The extraordinarily inventive Ukrainian poet and literary critic Bohdan Ihor Antonych (1909-1937), the son of a Catholic priest, died prematurely at the early age of 28 of pneumonia. Originally from the mountainous Lemko region in Poland, where a variant of Ukrainian is spoken, he was home-schooled for the first eleven years of his life because of frequent illness. He began to write poetry in Ukrainian after he moved to the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv to continue his studies at the University of Lviv. He published just three collections of poetry in his lifetime: A Greeting to Life (1931), Three Rings (1934), and The Book of the Lion (1936), with the latter two firmly establishing his reputation as one of the best poets of his time in Ukraine. Three additional collections, The Green Gospel (1938), Rotations (1938), and The Grand Harmony (1967), were published posthumously. A collection of poems on religious themes written in 1932 and 1933, The Grand Harmonyis a subtle and supple examination of Antonych’s intimately personal journey to faith, with all its revelatory verities as well as self-questioning and doubt. The collection marks the beginning of Antonych’s development into one of the greatest poets of his time. During Soviet times it was banned for its religious content. It was first published in its entirety in 1967 in New York. The Grand Harmony first appeared in English translation in a bilingual edition with Litopys Publishers in 2007, which has long been sold out. The poems “Musica Noctis,” “De Morte I,” “Ars Poetica 1” and “Liber Peregrinorum 3” were reprinted in The Essential Poetry of Bohdan Ihor Antonych: Ecstasies and Elegies (Bucknell University Press, 2010). One can find additional poetic renderings of Antonych’s selected poetry in the translations of various well-known American poets under the title A Square of Angels (Ann Arbor: Ardis Publishers, 1977), which was edited by Bohdan Boychuk.

A figure of speech is an expression in which the words are used, but not in their literal sense, to create a more forceful or dramatic meaning. They are often in the form of metaphors, similes and hyperbole. “A fountain of knowledge,” is a good example. “Stretching the truth,” is another. ? With Figuratively Speaking, we finally have a thesaurus to discover these phrases’ origins and the sources of their meanings. Categories include: Attitudes Body Types Competition Creature Comforts Letting Loose Ethics Influence Life, Health, & Death Money Personal Space Personality Types Speech Thinking Power Time Trouble, Turmoil, & Commotion The World of Work Whether reading it for fun, researching phrases you use, or studying the symbolic foundations of our language, Figuratively Speaking is the resource you’ll reach for time and again.

Some guides to a subject could more or less be written by any expert in that field, but a small minority are unique creations of a rare individual who has their own view. Unfortunately most of the latter types of guides fail to be good general guides. Verity's genius makes him the exception. This book is arranged in chronological chapters that trace the evolution of poetry as an art form. At the same time, each chapter gives a most practical explanation of how that aspect of poetry that it covers works and why. The book is immensely readable, hugely informative, and adds to the ability of the reader to enjoy and to create poetry. It is a classic.' "Epictetus" (Amazon review) 'The great merit of Verity's approach is that he quotes lavishly throughout, not only from the poems themselves, but also from a variety of critics' LIBRARY REVIEWS 'Of his first book of sonnets Kingsley Amis wrote ‘They belong within the corpus of English poetry’ Excerpts of Interview with Kenneth Verity on The Vanessa Phelps BBC Radio programme on June 2009 on the News Page (off the Home page) 'The amount of reading which underpins this book is breathtaking. The great merit of Verity's approach is that he quotes lavishly throughout, not only from the poems themselves, but also from a variety of critics ... The chapter on poetry's figurative element is a model of lucid definition and telling illustration, showing how many layers of meaning may lie behind a single word' LIBRARY REVIEWS The author writes:'The intention of this book is to examine and analyse the essential nature of the phenomenon we call poetry; to seek an understanding of the power this art form exerts over mind and heart; to comprehend its potency; and to explain its perennial ability to command the respect of mankind'. Almost a library in one volume, this unusual book, written by an accomplished poet, examines the 4000 years old phenomenon of poetry. Combining history, literature and philosophy, it explains the underlying power of this art form and how its effect is exerted over human hearts and understanding. Since the Greeks at least, poetry has been accorded pre-eminence in the arts. Poetry’s aesthetic supremacy and inhering mystery has made it the foremost form of expression when human beings need to say something important in a special way. Poetry has been defined as the best words in the best order. In poetry, the author suggests, the eternal intersects the everyday – it has been said that poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement. He shows how poetry has provided a vehicle for inspiration and fresh ways of thinking and interpreting the perennial questions of the human race. The author makes clear that poetry ‘works’ because it acknowledges the universality of human psychology, and because it unites emotion with reason and tempers imagination with understanding. Over 200 poets from both East and West are quoted, and the work of 10 master poets is critically analysed and assessed. The major factors involved in translating poetry are discussed, particularly the difficulty of conveying the meaning without losing the spirit. The central features of inspiration and creativity are elucidated. The unbroken stream of poetry carries resonances of the growth and decay of civilisations, the vicissitudes of wars, the effects of migrations and trading, the influences of religious belief. The author considers, from his own experience, that poetry remains peerless in evaluating and articulating the riches of the human spirit.

FOREWORD BY RYAN TUBRIDY The authoritative and comprehensive guide to tracing your Irish ancestry There's never been a better time to trace your Irish family history. Vast internet resources and DNA testing, as well as access to censuses, religious records and other archive material make this process easier than ever. Anthony Adolph gives you a wide range of tools and information to discover your Irish ancestry. The text is packed with weblinks to enable you to search the great number of records now available online, as well as providing contact information on other sources, such as archives and libraries. He explains how to trace family in Ireland, starting from various countries around the world (including Ireland itself of course), as well as looking at surnames, heraldry, families of non-Irish origin, and poignant stories of migration from Ireland. By reading this book you'll also be drawn into the lives your ancestors led, through the examples, compelling stories and fascinating social history which are interwoven within the text. This is the complete resource for discovering your Irish family history, and as a result, learning more about who you are and where you come from.

Meet the Twirlywoos & Hello Chickedy, Hello Chick (Twirlywoos)

One Direction are: Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and, Niall Horan. Formed in The X Factor’s Bootcamp stage in 2010, they’ve since gone on to win over 140 awards, smash records in both the UK and the US and sell over 20 million records worldwide.

Bing and his friend are playing hide and seek in this charming book based on the hit TV series. Playing hide and seek is lots of fun, but should Bing have joined the toilet train before he decided to hide? Oh dear. Don’t worry Bing, it’s no big thing!

Rob is an award-winning designer, and a full-time author and illustrator. By night he makes up silly stories for his three daughters, and draws pictures to go with them.He lives and works in London, and his first book was the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize-winning Blown Away, starring Penguin Blue. You can visit Rob, Penguin Blue and all their friends at www.robbiddulph.com.

Ted Dewan has been a full-time illustrator and cartoonist since 1988. He was grew up in Massachusetts where he became a science teacher, but moved to London in 1988, making a living from drawing for various publications and playing the accordion. He married fellow author/illustrator Helen Cooper and they had their first child in 1998. His picture book, Crispin, the Pig Who Had It All, won the Blue Peter Award and was an Honour book for the Kate Greenaway Award. The Bing series of eight books were first published in 2003. Ted lives with his family in Oxford.

The perfect introduction to the Master. One hundred and thirty-five years after his death, Richard Wagner’s music dramas stand at the centre of the culture of classical music. They have never been more popular, nor so violently controversial and divisive. As a man, he was a walking contradiction: aggressive, flirtatious, disciplined, capricious, heroic, visionary and poisonously anti-Semitic. His ten great mature masterpieces constitute an unmatched body of work, created against a backdrop of poverty, revolution, violent controversy, critical contempt and hysterical hero-worship. His work often dealt with myth, but his own life had the character of a fable. At one point, in his early fifties, desperately poor after a life of heroic productivity, he had four lengthy operas written with no hope of seeing them done, when, as if in a fairy-tale, he was rescued by a beautiful young king with limitless wealth. When one of those works, Tristan and Isolde, was at last performed, it revolutionised classical music at a stroke. Wagner went on to create The Ring of the Nibelung: a vast epic in four massive segments, ushering gods and dwarves, heroes and thugs, dragons and rainbows onto the stage. This was the apotheosis of German art as he saw it, so extreme in its demands that he had to train a generation of singers and players to perform it, and erect a custom-built theatre to house it. Wagner died, exhausted, after creating one final piece – Parsifal – that seems to point to an even more radical new future for music. Simon Callow plunges the reader headlong into Wagner’s world, examining the intellectual and artistic climate in which Wagner, a composer like no other who ever lived, extreme in everything, creator of perhaps the most sublime and most troubling body of work in the history of music.

This is a Christmas themed best seller about Lily and her beloved Blue Kangaroo! It's Christmas Eve, and Lily is excitedly wondering if Father Christmas will come. She has made cards for everyone, helped to decorate the house and put presents under the tree. "This one is just for you, Blue Kangaroo!" she says. "Just for me!" thinks Blue Kangaroo. But Blue Kangaroo doesn't have a present for Lily, and he lies awake worrying. Is there anyone who might be able to help?

Fancy Nancy is back in this magical new story about little girls’ favourite dolls… and not so favourite little sisters! When Fancy Nancy’s little sister JoJo gives Nancy’s favourite doll a tattoo, Fancy Nancy is livid (that’s fancy for tres angry and upset)! Even worse, it’s in permanent marker – that means it will NEVER come off! When Mum suggests a fancy doll party to make Nancy feel better, Nancy is excited to accept. But what if the doll drama is far from over? A new story in this bestselling series, about the love little girls feel for their favourite dolls – and favourite sisters!

Ted Dewan grew up in Massachusetts where he became a science teacher, but moved to London in 1988, making a living from drawing and playing the accordion. His picture book, Crispin, the Pig Who Had It All, won the Blue Peter Award and was an Honour book for the Kate Greenaway Award. The Bing books were first published in 2003. Ted and his wife, author/illustrator Helen Cooper, live in Oxford.

Clara Vulliamy was born in London, the daughter of author and illustrator Shirley Hughes and her husband, John Vulliamy. She studied at Chelsea School of Art, The Ruskin and the Royal Academy. Clara started concentrating on writing and illustrating children's books when she had children of her own and has now written and illustrated many stories for children and babies. She lives in Twickenham, with her husband and their children Jack and Martha and three guinea pigs.

Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, but left Germany with her family in 1933 to escape the Nazis. They arrived in England in 1936, having spent the intervening years in Switzerland and France. There she met her husband Nigel Kneale and they had two children together; Judith wrote ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ for them, which has gone on to become a much-loved classic, I print for over forty years. She was awarded an OBE in 2012 for services to children’s literature and holocaust education, and celebrates her 90th birthday in 2013.

Emma studied art at the Royal College of Art. She has worked as a freelancer for magazines, publishers and advertising agencies as well as teaching art for several years, but now dedicates most of her time to children’s books.

David Walliams – comedian, actor and author – continues to take the children’s literary world by storm. His tenth novel, BAD DAD, was an immediate number one, following the triumph of THE MIDNIGHT GANG, the biggest-selling children’s book of 2016. WORLD’S WORST CHILDREN 2, which published in early 2017, spent four weeks at industry number one and eight weeks at the top of the children’s chart. They have achieved unprecedented critical acclaim – and RATBURGER, DEMON DENTIST and AWFUL AUNTIE have all won the National Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. David’s books have now exceeded 100 non-consecutive weeks in the children’s number-one spot, and have been translated into 50 languages, selling more than 22 million copies worldwide. Born in London, Tony Ross went to art school in Liverpool. His cartoons have appeared in famous publications the world over. His first book, HUGO AND THE WICKED WINTER, was published in 1972. Tony has since written over 100 books and illustrated over 2000! His creations Towser and The Little Princess have been turned into TV series. David and Tony have worked on six bestselling picture books together, as well as eight of David’s phenomenally successful children’s novels – BILLIONAIRE BOY, GANGSTA GRANNY, RATBURGER, DEMON DENTIST, AWFUL AUNTIE, GRANDPA'S GREAT ESCAPE, THE MIDNIGHT GANG and BAD DAD. David and Tony also collaborated on the 2017 World Book Day title, BLOB, and the two blockbuster short story collections, THE WORLD'S WORST CHILDREN and THE WORLD'S WORST CHILDREN 2.

Judith Kerr was born in Berlin, the daughter of a distinguished German writer. She left Germany with her family in 1933 to escape from the Nazis and they arrived in England in 1936, having spent the intervening years in Switzerland and France.She was married to the writer Nigel Kneale. Their daughter Tacy is an artist, and their son Matthew is an acclaimednovelist. In 2012, Judith was awarded an OBE for her services to children’s literature and Holocaust education.

Emma Chichester Clark studied at the Royal College of Art. She has worked as a freelancer for magazines, publishers and advertising agencies as well as teaching art for several years, but now dedicates most of her time to children’s books. She lives and works in London.

Jory John is co-author of the bestselling All My Friends Are Dead and a sequel, among other humour books. This is his second picture book for children. He lives (and sleeps) in San Francisco, USA. Benji Davies is an animation director and illustrator of children's books. He lives in London with his wife, Nina, where he writes and draws all day long (almost!).

Mark Sperring is the author of several highly acclaimed picture books including the Sunflower Sword and Captain Buckleboots on the Naughty Step. He lives in Bristol where he also works as a bookseller. Claire Powell is a designer and illustrator based in London. After spending several years working as a design director in the world of channel re-branding, Claire is branching out into the world of picture books with this fantastic first offering.