Showing results by author "Alexander McCall Smith" in All Categories

When Max finds an old car that has his last name - Champion - on the bonnet, he learns that his grandfather used to make some of the best cars around...and race them! That was until his ideas book and his favourite car, Arabella, were stolen by greedy rival Mr Grabber. Can Max find a way to get back what Grandfather Gus lost? And will Arabella ever be seen again?

At the age of four Clover chooses her own name. Aged six, she falls in love with her best friend, James. But in the adult world, things are not so simple: Clover's mother finds she's fallen out of love with her husband, and realises that James's father is interested in her. As Clover and James, and their parents, navigate their irresistible but baffling mazes of emotion, we are given a beautifully realised tale about how love can shape a life.

Noah can't believe it when he finds out his uncle owns a zoo! But the zoo is closing down, and there are animals who need homes. Before he knows it, Noah and his family are setting sail on a round-the-world trip returning the zoo animals to the places they were born. But when they try to return one very cheeky monkey, they're in for a whole boat-load of trouble!

When his loving wife, Betty, plans a trip to Ireland for Fatty O’Leary’s 40th birthday things go wrong almost immediately: the seats in economy class on the plane are too small; Irish bathroom furniture is not as commodious as he'd have liked. And all the time Fatty must put up with the unthinking cruelty of strangers.

Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world's most prolific and popular authors. He has won numerous awards for his writing, including the British Book Award Author of the Year Award and a CBE for services to literature.

In this course, we will discuss the moral aspects of human reproduction. We will discuss various influences on reproduction as well as the scientific advances in reproductive technology. At the end of this course we will not have arrived at answers to the various questions raised, but instead will have provided a base for us to consider the issues at hand and a desire to pursue more study in the important aspects of creating humans.

Corduroy Mansions, Pimlico is an oasis of old-fashioned civilisation, its inhabitants considerate and peace-loving. But beneath the polite exterior seismic change is stirring. Barbara Ragg makes an eye-popping discovery about her stolid Scottish suitor’s past, while Oedipus Snark – newly appointed and tirelessly self-interested Government Minister – has a close encounter in Switzerland that leaves him a new man all together.

This is a story of incredible acrobatics and death-defying stunts! Join Freddie Mole as he tumbles through the air, flies around the big tent and tames four growling lions! Freddie is an ordinary boy who joins the circus one day. He can't believe his luck as he is asked to understudy some of the acts. But is he brave enough to go into the lions' cage?

Alexander McCall Smith is a storyteller par excellence and the master of the serial novel form. Not content with the runaway success of the 44 Scotland Street novels he has established a second series, Corduroy Mansions, of which The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is the second volume. McCall Smith treats his characters as old friends, dropping in for a chat with them and to see what they’re up to.

It is said that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but an old photograph can inspire many more. In this beguiling book, Alexander McCall Smith casts his eye over five chanced-upon photographs from the era of black-and-white photography and imagines the stories behind them. Who were those people, what were their stories, why were they smiling, what made them sad? What emerges are surprising and poignant tales of love and friendship in a variety of settings.

John and Nicky have never eaten spaghetti and would give anything for the occasional bowl of chips or piece of chocolate cake. But they live with their rather strange aunt, who insists upon health-food diets. When they use some birthday money to go out for lunch, they experience the delights of spaghetti and decide that they simply have to have more. A competition offers them just such an opportunity, which results in their mealtimes changing for good.

Max and Maddy Twist's parents were once famous, international detectives - before the evil Professor Sardine ruined their careers, that is. Now they run an ice cream parlour, and it is the services of their crime busting Cluedo champion children that are called upon! Mr Huffendort, a rich Swiss banker is very worried about a series of raids upon banks, carried out by a team of highly-trained St Bernard dogs! Who can be the criminal mastermind behind this evil and cunning plot?

Jenny is very tall for her age, and when she dresses smartly for her first day at a new school, she looks very grown up indeed. So grown up, in fact, that when she arrives at the school, she is mistaken for a new teacher and left in charge of a classroom of kids! Jenny is forced to keep up the act and soon finds herself in all sorts of tricky situations. Whatever happens, it's going to be a real education!