An award winning modern fairy tale about friendship and family, for fans of Bridge to Terabithia Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., “Little John” as he’s always been known, is spending the hot Texas summer helping his father to clear trees for Mr. King, the richest and most powerful man in town. Then one day he hears a song through the brush, one so beautiful that it stops him in his tracks. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree. There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice. Little John's home is full of sorrow over his sister’s death and endless stress over money troubles. But his friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in tough times . . . until Mr. King forces Little John into an impossible choice: risk his family’s wages and survival, or put Gayle's future in danger. Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale's Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice. "Magical realism meets coming of age in this sensitive and haunting novel."—BCCB, starred review "Smart and beautiful . . . Once you’ve read it, you’ll have a hard time getting it out of your head.”—Elizabeth Bird, School Library Journal Blog

A powerful novel about friendship and family that calls to mind Bridge to Terabithia Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., or “Little John” as he’s always been known, is spending his summer helping his father with his tree removal business, clearing brush for Mr. King, the wealthy owner of a chain of Texas dollar stores, when he hears a beautiful song that transfixes him. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree. There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice, and Little John’s friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in his life, for his home is dominated by sorrow over his sister’s death and his parents’ ever-tightening financial difficulties. But then Mr. King draws Little John into an impossible choice—forced to choose between his family’s survival and a betrayal of Gayle that puts her future in jeopardy. Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale's Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice.

Left a young widow by the Great War, the resourceful Pamela goes to work for the Jarvises, a charmingly eccentric couple whose elegant Highgate house is a mecca for artists. She is particularly drawn to the work of waiflike, Suzannah Murchie, whose powerful portraits adorn the Jarvises' walls, and to the subject of one of the portraits, John Ashe.Ashe is a man of contradictions-handsome, but horribly disfigured; ruthless, but charitable; influential, but secretive. When she agrees to work for him, Pamela is only half aware that she is entering into a pact with the devil-a pact which she gradually determines to turn to her own advantage . . .For Ashe has gained wealth and influence by preying on the weaknesses of others, and although Pamela keeps her distance from his activities, she cannot avoid being tainted by them.Against a background of 'twenties London, Sarah Harrison's rich and engrossing novel charts an independent-minded woman's discovery of the nature of power, and the price of peace.

'Wondering and wonderful. The nature book of the year.' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL 'This lovely book is almost as thrilling as the bird's immortal song - balm for a troubled soul and a glimpse of paradise.' JOANNA LUMLEY ______________________________ Come to the forest, sit by the fireside and listen to intoxicating song, as Sam Lee tells the story of the nightingale. Every year, as darkness falls upon woodlands, the nightingale heralds the arrival of Spring. Throughout history, its sweet song has inspired musicians, writers and artists around the world, from Germany, France and Italy to Greece, Ukraine and Korea. Here, passionate conservationist, renowned musician and folk expert Sam Lee tells the story of the nightingale. This book reveals in beautiful detail the bird's song, habitat, characteristics and migration patterns, as well as the environmental issues that threaten its livelihood. From Greek mythology to John Keats, to Persian poetry and 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square', Lee delves into the various ways we have celebrated the nightingale through traditions, folklore, music, literature, from ancient history to the present day. The Nightingale is a unique and lyrical portrait of a famed yet elusive songbird. ______________________________ 'Sam Lee has brought the poetic magic that has long enchanted so many of his musical fans into the written word. Allow yourself to glimpse the world Sam sees, to be part of his love affair with the nightingale, and you will no doubt be delighted.' LILY COLE 'A wonderful book.' STEPHEN MOSS 'A magical marriage of the lyrical and practical: a book that makes us want to seek out the nightingale and then reveals how we can.' TRISTAN GOOLEY

A melodious paean to the natural history and symbolic meaning of the most prized, poetized, and mythologized of songbirds. The nightingale has a unique place in cultural history: the most prized of songbirds, it has inspired more poems than any other creature, and it is also the most mythologized of birds. Nightingale juxtaposes the bird of poetry, music, myth, and lore with the living bird of wood and scrubland, unpicking the entangled relationship between them. Covering a huge range of poets, musicians, artists, nature writers, and natural historians—from Aristotle, Keats, and Vera Lynn to Bob Dylan—Nightingale charts our fascination through history with this nondescript yet melodious little brown bird. It also documents the nightingale’s disappearance from British breeding grounds and the implications this has for nightingale conservation.

Science gossip and Country queries and notes are incorporated with this.