The PlaydateFor one little girl, the prospect of a playdate at her friend Henrys house fills her with excitement. To get to Henrys house, they have to take a bus, then the underground, then change to another line, then a bus, and then walk for a bit, but its worth it because Henrys house has millions of rooms to hide in and hundreds of toys to play with. But while the text tells one story, the illustrations slowly reveal another. As the kids tear around the house

From a bored iron

Moving between history

she is entirely at his mercy

Jess Kilby

speculative essays about London and taught at the AA School of Architecture in London

The Last of the Angels by Fadhil al-Azzawi

In this far-reaching collection Maurice Harmon extends the examination of modern Irish life that he began twenty years ago

including one from the Bush Foundation to support his first novel

Yummy mummies and debauched Tories mingle with drunk Essex commuters and leering tabloid paps

Ron joined the army in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War

but of depth and skill

the poet concludes: "It's all in the harvesting"