Stairwell Books – förlag

Suzanne Sheran, with her experience as an elementary school teacher had put together an engaging story where her protagonist Nat, or is that Gnat, along with his friends the Gnus, get into trouble dealing with difficult words with silent letters, and of course the dreaded homophone where words in different contexts are spelled differently.

Oh dear! It was not a good day for Nat Newman.

Mrs. Nash at Newton School was having a spelling bee. It was Nat Newman's turn and his word to spell was...

Gnu

Nat went nuts! When he got home he found some very upset gnus that went on a bit of a rampage introducing Nat to animals and objects that have silent letters or more than one spelling. 

Beautifully illustrated by Mark Beech this book is an ideal reader for school or at home.

"Linguistically charged, rhythmically and technically assured, theatrically daring, this poetry collection restores mythical and historical female figures to the human imagination. The cast of characters includes Greek goddesses, an 18th Century Chines pirate, pilots in the WWII Serbian Night Bomber Regiment, black American golf and tennis pro, Althea Gibson, and photographer Khadija Saye, who died in the Grenfell fire. The poems are robust, playful, tender and compassionate. The work as a whole forms an unsentimental and richly detailed testament to women's resistance. It bears witness, expressing and celebrating the life-force and capacity for love that defines each character and that we recognise as poetry's authentic subject matter."

Graham Mort

"Unknown cracks on with its task of introducing and re-introducing us to women who might otherwise slip through history and culture's ever wide female-shaped holes. Brisk and beautiful poems speed us from goddesses like Kore to semi-mythic figures like Cartimandua ("Lost Queen of the North" as I think of her) to real life women like Khadija Saye, a young artist who tragically died in the Grenfell fire. Works of reclamation like this are ongoingly necessary-which is frustrating-but when they're done so well, are a pleasure and a joy." 

Kate Fox 

Harriet is a young hippopotamus who has always felt like an elephant. A gentle, engaging story about a young hippopotamus who has felt like an elephant as long as she can remember. She decides to ask the elephant herd if she can live with them, and be an elephant. She is accompanied by a chimp, a sandpiper and a giraffe, puzzled by her decision but who keep her company on her journey. The no-nonsense elephant matriarch simply informs her she had better "keep up", thus accepting her, and a small elephant walks beside her, as her animal friends wave goodbye and wish her well, and a small elephant walks beside her. Her animal friends wave goodbye and wish her well.

"The power of C.S. Fuqua's poetry lies in the relentless chronicling of real people with real sorrow, triumph, regret, and above all, the sad beauty of the human experience. Superb poetry from an American poet and musician."                                                      Tony Nesca, Author of About A Girl

"C.S Fuqua's transcendent verses encapsulate the many moods and dispositions of 'dadhood.' His reflections are compelling, affecting, witty and tender. A recommended read for the expectant father."

 Ali Kinteh, author of The Nepenthe Park Chronicles

"Though I've read Christopher Fuqua's horror stories and listened to his haunting melodies on the Native American flute, he displays another side to his soul in his collected poems on fatherhood. Through touching snippets he exposes the heartbreak of the miscarriages he and his wife endure in their efforts to birth a child. Then, when a pregnancy finally takes, his poetry blossoms with the growing bond between father and daughter, the eternal struggle to support, yet let her fail. Swing me, Dad! Swing me high! moving into her first day of school, her first solo ride on an escalator. These poems will resonate with every parent, maybe even bring a tear to their eye."        Suanne Schafer, author of Hunting the Devil

A razor-sharp collection examining all that is broken, and the few things that work, in a country controlled by cows, herders, and theiving officials.

Ngozi brings us Nigeria, in all her glory, her corruption, her danger and her joy: a thrilling, caustic and no-holds-barred collection by a well-known author. "Our skulls are in museums / And our skeletons in galleries / Our heritage is pain / And their inheritance, gain / Spare Africa, oh disaster." (from "Spare Africa"). Ngozi calls out the priest, the bomber, the infidel, the political leader, the herdsman; she praises the teacher, the widow, and the downtrodden who are determined, somehow, to survive. Do not come looking for cheerful rhymes, but to learn, and share her fury.