The Big Christmas Bake is a funny, lively romp through the twelve days of Christmas, taking the elements of the popular carol, and weaving them cleverly into the ingredients for a Twelfth Night Cake. Starting with the partridge and its gift of dried fruit, this rhyming story includes all of the familiar characters from the song as they all contribute to the baking of the magnificent Twelfth Night cake. A trio of french hens bring baking powder Six geese bring eggs, and lots of feathers too Ten lords help carry the cake into the oven ready to bake At the end of the story, there is a recipe included to bake your own cake at home, giving this book the potential to be a favourite Christmas story as well as a resource to be used every year in introducing a twelfth night cake tradition to a family. Characterfully illustrated by Pippa Curnick The Big Christmas Bake is a beautiful, lyrical, and gently humourous Christmas story for the whole family to enjoy.

  Tuck into this wonderful picture book introduction to the changing of seasons. There's nothing Fox loves more in the world than autumn. And he's going to make it last as long as he can!  As soon as Fox opened his door, he could tell. "Autumn at last! There's so much to do!" Autumn is Fox's favourite time of the year. He loves tasting blackberries, scrunching and collecting leaves! But as the days pass, Autumn starts to reach its end. Winter is coming ... and Fox DEFINITELY cannot let that happen! Join Fox as he tries to do everything to stop Autumn from slipping by and eventually learns that each season has its magic. A funny and quirky story about the changing seasons Fabulous text by Fiona Barker, full of humour and heart

A brilliantly funny picture book about two best friends who just can't agree! Hank and Hoog are best friends - they do EVERYTHING together. Until one morning, when a single, crisp, brown leaf falls to the ground... Hank is so annoyed! Falling leaves mean winter is coming, and Hank definitely does not like winter. BRRRRRRR! But Hoog is overjoyed! Hoog loves winter - the snow, the snuggles, all of it! AHHHHHHH! Will these two friends learn to put their differences aside? You bet they will! They may not agree on winter, but there's something they both definitely like: each other. And there's nothing more important than being best friends. With a laugh-out-loud story bursting with personality and beautiful illustrations full of heart, I Definitely Don't Like Winter is an instant picture book classic The perfect read for winter, and all year round! With themes of friendship, disagreement, compromise and honesty

Aria has her head in the clouds. Yusuf keeps his feet on the ground. But when they work together to save a bird who has lost her way, something magical happens. When Swift loses her way on her epic migration. Aria and Yusuf come to her rescue and are inspired to think big about looking after the sky above their city. Inspired by Fiona and Howard’s love for wildlife of all kinds and is the follow-up to Setsuko and the Song of the Sea. Howard’s beautiful illustrations evoke a strong sense of place, strengthened by the beautiful Arabic text distilled by Maysoon AbuBlan.

  A gloriously heart-warming tale of friendship and fun from the creators of I Definitely Don't Like Winter.   Autumn is Fox's favourite time of year - there's so much to do, like scrunching leaves, tasting blackberries and picking apples. But Autumn is slipping away ... can Fox make it stay, or will he learn that a season shared is never forgotten? Join Fox on his hilarious quest to stop autumn from leaving and watch him discover that perhaps change isn't such a bad thing after all... A brilliantly funny tale about the changing seasons and learning to be in the moment Fabulous text by Fiona Barker and stunning illustrations by Christine Pym Full of humour and heart, perfect for fans of The Leaf Thief and The Squirrels Who Squabbled.

This volume explores the impact of multilingualism on learning, teaching and assessment, viewed from the perspective of policies, procedures and challenges. Language Assessment for Multilingualism brings together a selection of edited papers based on presentations given at the Fifth International Conference of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) held in Paris, France, in April 2014. The selected papers focus on the conference's core themes: the effect of multilingualism on international mobility; how multilingualism can address the challenge of increasing linguistic diversity; the impact of intercultural communication on linguistic competence; and how to ensure fairness and quality in language assessment.

Danny REALLY wants a dog. He wants a dog so much that he DREAMS about them. And a new neighbour and their four-legged friend move into the house next door, Danny's dream comes true - almost. Find out whether this new neighbour can help Danny achieve his dream and more in this story about finding friendship in unexpected places. Danny and the Dream Dog is a book about finding friendship in unexpected places. Danny dreams about having a dog but, with Mum at work and Danny at school, Mum says they can't have one. One day, when a new neighbour moves next door, Mum volunteers Danny to take the neighbour's dog for a walk every day after school. Danny dreams about the dog and can't wait to meet him. However, this pup isn't exactly what Danny had in mind. The dog's name is Max and he certainly isn't the kind of dog Danny has been dreaming about. Max is an older dog, a little bit scruffy and a little bit smelly too. He likes to chase rabbits and gets himself into all sorts of trouble. However, Danny soon realises that whilst Max might not be his DREAM DOG he's definitely his best friend.

This edited volume deals with some of the salient issues to be considered when using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). There has been little critical and constructive assessment of CEFR-informed pedagogical practices in Japan and beyond. Instead, policy issues have been dominant. The volume focuses on the implementation of the CEFR in language education institutions, and stresses that the CEFR and its 'Can Do' statements must be adapted and changed to suit the specific context they serve. This work is complementary to English Profile Studies volume 4 (North 2014), which provides examples of the implementation of the CEFR, with a focus on misconceptions of the CEFR and how these could be addressed, by offering in-depth case studies. For a full description of processes it is necessary to unfold the complexity of language policy and then gain focus by concentrating mainly on the institutional levels.

This volume provides an introduction to the English Profile Programme and discusses its latest findings. English Profile in Practice is an essential resource for teachers, syllabus designers, educational planners, language testers, and other ELT professionals working with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). It includes: information about the English Vocabulary Profile, which describes the words and phrases learners of English know and use at each level of the CEFR; fascinating insights into the English Grammar Profile, exploring what it means to develop grammatical proficiency; discussion about what language learners' output 'looks like' at each of the CEFR levels; and information about how English Profile research is being used in the field of ELT.

This book provides the theoretical bases and empirical evidence for establishing an integrated reading-into-writing construct for English Profile at upper levels of proficiency. The study investigates both the contextual features of a range of real life academic writing tasks and reading-into-writing test tasks, and the cognitive processes required to complete the integrated task type successfully. Since its publication, the CEFR has become influential in building a shared understanding of performance levels for foreign language learners but mainly for individual macro skills. A considerable gap remains in the understanding of the integrated reading-into-writing skills, which are so important to the kinds of academic and professional written language use involved at the higher levels of the CEFR.

Setsuko loves the sea. She swims its shallows. She dives its depths. But she worries that her friends have chosen to abandon her way of life. Then she meets a whale who also fears he is the last of his kind. In return for giving him hope, he gifts her a song which she uses to remind people of the beauty of the ocean. Setsuko took the song and made it her own. They played together from the first crisp light of morning until the setting of the evening sun. Everyone who heard Setsuko's song was filled with the wonder of the sea. They remembered the beauty and mystery of the ocean. A story of an unlikely friendship, Setsuko and her friend the whale have one thing in common - their love of the sea. Much like the revered ama-san, - women who have been diving off the coast of the Shima peninsula in Japan for over 2,000 years - Setsuko is a strong girl who is on the path to becoming one of these real-life mermaids. 10% of the net profits from each book will be donated to the Marine Conservation Society, the UK charity working for seas full of life. Visit www.mcsuk.org to find out more.