First published in 2006. Part of the Studies in Social History series, this volume looks at leisure and class in Victorian England, 1830-85, including topics of popular recreation, middle class and working class differences and rational recreation for the masses and the case of Victorian Music Halls in the entertainment industry.

Featuring wonderful new illustrations from Peter Bailey this beautiful fairytale is perfect for readers young and old.

Lila doesn't just want to be a Firework-Maker's daughter, she wants to be a Firework Maker herself. But although she's learned a lot she still must get through the most difficult and dangerous part of her apprenticeship - and her father won't tell her what it is.

In search of this final Firework-Making secret, Lila heads off alone on a journey. It is a journey filled with dangers beyond anything she could have imagined, a journey on which she will learn so much more than the one secret she set out to find . . .

Lively and innovative, these well-illustrated essays on the making of the Victorian entertainment industry get inside the popular experience of the pub, music-hall, theater and comic press. In this new leisure world, audiences learned how to be performers themselves, adopting roles and styles appropriate to the unsettling dynamics of the modern city. A major advance in understanding how popular culture actually works, this is a model of the successful integration of the theory and practice of social history and cultural studies.

First published in 2006. Part of the Studies in Social History series, this volume looks at leisure and class in Victorian England, 1830-85, including topics of popular recreation, middle class and working class differences and rational recreation for the masses and the case of Victorian Music Halls in the entertainment industry.

Tick, tick, tick, tock. Once you've wound some things up nothing can stop them . . .

It is a cold winter's night when Karl enters the White Horse Tavern looking like he's swallowed a thundercloud. His final task as a clockmaker apprentice is to make a new figure for the great clock of Glockenheim. He has not made the figure - or got any idea of what it could be, and the unveiling is tomorrow.

Fritz is also in the tavern; there to read aloud his new spooky story. Like Karl, he hasn't finished. Well, he knows how the story starts and he knows it's called Clockwork - so, with the snow swirling down outside, he sets his story going and just has to hope that the ending will come to him as he tells it.

Suddenly, Fritz's story and real life merge in a completely sinister way - and just like clockwork it can't be stopped . . .

A beautiful retelling of a classic Greek myth, perfect for fans of Geraldine McCaughrean. When the world was new and the gods ruled the whole of Earth, a large wooden chest was sent to a newly-married couple with a warning not to open it. The chest was hidden away with the thought 'out of sight, out of mind'. But curiosity is a powerful thing and it can't hurt to have one little look... can it? This retelling of the classic Greek myth from Rose Impey has engaging black-and-white illustrations by Peter Bailey and is perfect for children who are developing as readers. The Bloomsbury Guided Reading series is packed with brilliant books to get children reading independently in Key Stage 2, with book-banded stories by award-winning authors like double Carnegie Medal winner Geraldine McCaughrean and Waterstones Prize winner Patrice Lawrence covering a wide range of genres and topics. With charming illustrations and online guided reading notes by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), this series is ideal for reading both in the classroom and at home. For more information visit www.bloomsburyguidedreading.com. Book Band: Brown Ideal for ages 7+

A tender, lyrical tale from the author's childhood in an idyllic English village, with environmental and conservational themes. In this involving tale, master storyteller Michael Morpurgo revisits the "landscape of his memories", telling of his boyhood in the idyllic village of Bradwell fifty years before. The village is a stone's throw from the sea and is peopled by quirky characters such as the three Stebbing sisters, the white moustachioed Colonel Burton and Bennie the village thug. But the heroine of this story is the serene Mrs Pettigrew, who lives in a railway carriage down in the marshes with her dogs, donkey, bees and hens. But industrial reality intrudes when plans are made to build a nuclear power station on the site of the marshes, endangering Mrs Pettigrew's home and the gulls, owls, kestrels and thousands of insects and plants which also belong there. A village battle ensues for and against the environmental hazard of the power station, and the young Michael finds himself caught up in the sad fate of Mrs Pettigrew and the landscape of his boyhood.

Includes brilliant baboon facts! Akimbo loves his life in Africa and the animals that live there. In this newest Akimbo story, a lady comes to study the baboons in the game reserve where Akimbo's father is the head ranger. Akimbo is keen to help and find out all he can about baboons - and in so doing comes closer to a much more dangerous animal

Featuring wonderful new illustrations from Peter Bailey, this intriguing and exciting tale of chance and misfortune by multi award-winning Philip Pullman, is perfect for readers young and old.

I was a Rat! Roger insists, and insists . . . In fact, when Bob the cobbler and his washerwoman wife, Joan, find the young boy abandoned on their doorstep, these are the only words he says. And he does have ratty behaviour, it's true.

Staying with Bob and Joan, however, Roger learns quickly to behave more like a human child. They try to find his parents, but the orphanage, police and hospital all have nothing on their records about a lost boy in the city. What is the truth? As more and more people find out about Roger the mysterious rat-boy he faces more and more danger. But sometimes help comes from the most unexpected of places . . .

Staying with her granny in London, in The War Monkey, Tegan stumbles on a family mystery - a girl called Alice. Was she really killed by a bomb in WWII or is she still alive? Everything depends on a child's toy called Monkey TreeTops Fiction contains a wide range of quality stories enabling children to explore and develop their own reading tastes and interests. It contains stories from a variety of genres including humour, sci-fi, adventure, mystery and historical fiction. These exciting stories are ideal for introducing children to a wide selection of authors and illustrators. There is huge variety to ensure every reader finds books they will enjoy and can read. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book.

Featuring wonderful new illustrations from Peter Bailey, this brilliantly funny and moving tale by multi-award winning Philip Pullman, is perfect for readers young and old.

One night, during a terrible thunderstorm, a boy named Jack shelters in a barn. The following morning he is confused to find a scarecrow with a turnip head calling out to him. For a moment he thinks he is imagining it. But he isn't, the scarecrow has been struck by lightning in exactly the right way to bring him completely to life.

Jack becomes the scarecrow's personal servant and together they decide to set out and see the world. It is a journey that neither of them could have possibly imagined, filled with adventure - and it will change them both in ways they never expected . . .

Four stories of myth, magic and adventure from the master teller of tales

• The Firework Maker's Daughter
• I Was A Rat!
• Clockwork
• The Scarecrow and His Servant

Roberta, Phyllis and Peter have their comfortable lives in London thrown into disarray by the unexpected disappearance of their father. They are forced to move to a small cottage in the countryside with their mother, who struggles to make ends meet by writing books. The children find solace in a stretch of railway track and the station nearby, and befriend the railway porter, who teaches them about running the station, and an old gentleman who takes the 9.15 train every day. Through this love of the trains they are led on many exciting adventures, including a quest to discover the secret of their father's disappearance. One of the most popular children's books ever written, E. Nesbit's tale has enchanted generations of readers since it was first released in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen and the stage many times, and its story of innocence, intrigue and discovery remains perfectly poignant today.

A king hides a terrible secret under his crown ...A marvellous dream inspires an epic journey ...A clever girl outwits the king. Told in hyper-readable language and with full-colour illustrations, these stories are an ideal first step for children embarking on a lifelong journey through the wonders of books and stories.

A tender, lyrical tale from the author's childhood in an idyllic English village, with environmental and conservational themes. In this involving tale, master storyteller and former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo revisits the "landscape of his memories", telling of his boyhood fifty years before. The village of Bradwell is a stone's throw from the sea and is peopled by quirky characters such as the three Stebbing sisters, the white moustachioed Colonel Burton and Bennie the village thug. But the heroine of this story is the serene Mrs Pettigrew, who lives in a railway carriage down in the marshes with her dogs, donkey, bees and hens. Industrial reality intrudes when plans are made to build a nuclear power station on the marshes, and when a village battle ensues for and against this environmental hazard, young Michael finds himself caught up in the sad fate of Mrs Pettigrew and the landscape of his boyhood.

This lively and highly innovative book reconstructs the texture and meaning of popular pleasure in the Victorian entertainment industry. Integrating theories of language and social action with close reading of contemporary sources, Peter Bailey provides a richly detailed study of the pub, music-hall, theatre and comic newspaper. Analysis of the interplay between entrepreneurs, performers, social critics and audience reveals distinctive codes of humour, sociability and glamour that constituted a new populist ideology of consumerism and the good time. Bailey shows how the new leisure world offered a repertoire of roles that enabled its audience to negotiate the unsettling encounters of urban life. Bailey offers challenging interpretations of respectability, sexuality, and the cultural politics of class and gender in a distinctive, personal voice.