120 puzzles from the Sphinx and ancient riddles to modern Sudoku with chapters including A Primeval Puzzle Prelude, Medieval Maths, Mysteries and Merriment, Parisian Perplexities, The Great Victorian Puzzlers, Word Puzzles, Logic, Weights, Measures and Speed, Psychological Puzzles and more. The idea of a hero being prepared to risk his life on his ability to solve riddles has been very powerful throughout history and literature - think The Hobbit - and another potentially fatal riddle format is seen in the plot of Puccini's opera Turandot, where the icy princess of the title sets her suitors three riddles in a thoroughly sadistic game. A mind-bending history written by the off-beat Beachcomber columnist for the Daily Express with his customary wit and obvious joy in discovery. 152pp, illus.

A great alternative to crosswords this book will keep you busy with over 300 of the Daily Mail's most popular picture puzzles. Part crossword, part pictogram there is a mix of cryptic and picture clues combined with Professor Rebus' unique sense of humour. To give you an example 'The late, great Keith (10)' and the picture is of H2O and a house. Think along the lines of the popular TV quiz show Catchphrase and pit your wits and test your deductive skills with this bumper edition for a quiet evening, lazy morning or poolside fun. Top Tip is to try out the clue in a different accent! Please note the author is from Derbyshire and specialises in the English language, especially phonetics. Paperback.

You don't have to be an artist to achieve great results on your iPad, and this refreshingly accessible book is perfect for skilled artists and aspiring creatives alike. There are step-by-step projects that teach the fundamentals of digital painting and easy and fun tricks that anyone can try. A glossary covers abstraction, composition, contour, tone, vanishing point and warm and cool colours, and there is a study of Monet's Water Lilies, so go crazy with those beautiful reds, pinks and purples, yellows and cool background and observe how the lilies are arranged in a Z shape, an effective path for the eyes to create movement and depth. In fact you can activate whole paintings and understand the layers and how they were created as you hone your skills. Decorate your puppy picture with extra coloured patches above the eyes and different patterns on the ears and a mat for him to sit on. A portrait of a cat captures his very expressive eyes and is really quite realistic. So too are some of the portraits of actual people from photographs or something more kitsch and iconic like the good old pink plastic garden flamingo. Try your hand at Van Gogh's Sunflowers but begin with very simple line drawings and understanding the tools on your iPad with through expert tutorials. 144pp, large paperback, colour.

Nowadays, those classic - and universal - games of Hopscotch, Skipping, Bulldog, Rounders, Tag, 1-2-3 In and Hide and Seek are almost forgotten, rarely passed on as generations come and go. With 60 Classic Outdoor Games, you can rediscover those fun and silly games and fondly remember our childhoods. Let's not forget musical chairs, what's the time Mr Wolf? rock pooling (a glorious pastime), sand art on the beach, musical statues, balloon race, football, rounders and good old sardines and sandcastles and marbles and skipping - we could go on. Ladybird style full page, colour illustrations, a big clear layout with diagrams right down to hangman. 128 pages.

Let's experiment in our art with building up a surface texture, using washes on a sand background, fabric or paper wrinkles, backgrounds with a heavy texture or a still life with a textured gesso background. Using mediums and gels, as modifiers of fluidity, modelling paste, transparency with textures, impasto with a brush or spatula, we can copy or learn for example from the style of Oskar Kokoschka. Add fillers to paint, create a landscape with acrylics or oils over modelling paste and study the style of Julian Schnabel. In the third section Painting Over Textures we look at dripping paint, washes, glazes with acrylics, using newsprint for volume, varnish and wrinkles, wax, a landscape with organic materials, using objects in collage, relief with foam, crackled paint and other atypical textures. The effects are truly stunning and your artworks will definitely be original. Looks great fun as well, with super exercises to follow and a simple text. Packed with colour images, 96pp. One of the excellent Barron's publications.

Covering Swansea and the beautiful Gower peninsular, the book includes 20 walks of up to six miles chosen to give you an enjoyable day or half day, and suitable for all members of the family. The first walk of three miles begins in Laugharne, the part of Wales that gave Dylan Thomas to the world, 'the ugly, lovely town' of Swansea. Visit the house in which he was born and brought up and then explore the green oasis of Cymdonkiin Park where he played as a boy. In Margam Country Park, fans of Torchwood and Doctor Who will experience a deja vu as they come across a replica of the TARDIS. Neolithic Chambers testify that while an artificial warren is evidence that it was the Romans who were responsible for unleashing the rabbit upon us, they then introduced it as a source of meat. There are strategic locations including Iron Age Forts and stories of Norman invaders defeated and beheaded, and the barbaric murder of the female hero Princess Gwenllian, whose death resulted in The Great Revolt when all of Wales rose up. In more recent history, the famous female aviator Amy Johnson used Pendine Sands as a runway for one of her record attempts which was later used for the world land speed record attempt. Includes OS style colour maps blown up to a large size, colour photos and very clear steps through each tour to Llandeilo, Llanelli, Pembrey, Rhossili and Gnoll among the 20 chosen walks. 96 page pocket size paperback, colour. Last sold at

Organised in a presentation tin with an Impressionist harbourside view with ladies and parasols and men in Panama hats, flags in the breeze and sailboats and steamboats out to sea, the protective box contains 24 ready sharpened coloured pencils. The set is in colours of sumptuous tones for professional, children or adult artists. There are four browns, five shades of green, two red, two pink, two orange, one yellow, two blues, two purples, two dark blues, one grey and one black. The tin tray is easy to open and snap shut, and the whole product would make a lovely gift item. An incredible bargain price.

92 piece luminous build-it-yourself car racing track, the very bright fluorescent yellow, green, blue and orange track pieces really easily click together and can create a loop-the-loop plus track, a huge caterpillar style track, and is flexible enough to tilt for extra daring feats. The kit comes complete with a jeep style racing car and you simply push the button on and off the top after inserting two AA size batteries (not included) - and it glows in the dark! CE Safety approved, designed from ages three for creativity and hand to eye coordination but we know this will sell to adults with a sense of fun.

In print since 1985 and now in its 9th edition, translated is the bestselling German book now in English, probably the most detailed handbook on the domestic chicken. Covers breeds suitable for small-scale keeping, anatomy and physiology of the chicken including digestion and reproduction, behaviour including egg-laying, nesting and brooding habits, mother-chick relationship, hygiene, feeding preferences, feeding and fear plus the hen house, construction, equipping and running, hatching and incubation and breeding planning and rearing chicks in sickness and in health. Plus all about eggs and a few recipes such as Spicy Wine-Pickled Eggs, Coffee Egg Punch and even an Egg Beer. The authors are experienced smallholders who know how to keep their birds healthy and running free. Their handbook not only has dozens of colour photographs, but lots of tip boxes entitled 'Good to Know' and diagrams including measurements for a complete hen house layout including ventilation flaps and windows, building materials and hut sizes. 133pp, 17 x 25cm.

200 puzzles to delight fans of the Rovers Return Inn and one of Britain's most popular soap operas. Test your Corrie knowledge and problem-solving prowess. Can you solve Ken-dokus, work out the missing relationships in a family tree, match pets to their owners? Take part in a classic Rovers pub quiz and answer questions in the famous characters that have graced the screens from Elsie Tanner to Roy Cropper. 200 entertaining and inventive conundrums are enhanced by amazing facts, figures and trivia, archive photos, and of course flying ducks. 302pp, softback.