Showing results by author "Di Riddell" in All Categories

From forgotten jellybeans to sparking daydreams, Alex's poems, written for primary school age children, are both funny and thoughtful, and aim to spark familiarity and inclusion. These poems use rhyme, rhythm and free verse and are ideally suited to performance in a school setting, nurturing a love of language, reading, confidence and self-expression.

A creative call to arms from the mind of Neil Gaiman. Art Matters will inspire its listeners to seize the day in the name of art. Be bold. Be rebellious. Choose art. It matters. Neil Gaiman once said that 'the world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before'. This audiobook is the embodiment of that vision. Drawn together from speeches, poems and creative manifestos, Art Matters explores how reading, imagining and creating can change the world, and will be inspirational to young and old.

If his inventions go wrong, Wendel just throws them away and starts again. So when Clunk, his robot assistant, fills the sock drawer with cups and saucers and makes tea in a Wellington boot, Wendel throws him on the scrap heap and makes himself a new assistant: the Wendelbot. But he gets more than he bargained for, and soon Wendel finds himself on the scrap heap. Can he win back his workshop from the mighty Wendelbot? Let the robot battle commence!

Lucifer, introduced in Cursed, the first book of the Fallen Angels series, now goes by Lucian and he has a problem. A disturbing problem named Anna Sill. For the past ten years, he's struggled to understand why he has felt compelled to help her. Finally abandoning Anna to her fate, Lucian stubbornly refuses to have anything else to do with the human.

The Irish Short Story tradition is packed with literary leviathans who take the raw ingredients of the land, it’s people and their own talents to create quite dazzling narratives in these perfectly pitched short stories. Genius has many names.

Two tales from the golden age of supernatural fiction.

Cade Quarter is building a new life for himself in the wild of the Farrow Ridges, miles away from civilisation - and from the enemies who are seeking him. His lakeside home is idyllic, and he lives a peaceful existence with his prowlgrin, Rumblix, and Tug, the nameless one. But when his new home is threatened by villainous mire-pearlers, Cade and his friends must find a way to defend the land they love. The arrival of the ship Doombringer means Cade must leave the Farrow Ridges and compete in an ultimate challenge to bring aid to the Lakes.

Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad, high-stacking his way across the rooftops of his city in search of adventure and mystery. In each tale, he encounters a supernatural force and must battle the horrors that await him.

In Legion of the Dead, Barnaby finds himself embroiled in a plot that includes a legion of zombies raised from the dead. In Dickensian times, people were terrified of being buried alive, and so were left in their coffin with a wire, attached to a bell, running from above the ground, down through the earth and the lid of the coffin, and tied to the little finger of the buried body. Those who found themselves awake in the darkness of their coffin could wiggle their finger and summon help.

Little Green Raincape is on her way to Rapunzel's party, deep in the wild woods. The way is long and dark, but Green is a smart girl. Smart enough to turn down apples offered by kindly old ladies, smart enough to turn down travel advice from helpful wolves, and above all, smart enough to solve a wealth of classic fairy tale problems - not least mend a lovelorn beast's broken heart. Once Upon a Wild Wood is a richly imagined story packed full of familiar fairy tale characters as you've never seen them before.

Fifty short stories by women writers who broke the mould.

When women and men experience trauma or severe life stressors, including sexual abuse, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel. Acclaimed Australian motivational speaker Di Riddell’s great passion is showing you that you can re-activate and tap into your inner confidence and self-esteem bringing new energy and joy into your life, so you can know yourself as peaceful, complete, whole, and safe.

Young Keepers Cora and Jax are trainees who need to prove themselves or risk being sent back to school. Intent on their task of building a hedgehog highway by making holes at the bottom of fences on a new housing estate, they come upon a deer trapped in the foundations of a building site. Their woodland magic isn't strong enough to help the deer escape, but they will not be able to complete their task if they try to get help for the deer.

While a door that just won’t stay closed may not seem like the most terrifying of hauntings, being alone in a silent manor for days on end certainly adds to the atmosphere. A request to discover the reason for the obstinate door includes a cash motivation and newly unemployed Theophilus Edlyd readily accepts the challenge.

Limited Time Only is the podcast for anyone who feels there aren’t enough hours in their life. In each episode Esther & Susie bring to your ears a joyful a mix of chat, comedy sketches & interviews with interesting people. A pick-me-up in podcast form.

The Keepers are a secretive tribe of little people who live in the middle of Whispering Woods, coming out at night to care for the countryside and rewild it when humans (or Ruffins as they know them) are careless with it. Young Keepers Cora and Jax have just finished school and are embarking on a trial, with several friends, to become fully-fledged Keepers. But their first venture out on their own ends in disaster when they become distracted with playing in the Ruffin children's playground instead of concentrating on the task they've been given.

A Charlotte Riddell novella from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Haunted Houses. In The Uninhabited House, the owner of haunted house River Hall is taken to court by one of her tenants for failing to disclose prior spectral possession.

A Charlotte Riddell novella from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Haunted Houses. When his cousin Geoffrey dies, barrister Hercules Stafford Trevor agrees to act as his young widow’s guardian. But Trevor has troubles of his own when he discovers that the legends surrounding his country house might have more than a grain of truth in them, and it seems these hauntings are destined to become intertwined with the fate of the widow.

Welcome to Absurdia: a strange and wonderful land where nothing is quite what it seems. Trees are birds, umbrellas are trees, and the sky is thick with snoring fish. Join one small boy as he tumbles out of bed into a crazy dreamland of wardrobe monsters, dragons - and amazing adventure. With a story to enchant the youngest reader, as well as music and sound effects that will make you giggle, whatever your age, this is an extraordinary achievement and one to savour.

I came to Mesa Palms for a fresh start after my divorce. Needing the serenity and calm of the desert, I spend my afternoons as a DJ rocking the city. It might not be the most glamorous job, but I love the no-frills life and answering only to my cat. That is, until one day, England’s biggest God of Nu Rock walks in like he owns the place, and my boss forces me to interview the arrogant jerk on-air.