Mary Hoffman is een gevierde Britse auteur wiens werken vaak zijn geïnspireerd door haar diepe genegenheid voor Italië. Haar schrijven wordt gekenmerkt door levendige verhalen en een opmerkelijk vermogen om lezers mee te voeren naar de rijke werelden die ze creëert. Hoffman verkent thema's variërend van kindertijd en identiteit tot culturele ontmoetingen, waarbij ze een stijl hanteert die zowel toegankelijk als tot nadenken stemmend is. Door haar gevarieerde oeuvre, dat zowel kinderboeken als romans omvat, heeft ze zich gevestigd als een verteller die breed resoneert bij lezers van alle leeftijden.
Een liefdesverhaal vol moord en mysterie in middeleeuws Italië
Als de Italiaanse Sylvano (16) in de 14e eeuw onterecht wordt beschuldigd van moord, vindt hij onderdak in een klooster, waar hij een meisje uit een naburig klooster ontmoet. Dan wordt het klooster opgeschrikt door een serie bloedige moorden.
In modern-day London, Lucien Mulholland undergoes chemotherapy treatments, but when he falls asleep clutching a mysterious book his father has given him, he is transported - or "stravagated" - to an enchanting 16th-century Venice-like city called Bellezza, in the country Talia. Lucien can return only if he can get hold of the book again. In this colorful other world, rich with court intrigues and magic, he feels vibrantly alive, as opposed to his pain-ridden days back in England; his hair has grown back and he eats with relish. Bellezza is also where, as "Luciano," he meets lovely 15-year-old Arianna and Rodolfo, who created the book that acts as Lucien's "stravagation" talisman. Rodolfo explains that a stravagante is "a wanderer between worlds," and also the history of this magical travel. Now the secret brotherhood dedicated to keeping the two worlds separate is being challenged by a faction with evil intent. Soon "Luciano" is caught up in their power struggle and learns there is a cost when one cannot stravagate properly.
Grace loves stories, whether they're from books, movies, or the kind her grandmother tells. When her school decides to perform Peter Pan, Grace longs to play the lead, but her classmates point out that Peter was a boy. Besides, he wasn't black. With the support of her family, Grace learns that she can be anything she wants to be, and the results are amazing! Remarkable watercolor illustrations give full expression to Grace's high-flying imagination.
Grace has the chance to be a princess in a school parade. But what does a princess do, apart from wearing beautiful clothes and looking pretty?
A collection of simple Nursery rhymes and short stories from yesteryear.
Exploring themes of family and belonging, this sequel follows Grace as she travels to Africa to reconnect with her father and his new family. Despite her initial feelings of uncertainty, she embraces the idea that families can be formed in various ways, guided by her Nana's wisdom. The vibrant illustrations enhance the narrative, making it a visually engaging experience as Grace learns to navigate her evolving family dynamics.
Brains are amazing! Find out how our brains work and how they control the rest of the body. From how they create our memories, to how they help us learn new things, get ready to uncover lots of fascinating facts about the brain.
What is a family? Once, it was said to be a father, mother, boy, girl, cat and dog living in a house with a garden. But as times have changed, families have changed too, and now there are almost as many kinds of families as colours of the rainbow - from a mum and dad or single parent to two mums or two dads, from a mixed-race family to children with different mums and dads, to families with a disabled member. Mary Hoffman takes a look through children's eyes at the wide varieties of family life: from homes, food, ways of celebrating, schools and holidays to getting around, jobs and housework, from extended families, languages and hobbies to pets and family trees - and she concludes that, for most people, their own family is the best one of all! With Ros Asquith's delightful pictures, this book takes a fresh, optimistic look at families of today.
Collection of favorite fairy tales, retold with colorful illustrations accompanying.
The book opens with the question: "How are you feeling today?" And this leads on to a spread by spread presentation of a wide range of feelings, including: *Happy * Sad * Excited * Bored * Interested * Angry * Upset * Calm * Silly * Lonely * Scared * Safe *Embarrassed * Shy * Confident * Worried * Jealous * Satisfied The final spread is about Feeling Better because sharing and talking about feelings helps us to feel better. The approach and design follows The Great Big Book of Families, with lots of different children in lots of different situations, brief text captions and questions and plenty of humour to make sure the book is fun.Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith look at feelings in family life, at school and everywhere with the same warmth, wit and sensitivity that they brought to their award- winning The Great Big Book of Families.
