This is not a book on meditation or Buddhism, though it has certainly been influenced by both. It is a book of encouragements for all those who are interested in using the unit of a single day to develop good qualities in their minds and hearts. It is a book about teaching yourself "from the middle" -- the middle of frustration or joy or boredom or wherever else you find yourself. It is a book with a single thesis: that there is always something you can do, moment by moment, to rediscover the brightness of your own life.
Max the magpie is smitten with Regina the crow. He tries everything to impress her. Young readers will delight in seeing how these two birds navigate the pitfalls of courtship in order to find their happy ending.
A big-hearted bird, who loves to find things and loves to help, gets tripped up by homonyms and gets everything wrong! Will she ever get it right? Then the birds friends take a second look at the unwanted gifts and realise that, with a little creativity, the magpie gave them just what they needed. Scrap-illustrations provide a feast for the eyes, and silly word mix-ups tickle the funny bone, letting readers discover the delights of found objects and true friends.
In this unique approach to teaching colors, the illustrations appear to be drawn by a set of young hands, until the sketched bird takes flight off the page and plays with each subsequently drawn object.
The Magpie and the Wardrobe - A Curiosity of Folklore, Magic and Spells, is a lovingly curated compendium of time-honoured traditions and curious customs that have bewitched us for generations.Discover simple magic, heirloom recipes and forgotten fairytales in this eclectic treasury. The twelve chapters, representative of the seasons, present the celebrations, superstitions and folklore that shape our year. From cherished traditions like Valentine’s Day to the lost excitement of May Day, The Magpie and the Wardrobe reveals a calendar bursting with history, imagination and curious facts. Take a closer look at your favourite homespun rituals and the magic we conjure every day; make a candle wish, mix a moon oil elixir, and hang your romantic hopes on the predictions of an apple peel. Illustrated by a unique collection of ephemera and embellished with trinkets and charms, this sumptuous volume will appeal to the creative and curious.Digital version available in an enhanced eBook format.
Magnus Magpie is a bird with an eye for burglary. He steals only the brightest, shiniest, most dazzling things and stashes them secretly in a hollow at the top of his tree. But do all these riches make him happy? It takes a trip to the moon for Magnus to discover that all that glitters is not gold and that true happiness can often be found at home.
For fans of The Last Mrs. Parrish comes a twisty psychological suspense novel about motherhood, obsession, and just how far some will go for the perfect family. “Great, plain and simple” (Stanley Tucci). Marisa and Jake are a perfect couple. And Kate, their new lodger, is the perfect roommate—and not just because her rent payments will give them the income they need to start trying for the baby of their dreams. Except—no one is truly perfect. Sure, Kate doesn’t seem to care much about personal boundaries and can occasionally seem overly familiar with Jake. But Marisa doesn’t let it concern her, knowing that soon Kate will be gone, and it will just be her, Jake, and their future baby. Conceiving a baby is easier said than done, though, and Jake and Marisa’s perfect relationship is put to the test through months of fertility treatments and false starts. To make matters worse, Kate’s boundary-pushing turns into an all-out obsession—with Jake, with Marisa, and with their future child. Who is this woman? Why does she seem to know everything about Marisa and Jake? In her quest to find out who Kate really is, Marisa might destroy everything she’s worked so hard to create—her perfect romance, her perfect family, and her perfect self. Jake doesn’t know the half of what Marisa has created—and what she stands to lose. For fans of Gone Girl and The Perfect Nanny, Magpie is a “tense” (The Guardian), “gorgeous” (Lisa Taddeo, bestselling author of Three Women), “completely, terrifyingly brilliant” (Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups) novel about mothers and children, envy and possession, and the dangers of getting everything you’ve ever dreamed of.
They saved a little bird . . . And in return she saved them tooAfter a near-fatal fall left Sam Bloom paralysed, no one - not her husband Cameron, nor their three boys - could reach her in the darkest days of her struggle. But everything changed when a new member of the family unexpectedly landed in their lives: an injured magpie chick abandoned after she fell from her nest, whom they named Penguin Bloom. Powerful and tender, Penguin Bloom is a beautifully written account of how compassion, friendship and family can come from unexpected places.
A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell. Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He's also inherited his family's enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn't expect it to turn up angry. Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane's family. Unfortunately, it's his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he's ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude...and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That's definitely unusual. Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane's dangerous appeal isn't the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can't find a way through it-they're both going to die. Book 1 of the Charm of Magpies series.
