Two in the Bush is a record of the six-month journey which took Gerald Durrell, his wife Jacquie, and two cameramen through New Zealand, Australia and Malaya. The object was, first, to see what was being done about the conservation of wild life in these countries, and, secondly, to make a series of television films for the BBC. They were introduced to many rare and remarkable animals – Royal Albatrosses, Tuataras, Duck-Billed Platypuses, Flying Lizards and Long-Nosed Bandicoots, as well as to some equally unusual humans.
Anyone who has read The Overloaded Ark, The Bafut Beagles or The Whispering Land will have enjoyed Gerald Durrell’s enthusiastic adventuring and his delight in the absurdity of the situations in which he finds himself. His observation of animal – and human – behaviour is always informative and often hilarious.
Gerald Durrell was one of Britain’s best-loved naturalists, whose books, including My Family and Other Animals, continue to entertain and amuse generations of children and adults alike. Fifteen of his classic titles have now been republished by Bello.
‘Delightfully readable and often very funny.’ *Daily Mail *
‘An account of Gerald Durrell’s tour of New Zealand, Australia and Malaya in search of rarities . . . Easy to read, difficult to put down, with many vivid sidelights on the human side of the expedition. This absorbing narrative reveals the ardours, ironies and disappointments, the organizational miracles and the hilarious human mishaps . . .’ Maurice Wiggin, *Sunday Times *
‘Mr Durrell has the knack of writing about animals and their antics with tremendous affection and enthusiasm, but without sentimentality.’ *Sunday Telegraph *
‘Will delight his fans and armchair naturalists everywhere.’ Evening Standard Views: 1 060
A plump little meadow mouse is always an inviting target for hungry hunters in the Green Meadows. This certainly should give Danny Meadow Mouse enough cause for concern; but lately, he\'s been worrying about something else — his short tail! In fact, he wants so much to have a different tail that he almost forgets to take care of the one he has.Danny spends much of his time avoiding the likes of Hooty the Owl, who drifts effortlessly above him in the open air; Reddy Fox and old Granny Fox, who stalk him as he races through snow tunnels; Mr. Blacksnake, who silently slithers after him through the grass; and other pesky predators.Youngsters will enjoy reading and listening to the adventures of the plucky vole and his friends as they explore Farmer Brown\'s orchard, the Old Briar-patch, and the enchanting world of the Green Forest. The text has been completely reset in large, easy-to-read type and Thea Kliros has adapted six black-and-white illustrations from the originals by Harrison Cady. Views: 1 058
The second title in Arthur Ransome's classic series for children, for grownups, for anyone captivated by the world of adventure and imagination. Swallowdale, originally published in 1931, follows the Walker family and friends through a shipwreck, a camp on the mainland, a secret valley and cave, and a trek through the mountains. Swallows and Amazons Forever! Views: 1 052
From the winner of the Man Booker Prize. The collected short pieces of nonfiction from one of Australia's best novelists.
‘And what do you do, Mr Faulkner?' asked Clark Gable after being introduced to William Faulkner at a party.
‘I write,' replied Faulkner.
‘And what do you do, Mr Gable?'
Over the years, Richard Flanagan's non-fiction has gained a major reputation.
Gathered here in this updated edition are the best of his writings on everything from directing film to a near fatal kayak trip, from Jorge Luis Borges to baking bread. Included is his celebrated Perth Writers' Festival closing address on love stories and the murder of Reza Barati, along with his famous essay on Gunns that set in train the end of the woodchipping giant. Views: 1 039
A story, based on real events, about a boy and a half-Arabian mare who enter the Palio, an annual race in Siena, Italy, with all the pageantry of a medieval contest. Views: 1 032
Boa-Constrictors, paradoxical frogs, hoatzins, bush babies and tucotucos - they're all part of what Gerald Durrell casually calls his 'big family'. Each animal in his menagerie exhibits such curious habits and eccentricities. There was Cholmondely the chimpanzee, for example, who was 'king' of the collection, liked a good cigarette and his tea not too hot, but had a horror of snakes! Cuthbert the curassow loved to collapse across people's feet when they weren't looking.
Gerald Durrell describes not only the capture of these rare and exotic animals in Africa and South America, but also the problems of caging and feeding them. Footle, the moustached monkey, insisted on nose-diving into his milk, while the Kusimanses - nicknamed the Bandits - found Durrell's toes the most delectable thing in camp! Views: 1 029
In his latest New York Times bestseller, Hiaasen introduces impassioned, possibly bipolar, self-proclaimed queen of lost causes Honey Santana, who schemes to help rid the world of irresponsibility, indifference, and dinnertime sales calls. Views: 1 022
One of the most beloved of all children's book writers tells the story of a seemingly worn-out mare, owned by Molly's family, who is carrying a secret: a baby mule! Young Molly thinks the new creature is the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. She calls him Brown Sunshine of Sawdust Valley and as the years go by, Molly discovers that, just like his mother, her mule is full of wonderful surprises. Views: 1 003
“A poignant and tragic parable for our times . . . a powerful and anguished book.” —Globe & Mail
When an 80-ton Fin Whale became trapped in a lagoon near his Newfoundland home, Farley Mowat rejoiced: here was a unique chance to observe one of the world’s most magnificent creatures up close. But some of his neighbours saw a different opportunity altogether: in a prolonged fit of violence, they blasted the whale with rifle fire, and scarred its back with motorboat propellers. Mowat appealed desperately to the police, to marine biologists, finally to the Canadian press. But it was too late. Mowat’s poignant and compelling story is an eloquent argument for the end of the whale hunt, and the rediscovery of the empathy that makes us human. Views: 999
It is 1844. In the remote penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land, a barefoot Aboriginal girl sits for a portrait in a red silk dress. She is Mathinna, the adopted daughter of the island’s governor, Sir John Franklin, and his wife, Lady Jane, and the subject of a grand experiment in civilization -- one that will determine whether science, Christianity and reason can be imposed in the place of savagery, impulse and desire.
A quarter of a century passes. Somewhere in the Arctic, Sir John Franklin has disappeared with his crew and two ships on an expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage. The people of England are horrified by reports of cannibalism filtering back from search parties, no one more so than the most celebrated novelist of the day, Charles Dickens, for whom Franklin’s story becomes a means to plumb the frozen depths of his own life.
As several lives become joined by unexpected events and tragedies, Wanting transforms into a stunning contemporary meditation on the ways in which desire -- and its denial -- shape all our lives. Views: 987
"Ruthlessly wicked...Wonderful...His best book yet."
ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION
When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the sleazy real-estate agent/villain Francis X. Kingsbury and can end only one way....
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Carl Hiaasen's Bad Monkey. Views: 987
Only a farmer could delve so deeply into the origins of food, and only a writer of Wendell Berry’s caliber could convey it with such conviction and eloquence. Long before Whole Foods organic produce was available at your local supermarket, Berry was farming with the purity of food in mind. For the last five decades, Berry has embodied mindful eating through his land practices and his writing. In recognition of that influence, Michael Pollan here offers an introduction to this wonderful collection.
Drawn from over thirty years of work, this collection joins bestsellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Pollan, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, as essential reading for anyone who cares about what they eat. The essays address such concerns as: How does organic measure up against locally grown? What are the differences between small and large farms, and how does that affect what you put on your dinner table? What can you do to support sustainable agriculture?
A progenitor of the Slow Food movement, Wendell Berry reminds us all to take the time to understand the basics of what we ingest. “Eating is an agriculture act,” he writes. Indeed, we are all players in the food economy. Views: 986
MYSTERIOUS LONGHOUSES in the Arctic, ancient stone beacons in Newfoundland - are they evidence of Europeans who crossed the Atlantic before A.D. 1000? Farley Mowat advances a controversial new theory about the first visitors to North America.
Mowat's Westviking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America (1965) was highly influential in helping to establish the belief, now commonly held, that the Norse visited North America some 500 years before Columbus. And yet "a worm of unease" plagued Mowat even then, a vague feeling that he hadn't gotten it quite right. He spent the next 30 years in search of a theory that would explain inconsistencies in the archaeological evidence (such as carbon-dated ruins not left by the Inuit, but that predated the arrival of Vikings in Newfoundland by hundreds of years). Now in The Farfarers he asserts that another Indo-European people he calls the "Alban" preceded the Norse by several centuries.
Throughout The Farfarers, Mowat skillfully weaves fictional vignettes of Alban life into his thoughtful reconstruction of a forgotten history. What emerges is a bold and dramatic panorama of a harsher age: an age of death-dealing warships and scanty food supply, of long, cold journeys across the night sea into unknown lands.
"A spellbinding story . . . told by a master storyteller at the top of his form." -- The Globe And Mail
"The book is a fascinating glimpse of yesteryear and offers brief histories on the Celts, Saxons, Vikings, Inuits, and other peoples of the northern hemisphere. Written in vigorous, picturesque prose." -- The Edmonton Sun Views: 984
Jean Craighead George's Newbery Medal-winning classic about an Eskimo girl lost on the Alaskan tundra now features bonus content. This edition, perfect for classroom or home use, includes John Schoenherr's original scratchboard illustrations throughout, as well as extra materials such as an introduction written by Jean Craighead George's children, the author's Newbery acceptance speech, selections from her field notebooks, a discussion guide, and a further reading guide.Julie of the Wolves is a staple in the canon of children's literature and the first in the Julie trilogy. The survival theme makes it a good pick for readers of other wilderness stories such as My Side of the Mountain, Hatchet, or Island of the Blue Dolphins.To her small Eskimo village, she is known as Miyax; to her friend in San Francisco, she is Julie. When her life in the village becomes dangerous, Miyax runs away, only to find herself lost in the Alaskan wilderness.Miyax tries to survive... Views: 976
Young buck Rannoch was born on the night his father was murdered and into a herd of deer where hunger for power has gradually whittled away at all that is true and good. He knows he must escape to survive. Chased by stags, with their fearsome antlers sharpened for the kill, he begins a treacherous journey into the unknown, and ahead of him lies a shocking and formidable search for truth and goodwill in the shadow of the Great Mountain.
One day he will have to return to his home and face his destiny among the deer to fulfill the prophecy that has persistently given them hope: that one day a fawn will be born with the mark of an oak leaf on his forehead and that fawn's courage will lead all the deer to freedom. Filled with passion and a darkness that gradually, through Rannoch's courage in the face of adversity, lifts to reveal an overwhelming feeling of light, Fire Bringer is a tremendous, spirited story that takes the reader deep into the hearts and minds of its characters as they fight for their right to live in peace.
Well-written and brimming with a gutsy excitement that leaps off the page and straight into the imagination, David Clement-Davies's debut novel for young readers is an exceptional, dynamic, complex, and utterly absorbing piece of work that anyone with a true love of animals and adventure will find impossible to put down. (Ages 10 and older) Views: 962
