Anthony Masters

'I couldn't imagine a better guidebook for making sense of a tragic and momentous time in our lives. Covid by Numbers is comprehensive yet concise, impeccably clear and always humane' Tim HarfordHow many people have died because of COVID-19? Which countries have been hit hardest by the virus? What are the benefits and harms of different vaccines? How does COVID-19 compare to the Spanish flu? How have the lockdown measures affected the economy, mental health and crime? This year we have been bombarded by statistics - seven day rolling averages, rates of infection, excess deaths. Never have numbers been more central to our national conversation, and never has it been more important that we think about them clearly. In the media and in their Observer column, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter and RSS Statistical Ambassador Anthony Masters have interpreted these statistics, offering a vital public service by giving us the tools we need to make sense of the virus for ourselves and holding the government to account. In Covid by Numbers, they crunch the data on a year like no other, exposing the leading misconceptions about the virus and the vaccine, and answering our essential questions. This timely, concise and approachable book offers a rare depth of insight into one of the greatest upheavals in history, and a trustworthy guide to these most uncertain of times.

Robinson Crusoe is the diary of a man shipwrecked on a desert island. He is alone for many years, but then cannibals arrive, bringing with them a prisoner. Can he rescue the prisoner? Will he ever escape from the island? Exciting and powerful classic stories to enrich and extend your children's reading experiences. TreeTops Classics are carefully adapted versions of must-read stories which introduce your readers to significant authors, powerful plots and characters that have stood the test of time. These abridged versions of classics have been sensitively adapted by top children's authors to ensure that language and content is appropriate, but remain faithful to the original. These enchanting stories will appeal to all your junior readers and introduce them to a rich literary heritage. Each book includes author biographies and notes to help with historical and social context and any challenging vocabulary, ensuring the books are easily accessible. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book.

Exciting and powerful classic stories to enrich and extend children's reading experiences. TreeTops Classics are carefully adapted versions of must-read stories which introduce readers to significant authors, powerful plots and characters that have stood the test of time. These abridged versions of classics have been sensitively adapted by top children's authors to ensure that language and content is appropriate, but remain faithful to the original. These enchanting stories will appeal to all children and introduce them to a rich literary heritage. Each book includes author biographies and notes to help with historical and social context and any challenging vocabulary, ensuring the books are easily accessible. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book. This pack contains 36 books, six of each of: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Wuthering Heights, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe.

Exciting and powerful classic stories to enrich and extend children's reading experiences. TreeTops Classics are carefully adapted versions of must-read stories which introduce readers to significant authors, powerful plots and characters that have stood the test of time. These abridged versions of classics have been sensitively adapted by top children's authors to ensure that language and content is appropriate, but remain faithful to the original. These enchanting stories will appeal to all children and introduce them to a rich literary heritage. Each book includes author biographies and notes to help with historical and social context and any challenging vocabulary, ensuring the books are easily accessible. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk. The books are finely levelled, making it easy to match every child to the right book. This pack contains 6 books, one of each of: Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Wuthering Heights, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe.

It's Late At Night. The Fire's Burning Low and Something's Howling Outside. Now it's time for a ghost story. But just make sure you're not on your own...

The storm rages. They huddle closer round the flames as the wind howls in the night. Another ghost story begins. But is the old house really deserted, or is something screaming in the darkness? Do you dare to find out?

Hidden Gods: The Doorway is a metaphysical thriller in which two journalists, in an attempt to discover who or what is really behind the chaos in the Middle East, spin back through time to discover the secret codes of Atlantis. Their search for the grail begins with a night in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza... International news photographer Hugo Fitzroy, his schizophrenic son Brent and writer Phillipa Neville, have one vision in common - a great pyramid through whose portal shines a giant sunbeam. Inside, a miraculous escape is planned. Outside, planet earth is changing frequency. Against a background of the international intrigue surrounding the Gulf War and its aftermath, the visionary trio not only discover that they are being drawn inexorably towards the greatest secret the Middle East has ever kept, but also towards their own destinies. For Hugo, Brent and Phillipa have loved before, in other powerful identities, and now they have come to terms with this as well as their responsibilities to the hidden gods.

The three men have been closely bonded ever since they made a remarkable escape from Occupied France in 1941. Now, in leafy Surrey, the Festival of Britain is being celebrated, but the atmosphere in the village where they all live is tense. A young gardener has been found with his throat cut. Martin Latimer and Peter Davis seem completely recovered from their traumatic wartime experiences and have settled comfortably into a life of cricket matches and church teas. Since his return from France, however, Tim Groves has changed completely. Gone is the brave and charismatic man Lucy married, replaced by a shadowy, nervous figure. Lucy is certain that Tim's decline is due to the men's experiences in France, but all three resolutely refuse to talk about what happened there, blaming the Official Secrets Act. Finally, driven to desperation by Tim's anxious and withdrawn state, Lucy persuades him to return to France with her in order to retrace the dark events that broke him. At first, her plan appears to be working. Tim goes for a walk alone, something he hasn't done for years. But when he doesn't return that night, Lucy begins to fear the worst. Gradually the calamities of the war begin to emerge, and the comfortable Surrey lives of the men and their wives will never be the same again...

Dean Lambert is trying to conquer his vertigo - but he's beginning to feel like he'll never jump from the high diving board he's nicknamed the Horror of the Heights. It doesn't help that his brother, Tim, is a championship diver, and his dad runs the Wave Crest Leisure Centre. His dad and brother are caught up in preparations for the leisure centre's upcoming diving championships. But then disaster strikes when the diving board collapses and Tim only just escapes being seriously injured. What's more, it appears the board has been sabotaged. Dean sets out to find the culprit - but will he catch them in time?

Pocket Tales is part of Pocket Reads, a superb collection of quality books that really capture children's imaginations! Pocket Reads have fantastic breadth and variety of genre, with Pocket Sci-Fi, Pocket Facts and Pocket Chillers making up the rest of the collection of independent readers. The fiction books are beautifully illustrated and are guaranteed to appeal to even the most reluctant of readers. The non-fiction readers are equally as stunning and will captivate and excite children with fascinating facts. The 105 pocket-sized fiction and non-fiction readers have each been carefully levelled to the National Curriculum and Book-Banded to ensure children make progression. You can therefore be assured that every reading experience is one that counts.

This fantastic range of fiction for Shared, Guided and Independent reading gives you stories your children will love to read over and over again. Gaelic and Scottish teaching support also accompanies this reading series.