Reference & Language

Exercise Book collects over fifty creative writing exercise used by Bill Manhire and his colleagues, not only at Victoria but throughout New Zealand and around the world. The celebrated writer/teachers who have contributed include Elanor Catton, Curtis Sittenfeld, Emily Perkins, David Vann, Elizabeth and Sara Knox, Dora Malech and Kirsty Gunn. This book will be an indispensible resource for teachers and students, and excellent stimulation and entertainment for anyone wanting to give writing a go.
Exercises give your body a wo... read more

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations by Subject is a collection of over 7,000 quotations arranged thematically for easy look-up. Covering nearly 600 subjects, this book features a wealth of topics relevant to modern society, from Beauty, Baseball, and Belief to Patriotism, The Past, and Power. Themes new to this edition include Babies, Birthdays, Nine-Eleven, Retirement, Thanks, and Toasts. Quotations have been taken from a vast range of people around the world from ancient times to the present day, including philosophers, journalists, ... read more

A "Sunday Times" top-ten titles in 2007 and a bestseller ever since, I Before E (Except after C) has continued to inform and entertain its many readers. Now available in paperback, this delightful gift book has been repackaged with a fresh jacket design for new readers and fans of the series alike. Offering reminders of mnemonics from our youth and containing countless more to help us in adult life, this handy collection contains all the memory aids you'll ever need to know: from well-known rhymes, memorable sayings to a selection ... read more

There is so much in this book that it's hard to put it all into words. It is creative and informative and very practical as it explores the current direction of learning and challenges our traditional thoughts of intelligence. It covers how to develop your own unique talents, find your personal learning style and advice on how to embrace a life of learning and creative thinking. Plus gives advice to parents and teachers on how to maximise the learning of children. An excellent book for teachers and parents and those who want to enh... read more

Best-selling author and historian Pamela Bradley delves into the questions that continue to plague our modern world in Great Mysteries. Ranging over the skies and the cosmos, the natural world, the depths of the human mind, unsolved murders and strange deaths, hoaxes, symbols, technology, secret societies and miracles, this book asks many more questions than it answers. Can you solve the mysteries of the world?

If your reading is preventing you from getting the score you need in IELTS, Collins Reading for IELTS can help. Don't let one skill hold you back. Collins Reading for IELTS has been specially created for learners of English who plan to take the Academic IELTS exam to demonstrate that they have the required ability to communicate effectively in English at university. What is IELTS? The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is sat by over 1.4 million candidates around the world every year. It is the most common tes... read more

If your writing is preventing you from getting the score you need in IELTS, Collins Writing for IELTS can help. Don't let one skill hold you back. Collins Writing for IELTS has been specially created for learners of English who plan to take the Academic IELTS exam to demonstrate that they have the required ability to communicate effectively in English at university. What is IELTS? The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is sat by over 1.4 million candidates around the world every year. It is the most common tes... read more

If your speaking is preventing you from getting the score you need in IELTS, Collins Speaking for IELTS can help. Don't let one skill hold you back. Collins Speaking for IELTS has been specially created for learners of English who plan to take the IELTS exam to demonstrate that they have the required ability to communicate effectively in English, either at work or at university. What is IELTS? The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is sat by over 1.4 million candidates around the world every year. It is the mo... read more

If your listening is preventing you from getting the score you need in IELTS, Collins Listening for IELTS can help. Don't let one skill hold you back. Collins Listening for IELTS has been specially created for learners of English who plan to take the IELTS exam to demonstrate that they have the required ability to communicate effectively in English, either at work or at university. What is IELTS? The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is sat by over 1.4 million candidates around the world every year. It is the... read more

A runaway hit and "Sunday Times" bestseller in 2008, My Grammar and I has continued to grow in popularity, becoming the go-to guide for grammar.
Repackaged with a fresh jacket design, this much-loved gift title is now available in paperback, for new readers and fans of the series alike. My Grammar and I offers amusing examples of awful grammar, while steering you in the direction of grammatical greatness. Taking you on a tour of the English language through the minefield of rules and conditions that can catch you out, from da... read more

The punctuation workout for sticklers and rookies alike. The punctuation panda is back! Armed with a permanent marker, a smidgen of confidence, and a copy of 'Can You Eat, Shoot and Leave?', everyone now has the chance to become a member of the punctuation elite. Established punctuation sticklers: Fine-tune existing skills, taking guilty pleasure from testing your (already somewhat unsettling) seventh sense. Confused novices: Never again inflict flawed and perplexing punctuation on your innocent readers. The only official work... read more

The perfect answer to the question 'what's been said about this?' This fully revised and updated edition of an Oxford classic is a truly unique reference book which brings together phrases, proverbs, and quotations in a single thematic volume. Apt and memorable sayings are arranged under a wide range of subjects, giving explanations and origins of the expressions and tracing the links between them. Oxford's unique language research highlights sayings from languages around the world which have become popular in English. Here you can... read more

Research your family history online with confidence

This practical book will have you achieving immediate results using:

a friendly, visual approach
simple language
practical, task-based examples
large, full-colour screenshots.

Discover everything you want to know about using online tools and services to research your family history in this easy-to-use guide; from the most essential tasks that you'll want to perform, to solving the most common problems you'... read more

Truth is stranger than fiction. If you've imagined famous writers to be desk-bound drudges, think again. Writers Gone Wild rips back the (book) covers and reveals the seamy underside of the writing life. Insightful, intriguing, and irresistibly addictive, Writers Gone Wild reveals such fascinating stories as: * The night Dashiell Hammett hired a Chinese prostitute to break up S. J. Perelman's marriage (and ran off with his wife). * Why Sylvia Plath bit Ted Hughes on the cheek. * Why Ernest Hemingway fought a book critic,... read more

The Paperback Oxford Large Print Dictionary is intended as a conveniently-sized and clear large print dictionary that is particularly suitable for people with sight problems, both adults and children. It has been developed in close collaboration with the RNIB, who approved all aspects of the design and layout so that it meets the needs of users. This edition of the dictionary has been updated with the latest vocabulary, such as broadband, and bird flu. A new supplementary section has quick-reference word game material for enthusias... read more

Good public speakers are made, not born - or so thinks Dale Carnegie, the pioneer of personal business skills. Yet business, social and personal satisfaction depend heavily upon a person's ability to communicate clearly. Public speaking is an important skill which anyone can acquire and develop. It is also the very best method of overcoming self-consciousness and building up courage, enthusiasm and self-confidence. This classic, well established title has been called 'the most brilliant book of its kind'. It takes you step by step ... read more

From the possibilities of cybernetics, voyages into the depths of space, real-life robot wars, and teleportation travel plus much, much more, Freaky Future is your very own pocket time machine, springing you headfirst into the not-so-distant future. More than just a book of facts, figures and lists, the book contains wacky and wonderful information and amazing futuristic predictions that may not be the stuff of fiction after all. Be informed, be surprised and be disturbed.

Do you know the difference between acetic and ascetic? Burgers and burghers? Bucolic and alcoholic? Complacent, complaisant and compliant? A cassock, a Cossack, a hassock, a tussock, a hillock, a hummock and a pillock? If not, Fritz Spiegl's "Contradictionary" is the book for you. With entries varying from pithy brevity to mini essays, this quirky but well-informed textbook will be essential reading for anyone who has ever been caught using the wrong word in the wrong place (or been caught out being too clever by half). Readers, wr... read more

Continuing to inform and intrigue generations of readers with its unique mix of solid facts and fascinating gems, "Pears' Cyclopaedia" offers clear and concise information on such wide-ranging subjects as global events, Norse mythology and modern cinema. This year, in researching Pears, some of the more unexpected facts uncovered in this issue are that penguins have more feathers than any other creature, white rhinos are not in fact white, China produces more potatoes than any other country - and Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt.... read more