Back to School

Start coding now! With this step-by-step guide even total beginners can learn the programming languages Scratch and Python to create games, animations, utilities, and more.

Want to make cool apps and games, but don’t know where to begin? This book takes the complexity out of coding. It starts with the basics, taking you through the building blocks of code with Scratch, the simple and colorful visual language that’s perfect for newcomers. 

Once you can make your own games and projects in Scratch, move on to Python, a slightly more advanced language that offers more flexibility and control. Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions guide you through creating a dancing cat, virtual puppet, word puzzle, drum machine, and space shooter game. Each project teaches essential skills, so you’ll learn as you create.

What's happening to our planet and how can you help?

The world's climate is changing as a direct result of human activity.
This book looks at what climate change is, the ways in which it is affecting our planet and suggests projects and ideas to encourage everyone to do what they can to be greener, limit their own carbon footprints, and make a difference.



Excerpt: Our homes, cars and factories pump out about 40 billion tons of CO2 every year. This gas then wraps around our planet and the Sun’s hear in but not out just like a greenhouse. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, but its greenhouse effect is a staggering 25 times more powerful than CO2. Methane is release when waste landfills rots and when cows burp grassy gas. These greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere, so every year the “blanket” gets thicker and thicker, and Earth gets hotter and hotter.


Includes ideas for activities readers can do such as crafting, plus simple experiments to monitor rainfall or to understand the science behind events such as melting ice.

Step back in time to Ancient Rome and meet some of the many people who lived, worked, and played during that time.

"The illustrations are strikingly colorful, highly detailed, and immensely informative. Through these pages, readers will discover a fuller understanding of Ancient Roman culture....As this book follows a narrative format, readers will be challenged to think critically and draw connections between the various societal roles featured rather than simply absorb facts presented via informational text....Recommended."—School Library Connection

From a young slave boy to a fierce gladiator, a washerwoman to a wealthy lady, and a mosaic artist to the emperor himself - each one will share with you the story of their own daily life. Together, they are the Romans.
Featuring 19 different characters from Roman times, as well as an introduction to the Roman world, a map of the empire and a timeline of key events, this book provides a new angle on a classic subject, bringing the ancient world to life.

50 of the most fascinating documents in the history of humankind are beautifully reproduced from national archives and museums around the world – with commentary explaining why the documents are so significant, and how they have shaped or changed the course of history.

This is a spirited examination of world history, told through key documents, by two celebrated historians and journalists. With a wealth of experience between them on political, social, cultural and military history, and today's current affairs. Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan are the perfect guides to appreciating the significance of each document. Chapters are devoted to each of the 50 documents across the political, military, artistic, and scientific spheres, and supported by additional contemporary images. The documents themselves have been researched from the collections of national archives, museums, libraries, and private collections around the world. The authors explain their criteria for selection and provide the pertinent details of each one, taking us on a journey from the scripts of the earliest civilizations through to momentous speeches and papers of today.

The 50 documents range from Hammaburi’s Code, one of the earliest examples of a complete written legal system from around 1750 BC, all the way to a twenty-first century map of the “Nearby Universe”. A diverse range of historically significant moments are touched upon, with other documents including The Declaration of Independence, Nelson Mandela’s Courtroom Speech and Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, as well as key cultural artefacts such as Woodstock 1969 tickets and the itinerary of the Beatles’ 1964 North American tour.

The collection is divided into four sections, covering respectively the Bronze and Iron Age (1800BC-AD100), the Medieval and Early Modern Period (600-1648), The Age of Revolution (1776-1893), and The 20th Century and Beyond, as well as an insightful introduction from the authors where they explore some of their decisions in choosing documents, and even their definition of a document itself. The book also includes a foreword from historian Dan Snow, who has researched, written and presented several documentaries and appears regularly on the BBC, and is also the son of Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan.

"In Treasure Island, Stevenson wrote one of the great books of all time, an enduring masterpiece, and my favourite too. No edition has ever been better illustrated than this. Ingpen's drawings are utterly compelling." – Michael Morpurgo

Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of pirates, treasure and swashbuckling action on the high seas is the archetypal ripping yarn and continues to captivate readers of all ages. Our narrator is Jim Hawkins, son of a guesthouse owner on the west coast of England sometime in the 18th century. An old buccaneer, Billy Bones, arrives at the inn with a map showing the way to Captain Flint's treasure, but he is closely followed by a group of dastardly pirates under the command of the ominous Blind Pew. Jim, in an act of bravery and cunning gets hold of the map before this rabid mob. He delivers it to Squire Trelawney, and together they set off for Treasure Island in the Squire's schooner. Among the crew, however, is the treacherous Long John Silver who is determined to keep the treasure for himself...

The award-winning artist Robert Ingpen has set his imagination loose on this breathtaking adventure, bringing the unforgettable characters and their thrilling escapades to life as never before.

The Little Book of U.S. Presidents is a beautifully presented collection of inspirational and thought-provoking quotes from every US President, each of which offers the opportunity to learn from this remarkable collection of leaders.

The Little Book of U.S. Presidents is a fascinating collection of over 170 quotes from each person who has held the office, from George Washington to Donald Trump. Sometimes referred to as the Leader of the Free World, the President is elected to lead the United States in times of peace, struggle and in the face of war. The breadth and depth of the responsibility that comes with leading the executive branch offers each President the opportunity to let their thoughts be known and to influence the lives of the people.

'The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.' Ronald Reagan (40th) Republican, January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989, Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, January 28, 1986.

'Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.' John F. Kennedy (35th) Democratic, January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.

'Throughout our history the American people have always been the true source of American greatness.' Donald Trump (45th), Republican, January 20, 2017 - Incumbent, Security strategy speech, December 18, 2017.

Everything in the universe is made up of the elements – including us.

Forged in the Big Bang, the elements and their resulting compounds created the solar system, planet Earth, the air we breathe, the water we rely on and the proteins that would become life. In fact, everything in the known Universe is made up of one of the 118 elements of the periodic table – so we really should know something about them! This little book is the perfect guide, listing all the elements' vital stats, and exploring their astonishing histories and usages in an accessible and easy-to-understand way.

Goddesses, monsters, humans and the semi-divine – whether courageous or meek, gruesome or irresistible, female characters are ever present on the peripheries of the great Greek myths, but rarely do they take centre stage. Their time has finally come to act as protagonists in their own stories.

Heroines of Olympus retells the tales of 50 classic characters, plucking the threads of their lives from the myriad narratives in which they have appeared and weaving them together to create the full stories of these legendary women. Each story is accompanied by a captivating illustration and followed by a critical analysis of their role in the tradition of Greek storytelling, and in ancient society. Renowned ancient historian Ellie Mackin Roberts offers a contemporary perspective on loved, reviled and feared figures who are finally placed at the centre of their own story.