4 storybooks begin this collection of themed tales, based on the diaries written by a collection of animals.Humour and comic characters aim to encourage children to write and illustrate their own diaries.

4 storybooks begin this collection of themed tales, based on the diaries written by a collection of animals.Humour and comic characters aim to encourage children to write and illustrate their own diaries.

A charmingly illustrated diary narrative about a young frog and his life in a pond.

Adrian Mole's first love, Pandora, has left him; a neighbor, Mr. Lucas, appears to be seducing his mother (and what does that mean for his father?); the BBC refuses to publish his poetry; and his dog swallowed the tree off the Christmas cake. "Why" indeed.

Imagine being always told what to do, what to look like and not having the chance to choose. Follow this dauntless adventure and discover a story in bright, musical verse that transmits values such as equality and having the courage to follow your dreams. Nona is a princess who lives in a great palace, but she is not happy. Being a princess is not as easy as it seems... To begin with, a princess cannot make mistakes, nor yawn, nor scratch her nose... Furthermore, she must be discreet, always smile and wait patiently for her prince charming to arrive. It's such a boring job. It’s a pain to be a princess! Nona dreams of escaping from the palace and finding her purpose, although she still doesn't know what this is. Therefore, she decides to leave the court in search of adventure. Outside the palace, she will have to follow her own path until she finds who she is meant to be and, thus, takes over her own destiny.

British adolescent angst has never been so “laugh-out-loud funny” as in this first encounter with a sharp-witted, pining, and achingly honest underdog (The New York Times). Perhaps when I am famous and my diary is discovered, people will understand the torment of being a 13¾-year-old undiscovered intellectual. Adrian Mole is approaching fourteen, and like all radical intellectuals he must amass his grievances: His acne vulgaris is grotesque; his crush, Pandora, received seventeen Valentine’s Day cards; his PE teacher is a sadist; he fears his parents’ marriage is over since they no longer smoke together; his dog has gone AWOL; no one appreciates his poetry; and Animal Farm has set him off pork for good. If everyone were as appalled as Adrian Mole, it would be a better world. Introducing “one of literature’s most endearing figures”: a luckless adolescent of great expectations and dwindling patience who knows all—or believes he does—and tells all (The Observer). First published in 1982, Adrian’s chronicle of angst has sold more than twenty million copies worldwide, spawned seven sequels, and been adapted for television and staged as a musical. Here’s where it all began.

Sexual combat is not a monopoly of the human species. As Sarah Blaffer Hrdy argues in this spellbinding book, war between male and female animals has deep roots in evolutionary history. Her account of family life among hanuman langurs--the black-faced, gray monkeys inhabiting much of the Indian subcontinent--is written with force, wit, and at times, sorrow. Male hanumans, in pursuit of genetic success, routinely kill babies sired by their competitors. The mothers of endangered infants counter with various strategems to deceive the males and prevent destruction of their own offspring. Competition and selfishness are dominant themes of langur society. Competition among males for access to females, competition among females for access to food resources, and disregard by one female for the well-being of another's infant--these are some very common examples. Yet there are also moments of heroic self-sacrifice, as when an elderly female rushes to defend her troop and its babies from an invading, infancticidal male. The Langurs of Abu is the first book to analyze behavior of wild primates from the standpoint of both sexes. It is also a poignant and sophisticated exploration of primate behavior patterns from a feminist point of view. This book may inspire controversy; it will certainly be read with pleasure by anyone interested in animal behavior. Richly illustrated with photographs, seven in full color.