Wikkels Vark kry 'n verrassingspakkie by 'n partytjie. Hy is so gretig om dit oop te maak, dat hy sy sagte speelding Snoekels aan 'n ballon vasbind, en nie sien wat gebeur nie! Met die oulike Wikkels Vark in die hoofrol, is hierdie ’n oulike verhaal oor skeidingsangs; 'n situasie wat elke ouer en kind sal herken.

Famous for being a city of broad shoulders, Chicago has also developed an international reputation for split sides and slapped knees. Watch the "Chicago Style of Comedy" evolve from nineteenth-century vaudeville, through the rebellious comics of the 50's, and into the improvisation and sketch that ushered in a new millennium. Drawing on material both hilarious and profound, Chicago Comedy: A Fairly Serious History touches on what makes Chicago different from other cities and how that difference produced some of the greatest minds comedy will ever know: Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Lenny Bruce, Del Close, John Belushi, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and so many, many more.

In the 1960s the majority of bus photography was in black and white, but an increasing number of people were also working with colour. This new album from Mick Webber gathers 100 high-quality photos taken around London during that decade. It takes us back to the days when the RT family of buses was supreme, backed up by Routemasters, RFs, RLHs and the first of the buses bought as part of London Transport's plans for reshaping its bus services.

The London Passenger Transport Board had been in existence just over six years when Britain entered into war with Germany on 3rd September 1939. A year before, measures had been put in place to provide trench shelters, first aid points, and the adaptation of pits in garages to become shelters. Over twenty thousand male staff were called up during the war, and women joined the ranks to fill the void. One hundred and eighty one members of staff were killed whilst on duty, with over eighteen hundred injured. Heroic work, and the will to "get on with it" was the general way of getting things done, summed up by just one of many examples at Athol Street garage, nearer the end of the war. It was the Board's most bombed garage, due to the nearby docks, and after a rocket fell at 6am within 100 yards of the premises blowing out the windows of 25 buses, and causing considerable damage, the staff were able to get all of the buses out on time that day. This book is a largely chronological story of the period, focusing in particular on the behind-the-scenes planning by London Transport, both before the war and during it.

*Now a major TV series starring Gary Oldman* 'To have been lucky enough to play Smiley in one's career; and now go and play Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron's novels - the heir, in a way, to le Carre - is a terrific thing' Gary Oldman Spooks are supposed to be stealthy ... But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House. This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action. So when a young man is kidnapped and held hostage, his beheading scheduled for live broadcast on the net, the slow horses aren't going to just sit quietly and watch. And unless they can prove they're not as useless as they're thought to be, a public execution is going to echo round the world. 'The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War' The Times 'The most enjoyable British spy novel in years.' Mail on Sunday 'The new spy master' Evening Standard

Mick Webber's latest album fills an important gap in book titles currently available on London bus history. All garages owned by London Transport in the fifty years following its formation in 1933 are included, with brief histories and photographs. Also included are plans of each garage and an appendix gives vehicle requirements at July 1933 and June 1983. The following year, London Transport was superseded by London Regional Transport in the move that opened up London's bus routes to independent operators and was to lead to the closure of many garages.

The captivating story of the West’s love affair with Indian spirituality—from the orientalism of the British Empire to modern counterculture. In 1897, an Indian yogi exhibited himself at London’s Westminster Aquarium, demonstrating yoga positions to a bemused audience. Four years earlier, Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda spoke at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where Annie Besant extolled the ‘exquisite beauty’ of his spiritual message. The Victorians were fascinated by, yet suspicious of, Indian religious beliefs and practices. But within two generations, legions of young Westerners were following the ‘hippie trail’ to the subcontinent, the Beatles meditating at the feet of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Journalist Mick Brown’s vivid account charts this eccentric history of Western obsessions with Indian faith, through a curious cast of scholars, seekers, charlatans and saints. From bestselling epic poems on the Buddha to murder plots, magic and the occult, The Nirvana Express is an exhilarating, sometimes troubling journey through the West’s search for enlightenment.

This omnibus edition includes eight of Jesus' best loved stories. Children relate to stories and there was never a better storyteller than Jesus. With delightful illustrations and easy to read text, this is an ideal introduction to this simple, short and often very funny stories, sharing truth, love and wisdom with young children. The omnibus edition features eight of Jesus' best loved stories: The Two Sons, The House on the Rock, The Little Gate, The Ten Silver Coins, The Precious Pearl, The Good Stranger, The Rich Farmer and The Lost Sheep.

Science tells us grand things about the universe: how fast light travels, and why stones fall to earth. But scientific endeavour goes far beyond these obvious foundations. There are some fields we don't often hear about because they are so specialised, or turn out to be dead ends. Yet researchers have given hallucinogenic drugs to blind people (seriously), tried to weigh the soul as it departs the body and planned to blast a new Panama Canal with atomic weapons. Real scientific breakthroughs sometimes come out of the most surprising and unpromising work. How to Make a Tornado is about the margins of science - not the research down tried-and-tested routes, but some of its zanier and more brilliant by-ways. Investigating everything from what it's like to die, to exploding trousers and recycled urine, this book is a reminder that science is intensely creative and often very amusing - and when their minds run free, scientists can fire the imagination like nobody else.

Why was this amazing monument erected? How did our Stone-Age ancestors bring such massive stones to the site from so far away? How did they raise the enormous stones to their upright positions? What was Stonehenge used for, and who lived around the site? This is the incredible true story of this awe-inspiring monument - one of the greatest ancient sites in the world and a World Heritage Site. This fascinating picture information book provides all the facts about the most important prehistoric monument in Britain.

There is a certain atmosphere about night photography. It is much easier now, of course, since the advent of digital cameras that record events that would not have been so easily covered with film. Dragging a tripod around, or looking for a suitable flat topped wall in the right place, was necessary with time exposures, and even then it was often guesswork. Many of the trips after dark with my camera, produced as many failures as successes, but overall, the process was very rewarding. This book contains around 120 black and white and colour views from the early twentieth century up to the present day.

A mind-bending, brain-expanding cornucopia of facts for curious minds from the bestselling author of Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? Own the room with this hilarious collection of fact-tastic myth-busters and jaw-dropping trivia exploring science, history, sport and lesser-known facts from across the universe. Did you know that the Moon has a Bishop? That ostriches DON’T bury their heads in the sand? And that powdered rice was used as cement in the Great Wall of China? What do souls weigh? What can’t 60% of the human population smell? And what on earth is rhinotillexomania? And the big one...are farts actually invisible? The answers to these questions are all here. Challenge your brain, turn your world upside down and relish the irresistible mix of wit and wisdom. It's also a perfect gift for the brainiac in your life.

*NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES STARING GARY OLDMAN* 'Herron is at the summit of a new golden age of spy fiction' Sunday Times Spooks are supposed to be stealthy . . . But those who make a noisy mess of their careers end up in Slough House. This is Jackson Lamb's kingdom: a dumping ground for spies who've screwed up. Once high fliers, they're now slow horses, condemned to a life of pushing paper as punishment for crimes of drugs and drunkenness, lechery and failure, politics and betrayal. In drab and mildewed offices, these highly trained spies moan and squabble, stare at the walls, and dream of better days - not one of them joined the Intelligence Service to be a slow horse, and the one thing they have in common is their desire to be back in the action. Housed together for the first time in a beautifully crafted boxset, Mick Herron's Slough House thrillers have been described as 'The most exciting development in spy fiction since the Cold War' The Times. Includes Slow Horses, Dead Lions, Real Tigers, Spook Street, London Rules, Joe Country, Slough House and Bad Actors.

In MI5 a scandal is brewing and there are bad actors everywhere.

A key member of a Downing Street think-tank has disappeared without a trace.

Claude Whelan, one-time First Desk of MI5's Regent's Park, is tasked with tracking her down. But the trail leads straight back to Regent's Park HQ itself, with its chief, Diana Taverner, as prime suspect. Meanwhile her Russian counterpart has unexpectedly shown up in London but has slipped under MI5's radar.

Over at Slough House, the home for demoted and embittered spies, the slow horses are doing what they do best: adding a little bit of chaos to an already unstable situation.

In a world where lying, cheating and backstabbing is the norm, bad actors are bending the rules for their own gain. If the slow horses want to change the script, they'll need to get their own act together before the final curtain.

*Includes the short story Standing by the Wall: A Slough House Interlude*

When one of their own is kidnapped, the washed-up MI5 operatives of Slough House—the Slow Horses, as they're known—outwit rogue agents at the very highest levels of British Intelligence, and even to Downing Street itself.

London: Slough House is the MI5 branch where disgraced operatives are reassigned after they’ve messed up too badly to be trusted with real intelligence work. The “Slow Horses,” as the failed spies of Slough House are called, are doomed to spend the rest of their careers pushing paper, but they all want back in on the action.

When one of their own is kidnapped and held for ransom, the agents of Slough House must defeat the odds, overturning all expectations of their competence, to breach the top-notch security of MI5’s intelligence headquarters, Regent’s Park, and steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade’s safety. The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however—the agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries but the highest authorities in the Secret Service. After years spent as the lowest on the totem pole, the Slow Horses suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of a conspiracy that threatens not only the future of Slough House, but of MI5 itself.

This new book deals with the primarily busy routes that were very well served by trolleybuses during their 31 years in London. Each chapter includes new research and the pre-war, wartime and post-war operations are all covered, as is - for the first time - the planning of the conversion programme that in due course saw the end of London trolleybus operation. Well illustrated in carefully selected black and white photographs.