Today, when we think of women of the past, we often think of the 1800s and 1900s – crinolines and stage coaches, bonnets and balls – a time when women were told they were naturally inferior to men, and must stay at home while men went out to work and have fun.

HUGE MISTAKE! There is so much more to women’s history than bonnets and big dresses! Ordinary women have been doing extraordinary things FOR EVER – it just didn’t make the history books (written by men!).

Join multi-award-winning author Philippa Gregory as she tells the story of ordinary English women, making history for 900 years. Meet farmers, highwaywomen, pirates, ‘female husbands’, slaves, soldiers, criminals, writers, inventors, rioters and more – protesting, working, playing, taking risks, getting rich (and getting even!). Their story is one of ingenuity, diversity, rebellion, survival – and sisterhood.

Illustrated throughout by award-winning printmaker Alexis Snell.

PRAISE FOR NORMAL WOMEN (teen edition):

‘Impressively researched, by turns inspiring and chilling ? brilliantly told’ – Cressida Cowell

‘This book is redemption for unsung female heroes. Prepare to feel aghast, proud and inspired’ – Geri Halliwell

‘Uplifting and empowering’ – Edwina Dunn, The Female Lead

PRAISE FOR NORMAL WOMEN (main edition):

A NEW STATESMEN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

‘A lasting work of social history’ THE TIMES

‘A genuinely new history of our nation’ DAN JONES

‘This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history’ SPECTATOR

‘Philippa Gregory uses all her bestseller skills to weave a narrative with pace’ ANTONIA FRASER

‘You’ll lose count of the number of things you learn about women and their skewed place in history ? the book reframes the past ? an essential read’ INDEPENDENT, FIVE-STAR REVIEW

What links schools, transport and hospitals? POLITICS! Discover how and why politics is part of everything we do with writer, podcaster and strategist ALASTAIR CAMPBELL. Who is in charge? How are decisions made? What can children do to get involved? Find out all this and more – alongside accessible introductions to parliament, government, voting and debating.

Packed with fun, facts and challenges – perfect for readers aged 6 to 9.

Welcome to LITTLE EXPERTS – inspiring the next generation of experts!

Written by expert authors, famous for their passion and expertise

Must-read introductions to key non-fiction topics with colour illustrations throughout

Created to empower and inspire!

Also available in the series:

• Why Money Matters by DEBORAH MEADEN, entrepreneur, Dragons’ Den investor and host of the BBC Radio 5 Live’s The Big Green Money Show podcast.
• Marvellous Vehicles by JAMES MAY, a writer and broadcaster who is best known for co-presenting Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
• Amazing Bodies and How to Save a Life by DR RONX, award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and TV presenter.
• How Families Are Made by DR AMIR KHAN, an award-winning full-time GP and resident doctor on Lorraine and Good Morning Britain.
• How to Build a Home by GEORGE CLARKE, an architect, writer, lecturer and TV presenter.
• Superhero Animals by CHRIS PACKHAM CBE, one of the UK’s leading naturalists and an award-winning conservationist, who began his TV career presenting children’s series The Really Wild Show.

Politics made fun? YES, REALLY!

Writer, podcaster and strategist, Alastair Campbell, makes politics exciting, relatable and personal – AT LAST!

Alastair shares his incredible knowledge and passion to empower young people and give them the skills and confidence they need to understand how the country is run, how they can get involved, encourage them to have a view, or take a stand, give them tips about how to debate, and so much more!

EVERYONE should have a copy of this brilliant guide to understanding the world of politics, which is bursting with Q&As, quizzes, tips, challenges, plus quotes and interviews from a range of people, including KEIR STARMER, RORY STEWART, KEIRA KNIGHTLEY and LINDSAY HOYLE.

Also available in the series:

Deborah Meaden Talks Money – ?978-0008651527

Finance made fun? YES, REALLY!

Dragons’ Den investor and entrepreneur, Deborah Meaden, makes finance exciting, relatable and personal – AT LAST!

Money is such a huge part of our lives, so learning how to make it work best for YOU is a crucial skill.

Knowledge is power! Whether you want to earn money, save money, set goals, or set up and grow a business, Deborah will be your personal guide, demystifying the world of finance, and sharing the knowledge and insights that have made her one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Fearful of finance? You are not alone! TALKS MONEY is packed with podcast-style interviews with ordinary young people, as well as top business people and personalities, including STEVEN BARTLETT, JOE LYCETT, GARY NEVILLE and SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR, who reveal the secrets to their success – and the mistakes they’ve made along the way.

Create great money habits! With Q&As, quizzes, tips and challenges, TALKS MONEY is the ONLY guide you need to building the skills and confidence you need to manage finances and reduce money worries.

The empowering finance book that EVERY young person needs right now.

‘Deborah Meaden Talks Money’ was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2024-05-21.

Also available in the series:

Alastair Campbell Talks Politics – ?978-0008666125

“Highly recommended” – School Reading List

THE title to have for kids transitioning from primary to secondary school.

Moving up from primary to secondary school can be scary. Going from being the bosses of the benches, to the youngest in a massive playground is hard.

The classrooms are bigger, older students look like adults and don’t even start on the piles of homework, stressful exams and complicated friendships.

Whether you’re heading to secondary school next year, or you’ve just started and still adjusting, Moving Up is here to help you on your journey.

From choosing your new school and your first day all the way up to your final exams and your leaving party or prom, this handy guide book will be the perfect companion for transitioning to secondary, and get you feeling confident, building strong friendships, achieving great things and generally being the greatest that you can be.

Covering topics from:

• Leaving primary school
• Going to big school
• Getting lost
• Homework
• Exams
• New challenges
• Older kids
• Friendships
• Relationships
• Bullying
• Social media and more.

Written by Christian Foley, educator, poet-in-residence, musician and all-round creative.

More praise for Moving Up:

“I read it in one sitting. MOVING UP is a book that any child moving from primary to secondary needs to read. Engaging, lively, and full of essential information, but more than that, sensitive, inspiring and energising too. Christian has a wonderful ability to entertain and guide young readers with his poetry and insights. Illuminating and inspiring. Loved it!” – Jeffrey Boakye, Author

With brand new content – how to become a master of disguise!

Whether you’re just a bit nosy, or you want to launch a full-scale investigation of your neighbours, this indispensable handbook will teach you everything you need to know. There are practical sections on codes, ciphers, invisible ink and signalling, as well as guidance on drops and safe houses.

This book teaches you how to spot when somebody is lying, and how to lie effectively yourself. There are sections on successful disguise and how to structure a spy ring, including psychological recruitment strategies, psychic surveillance, and spotting moles. And there’s technical advice too about constructing bugging devices and setting traps. Herbie Brennan interlaces the facts with anecdotes about real-life spies, making this unique handbook an entertaining armchair read as well as an essential tool for any budding (or currently serving) MI6 operative.

-> Did you know that a toy spaceship can teach you about inflation?
-> Or that a pooping cow can show you how to invest your pocket money?
-> And that even the greatest detectives have been fooled by fake news and dancing fairies?

The world is often full of bamboozling headlines and numbers that don’t add up. But don’t panic. Within these pages you will transform into a Truth Detective, hunting down the truth about the world around you.

You will meet heroic truth detectives, such as Florence Nightingale who started a revolution with a pie chart. You will encounter dastardly villains who have tried to trip us up with dodgy data and misinformation. And you will learn how being smart and savvy with numbers, will help you be smart and savvy about everything else in life too.

So grab your detective cap, pick up your magnifying glass and start seeing the world like never before.

A must read for curious kids from presenter of BBC Radio 4’s “More or Less”, Tim Harford and with wonderful illustrations to enjoy by Ollie Mann.

A beautiful hardcover picture book which is a love letter to nurses and midwives everywhere.  

With uplifting stories and anecdotes from both current and retired nurses, midwives and nursing support workers, this beautiful book aims to inspire future generations to follow in their footsteps.

Say thank you to a nurse or midwife with this book, the perfect after-care gift for a health worker.

• 50p from the sale of each book goes to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Foundation
• A heartfelt collection directly from people who care for patients and improve the UK’s health and wellbeing
• The perfect book to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS
• With a foreword from, Jo Whiley, a radio and TV presenter and campaigner
• Beautiful colour artwork from national treasure, Michael Foreman

About the charity:

The RCN Foundation supports every current and former nurse, midwife and nursing support worker, as well as students and nursing associates.  

“Deeply moving” – Booktrust

“A gripping story of love, courage and triumph over evil” – The Bookseller

“Can, and should, be read by an audience of any age.” – Jewish News

A story of survival, of love between mother and son and of enduring hope in the face of unspeakable hardship. An important read.  

The Boy Who Didn’t Want to Die describes an extraordinary journey, made by Peter, a boy of five, through war-torn Europe in 1944 and 1945.

Peter and his parents set out from a small Hungarian town, travelling through Austria and then Germany together. Along the way, unforgettable images of adventure flash one after another: sleeping in a tent and then under the sky, discovering a disused brick factory, catching butterflies in the meadows – and as Peter realises that this adventure is really a nightmare – watching bombs falling from the blue sky outside Vienna, learning maths from his mother in Belsen.

All this is drawn against a background of terror, starvation, infection and, inevitably, death, before Peter and his mother can return home.  

• Author Professor Peter Lantos is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and in his previous life was an internationally renowned clinical neuroscientist. His memoir,  Parallel Lines  (Arcadia Books, 2006) was translated into Hungarian, German and Italian.  Closed Horizon  (Arcadia, 2012) was his first novel.
• Peter was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2020 for ‘services to Holocaust education and awareness’.
• He is one of the last of the generation of survivors and this – his first book for children – will serve as a testimony to his experience.
• Peter lives in London.

MORE REVIEWS OF THE BOY WHO DIDN’T WANT TO DIE

“the book [is] absolutely compelling, partly because it is a true story of extraordinary resilience and survival in unimaginable circumstances, but also because Lantos’ stark recollections make very powerful reading.”  Gaby Wine, The Jewish Chronicle