Sam Sylvester is a teacher who wants his class to have ambition, and to do great things in life. So he enters them for a sporting competition against the rich students of Greycoats School. The team…
It is beautiful to look at, hard to reach, and terribly difficult to climb. Winds of 200 kilometres per hour or more scream across it day and night, while the temperature falls to -20°C or lower. …
What do you find in these two countries at the end of the world? One is an enormous island, where only twenty million people live - and the other is two long, narrow islands, with ten sheep for eve…
From the smallest fly to the biggest elephant, and from fish living at the bottom of the ocean to birds that fly several kilometres above land: this is the animal kingdom, the biggest group of livi…
Everybody knows about the United States of America. You can see its films, hear its music, and eat its food just about everywhere. Cowboys, jazz, hamburgers, the Stars and Stripes - that's the Unit…
It is hard to imagine the modern world without information technology. At home, at work, and at play, mobile phones, emails, and computers have become part of daily life. The story of information t…
It's an exciting life - full of fast cars, money, and travel. The names of Formula One champions are known all over the world. And everywhere young drivers dream of success one day in Monaco, Melbo…
Right now, all over the world, people are using energy. As we drive our cars, work on our computers, or even cook food on a wood fire, we probably do not stop to think about where the energy comes …
You're fast asleep, and nothing is happening. Or is it? In fact, your body is hard at work. Your lungs are taking oxygen from the air, and your heart is pumping blood round your body. Millions of p…
The United States in the 1950s and 60s was a troubled place. Black people were angry, because they did not have the same rights as whites. It was a time of angry words, of marches, of protests, a t…
Is there anyone who has not looked at the dark sky, and the shining points of light above us, and asked themselves questions about what is out there? Where did our planet come from? When did the un…
What will we do when there is nowhere to put our rubbish? Every day, all over the world, people drop cans, boxes, paper, and bottles into bins and never think about them again. And the rubbish moun…
Imagine an animal with teeth as big as bananas - and a brain as big as an orange. Or a flying animal with wings as wide as a small plane. Think about a tail that could knock a man's head off, or a …
We must leave for Zenda at once, to find the King!' cried Sapt. 'If we're caught, we'll all be killed!' So Rudolf Rassendyll and Sapt gallop through the night to find the King of Ruritania. But the…
Christmas is humbug, Scrooge says - just a time when you find yourself a year older and not a penny richer. The only thing that matters to Scrooge is business, and making money. But on Christmas Ev…
High up on a stone seat in the great open-air theatre of Athens, Alexis, son of Leon, watches the Festival of Plays - and dreams of seeing his own play on that famous stage. So, as the summer passe…
Every town should have a 'card' - someone who gets talked about, someone who does mad and wonderful things, someone who makes you laugh. Bursley in the Five Towns has a 'card': Edward Henry Machin …
When Tug wakes up, he is not in his own bedroom at home. The door is locked and there are bars across the window. Loud music hammers through the house and through his head. Then a woman comes in an…
Life is always hard for the poor, in any place and at any time. Ethan Frome is a farmer in Massachusetts. He works long hours, but his farm makes little money. His wife, Zeena, is a thin, grey woma…
Victor Frankenstein thinks he has found the secret of life. He takes parts from dead people and builds a new 'man'. But this monster is so big and frightening that everyone runs away from him - eve…