Margaret Redfern Libri

The book offers profound insights into understanding children's inner lives, encouraging readers to look beyond surface behaviors. Each chapter is thoughtfully crafted, reflecting the author's wisdom and providing valuable perspectives on aspects of childhood that often go unnoticed. It's designed for quick reading, capturing attention and prompting reflection, making it a compelling choice for anyone interested in child development and parenting.

The story follows Thaddeus, a centipede with one hundred legs, who struggles with the daunting task of shoe shopping. As his mother eagerly prompts him for their shoe hunting day, Thaddeus attempts to escape her impatience by hiding under a rug. This whimsical tale captures the challenges of finding the perfect shoes while exploring themes of family dynamics and the humorous trials of a centipede's unique predicament.

A young girl's deep affection for animals and nature unfolds as she experiences the first snowfall of winter. Maddie rushes into the meadow, where she encounters a young Pine tree, burdened by snow yet radiating magic. As she helps the tree, a group of animals and birds receive enchanting gifts, showcasing the tree's mystical powers. The story highlights themes of friendship, kindness, and the magical bond between nature and its creatures, all seen through Maddie's eyes as she witnesses the wonders of winter.

This book introduces the community of insects that make their home on thistles, feeding on the leaves, the flowerheads, the roots, the stems, or each other. It deals with creeping thistle and spear thistle. Because thistles are introduced to countries outside Europe, the insects that feed on them in Britain are of interest as potential biological control agents. This book describes the natural history of the important groups of insects, and shows how to find them and how to observe their lives. It discusses the effects of herbivorous insects on the plant, and the impact that they may have in biological control. The colour illustrations show the major insects, and there are keys for the identification of the characteristic thistle-dwelling insect species. Much remains to be discovered about these creatures, and the book draws attention to topics suitable for further investigation. Techniques are described.