of the various aspects of Islamic finance, focusing on key countries and institutions in a coherent manner and bringing both breadth and depth to the subject.

Key Features:

* First book to bridge the gap between Islamic economic theory and financial practice

* Considers risk management in accordance with Islamic law by exploring Islamic mortgages and insurance

* Looks at equity finance, venture capital and the stock market from an Islamic perspective

* Offers detailed case studies of country experiences ofIslamic capital formation and wealth accumulation

* Includes a glossary of Arabic terms

Originally published in English in 1989, from a 1980 German edition, this book provides a comprehensive study of Oscar Wilde's work. It aims to gain fresh insight into his literary and critical oeuvre by fully analysing each of his works on the basis of a textually oriented interpretation, taking equal account of the biographical and intellectual contexts. Professor Kohl's starting-point is the thesis that Wilde's identity - both personal and artistic - can only be adequately described in terms of a conflict between two opposing forces: individualism and convention. This conflict colours not only Wilde's use of Romantic and Victorian images and motifs, but also his modern portrayal of the individual's alienation from society, the loss of transcendent values, the sovereignty of subjectivity and autonomous art, and also his formal experiments with language. This is a penetrating and highly readable account of Wilde as a 'conformist rebel'.

The variety of patterns in the exquisitely wrought details of India's architecture and interiors is boundless, and one can only marvel at the ways in which materials such as wood, stone and plaster have been transformed into masterworks of decorative art. Photographer and illustrator Henry Wilson has spent decades recording the pictorial imagination of the many thousands of craftsmen who have rendered abstract and representative patterns with such extraordinary patience and skill. This beautiful new colouring book presents a range of patterns and decorative motifs from across India, allowing you to explore designs from one of the world's greatest and most creative cultures while rendering them in colourways that are entirely your own.

A unique document: Clint Eastwood's story, as told in his own words A reference work in which one of the great masters of contemporary cinema revisits, film by film, his entire career as both a legendary actor and a remarkable director An insightful conversation with the critic and documentary filmmaker Michael Henry Wilson, who has known Eastwood for over twenty years A richly illustrated, faithful record of Eastwood's work, containing film stills and set photographs as well as previously unpublished photographs from his personal collection, dating from his youth and early years as an actor A potential 2010 bestseller: Eastwood's recent films - including Million Dollar Baby (2004), Gran Torino (2008), Changeling (2008) and Invictus (2009) - have enjoyed huge worldwide success, both at the box office and with the critics Includes a biography and a complete filmography

Jeremy James always seems to be getting into mischief and is fed up with grown-ups never knowing the answer to important questions . . . Join Jeremy James as he finds himself in a runaway car, causes havoc at a birthday party and comes up with a cunning plan on how to get rich. Illustrated throughout by the award-winning Axel Scheffler, David Henry Wilson's funny and gentle stories about the inimitable Jeremy James are much-loved classics, perfect for younger readers.