All Graded Readers

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Through the Looking-Glass Pack

Lewis Carroll
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Classics

'I wish I could get through into looking-glass house,' Alice said. 'Let's pretend that the glass has gone soft and . . . Why, I do believe it has! It's turning into a kind of cloud!'

A moment later Alice is inside the looking-glass world. There she finds herself part of a great game of chess, travelling through forests and jumping across brooks. The chess pieces talk and argue with her, give orders and repeat poems . . .

It is the strangest dream that anyone ever had . . .

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Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Ruby (Stages 4 and 5)

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

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Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Coral (Stages 3 and 4)

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Mysterious Death of Charles Bravo Audio CD Pack

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - True Stories

Charles Bravo died from the poison antimony. He took three days to die, and the doctors could do nothing to help him.

There were three people who had reasons for wanting Charles Bravo dead - Florence Bravo herself, Charles Bravo's new young wife; Dr James Gully, Florence's former lover; and Mrs Jane Cox, Florence's friend and companion.

But the enquiry into the death in 1876 could not decide who the murderer was, and for more than 130 years people have wondered who did kill Charles Bravo ...

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Formula One Audio CD Pack

Alex Raynham

STAGE 3 - Factfiles (non-fiction)

It's an exciting life - full of fast cars, money, and travel. The names of Formula One champions are known all over the world. And everywhere young drivers dream of success one day in Monaco, Melbourne, Monza ...

But it is a difficult life too. Drivers need strong bodies - and minds. They need to think quickly, drive hard, and sometimes look death in the face. This is the dangerous, exciting world of Formula One - where the world's best drivers have only seconds to win or lose a race.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Mysterious Death of Charles Bravo

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - True Stories

Charles Bravo died from the poison antimony. He took three days to die, and the doctors could do nothing to help him.

There were three people who had reasons for wanting Charles Bravo dead - Florence Bravo herself, Charles Bravo's new young wife; Dr James Gully, Florence's former lover; and Mrs Jane Cox, Florence's friend and companion.

But the enquiry into the death in 1876 could not decide who the murderer was, and for more than 130 years people have wondered who did kill Charles Bravo ...

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Formula One

Alex Raynham

STAGE 3 - Factfiles (non-fiction)

It's an exciting life - full of fast cars, money, and travel. The names of Formula One champions are known all over the world. And everywhere young drivers dream of success one day in Monaco, Melbourne, Monza ...

But it is a difficult life too. Drivers need strong bodies - and minds. They need to think quickly, drive hard, and sometimes look death in the face. This is the dangerous, exciting world of Formula One - where the world's best drivers have only seconds to win or lose a race.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Gandhi

Rowena Akinyemi

Who will speak for the poor? Who will listen to slaves, and those who have no rights? Who will work for a future where everyone is equal? Who will give up his house, job and money to fight for people who are shut out by everyone else?

'I will,' said Mohandas Gandhi. And he began to fight in a way the world had not seen before - not with weapons, and wild crowds, and words of hate, but with the power of non-violence. This is the story of a man who became the Father of the Nation in his own country of India, and a great leader for the whole world.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Gandhi Audio CD Pack

Rowena Akinyemi

Who will speak for the poor? Who will listen to slaves, and those who have no rights? Who will work for a future where everyone is equal? Who will give up his house, job and money to fight for people who are shut out by everyone else?

'I will,' said Mohandas Gandhi. And he began to fight in a way the world had not seen before - not with weapons, and wild crowds, and words of hate, but with the power of non-violence. This is the story of a man who became the Father of the Nation in his own country of India, and a great leader for the whole world.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Everest Story

Tim Vicary

Stage 3 - Factfiles

It is beautiful to look at, hard to reach, and terribly difficult to climb. Winds of 200 kilometres per hour or more scream across it day and night, while the temperature falls to -20 °C or lower. Every year, some who try to climb the highest mountain in the world do not return.

But for a century people have been coming to climb Everest - some alone, some in groups, but all with a dream of going to the highest place in the world. This is their story.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Everest Story Audio CD Pack

Tim Vicary

Stage 3 - Factfiles

It is beautiful to look at, hard to reach, and terribly difficult to climb. Winds of 200 kilometres per hour or more scream across it day and night, while temperature falls to -20 °C or lower. Every year, some who try to climb the highest mountain in the world do not return.

But for a century people have been coming to climb Everest - some alone, some in groups, but all with a dream of going to the highests place in the world. This is their story.

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Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Platinum (Stages 4 and 5)

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

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Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Teacher's Handbook

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Price of Peace: Stories from Africa Audio CD Pack

Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 4 - World Stories

Careful, Connie, please. Your little sister's eyes are looking angry. Look at the sudden lines around her mouth. Connie, a sister is a good thing. Even a younger sister. 'Mercy, who are you going out with?'

Connie gets an answer to her question, but it is not the answer she wants to hear. And what is the price of peace between sisters?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Price of Peace: Stories from Africa

Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 4 - World Stories

Careful, Connie, please. Your little sister's eyes are looking angry. Look at the sudden lines around her mouth. Connie, a sister is a good thing. Even a younger sister. 'Mercy, who are you going out with?'

Connie gets an answer to her question, but it is not the answer she wants to hear. And what is the price of peace between sisters?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Playing with Fire: Stories from the Pacific Rim Audio CD Pack

Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - World Stories

He smiled, showing teeth yellow from cigarette smoke. He looked at his desk diary, then at her papers again. 'Mmm... a hundred pesos a month, Why, that's one thousand two hundred pesos a year. Surely, you can afford to buy me a forty-peso dinner!'

How can Marina say no? How can she refuse the Chief's next request? He is an evil man, but she needs her promotion...

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Playing with Fire: Stories from the Pacific Rim

Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - World Stories

He smiled, showing teeth yellow from cigarette smoke. He looked at his desk diary, then at her papers again. 'Mmm... a hundred pesos a month, Why, that's one thousand two hundred pesos a year. Surely, you can afford to buy me a forty-peso dinner!'

How can Marina say no? How can she refuse the Chief's next request? He is an evil man, but she needs her promotion...

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Great Crimes Audio CD Pack

John Escott

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

It is more than forty years since the Great Train Robbery. But what happened to the rest of the money that was taken? Two million pounds has never been found. Perhaps some of the robbers would like to know the answer to this question too...

Many great crimes end in a question. Who really killed President Kennedy? What happened to Shergar? Who knows the truth about Azaria Chamberlain? Not all the answers are known. Join the world's detectives and discover the love, death, hate, money, and mystery held in the stories of these great crimes.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Disaster! Audio CD Pack

Mary McIntosh

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

From out of the sky, from under the earth, from far out at sea - disaster comes. We build and invent new things - and sometimes bring disaster on ourselves. Today television and the Internet mean that we can watch disasters as they happen, and see their terrible results.

From Pompeii to the Asian Tsunami, from the Great Fire of London to Chernobyl, the stories of disasters are frightening, but they have much to tell us. Disasters bring stories of fear, pain, loss, and death - but also of people whose extraordinary bravery and feeling for others will touch your heart.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Disaster!

Mary McIntosh

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

From out of the sky, from under the earth, from far out at sea - disaster comes. We build and invent new things - and sometimes bring disaster on ourselves. Today television and the Internet mean that we can watch disasters as they happen, and see their terrible results.

From Pompeii to the Asian Tsunami, from the Great Fire of London to Chernobyl, the stories of disasters are frightening, but they have much to tell us. Disasters bring stories of fear, pain, loss, and death - but also of people whose extraordinary bravery and feeling for others will touch your heart.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The History of the English Language

Brigit Viney

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

About a quarter of the people in the world today speak or use English. In homes and schools, offices and meeting rooms, ships and airports, people are speaking English...

How has this happened? How did English begin, and what will become of it in the future? The history of the English language is a journey through space and time, from thousands of years ago to today and beyond, and to all parts of the world. Come on that journey and meet the monks and soldiers, the kings and scientists, the printers, poets, and travellers who have helped to make the English of today.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The History of the English Language Audio CD Pack

Brigit Viney

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

About a quarter of the people in the world today speak or use English. In homes and schools, offices and meeting rooms, ships and airports, people are speaking English...

How has this happened? How did English begin, and what will become of it in the future? The history of the English language is a journey through space and time, from thousands of years ago to today and beyond, and to all parts of the world. Come on that journey and meet the monks and soldiers, the kings and scientists, the printers, poets, and travellers who have helped to make the English of today.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Land of my Childhood: Stories from South Asia Audio CD Pack

Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - World Stories

'My brother preferred being with mother and me. He used to help us prepare vegetables in the kitchen or make the bread. But what he liked best was listening to my mother's stories.'

But those childhood days are long gone, and now a great distance divides sister and brother, children and mother.

The stories in this volume of World Stories come from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The writers are Romesh Gunesekera, M. Athar Tahir, Chitra Divakaruni, Anu Kumar, Anne Ranasinghe, Ruskin Bond, Anita Desai, Vijita Fernando, and Amara Bavani Dev.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Long White Cloud: Stories from New Zealand Audio CD Pack

Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 3 - World Stories

Nani Tama looked at each of us - Dad, Auntie Hiraina, my cousin Timi, and myself. His eyes were angry. 'You fullas want me to die here in this room? Looking at these four walls? When the whakapapa is not yet finished?'

But Nani Tama gets his own way, and his grandson drives him through the night, to find the missing pieces from the family history.

The stories from this volume of World Stories are by New Zealand writers James Courage, Witi Ihimaera, Philip Mincher, and Joy Cowley.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Doors to a Wider Place: Stories from Australia Audio CD Pack

Retold by Christing Lindop

STAGE 4 - World Stories

'When it came to football, Billy was different. Black hands grab the ball. Black feet kick the ball. Black hopes rise up with the ball to the sickly white sky. No one can stop him now. He forgets about the river, and the people of his blood . . .'

But who can forget their own past? Billy finds that the ties which hold him to the people of his blood are strong indeed . . .

The stories in this volume of World Stories are by Australian writers Mena Abdullah & Ray Mathew, Judith Wright, Archie Weller, Dal Stivens, David Malouf, Marion Halligan.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Land of my Childhood: Stories from South Asia

Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - World Stories

'My brother preferred being with mother and me. He used to help us prepare vegetables in the kitchen or make the bread. But what he liked best was listening to my mother's stories.'

But those childhood days are long gone, and now a great distance divides sister and brother, children and mother.

The stories in this volume of World Stories come from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The writers are Romesh Gunesekera, M. Athar Tahir, Chitra Divakaruni, Anu Kumar, Anne Ranasinghe, Ruskin Bond, Anita Desai, Vijita Fernando, and Amara Bavani Dev.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Nelson Mandela Audio CD Pack

Rowena Akinyemi

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

In 1918 in the peaceful province of Transkei, South Africa, the Mandela family gave their new baby son the name Rolihlahla - 'troublemaker'. But the young boy's early years were happy ones, and he grew up to be a good student and an enthusiastic sportsman.

Who could imagine then what was waiting for Nelson Mandela - the tireless struggle for human rights, the long years in prison, the happiness and sadness of family life, and one day the title of President of South Africa?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Great Crimes

John Escott

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

It is more than forty years since the Great Train Robbery. But what happened to the rest of the money that was taken? Two million pounds has never been found. Perhaps some of the robbers would like to know the answer to this question too...

Many great crimes end in a question. Who really killed President Kennedy? What happened to Shergar? Who knows the truth about Azaria Chamberlain? Not all the answers are known. Join the world's detectives and discover the love, death, hate, money, and mystery held in the stories of these great crimes.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Nelson Mandela

Rowena Akinyemi

STAGE 4 - Factfiles

In 1918 in the peaceful province of Transkei, South Africa, the Mandela family gave their new baby son the name Rolihlahla - 'troublemaker'. But the young boy's early years were happy ones, and he grew up to be a good student and an enthusiastic sportsman.

Who could imagine then what was waiting for Nelson Mandela - the tireless struggle for human rights, the long years in prison, the happiness and sadness of family life, and one day the title of President of South Africa?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Dancing with Strangers: Stories from Africa

Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - World Stories

'Sometimes I think this search is hopeless. So much has happened since I last saw my friends. Perhaps they have died or the rebels have taken them away. But I know I have to find Laker. I know she needs me.'

In a country torn by war, it is easy to stop hoping. All Atita has is an old photograph. She does not even know if she will recognize Laker after all these years . . .

The stories in this volume of World Stories are by African writers Jackee Budesta Batanda, Jack Cope, Mandla Langa, and M. G. Vassanji.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Dancing with Strangers: Stories from Africa Audio CD Pack

Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - World Stories

'Sometimes I think this search is hopeless. So much has happened since I last saw my friends. Perhaps they have died or the rebels have taken them away. But I know I have to find Laker. I know she needs me.'

In a country torn by war, it is easy to stop hoping. All Atita has is an old photograph. She does not even know if she will recognize Laker after all these years . . .

The stories in this volume of World Stories are by African writers Jackee Budesta Batanda, Jack Cope, Mandla Langa, and M. G. Vassanji.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Long White Cloud: Stories from New Zealand

Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 3 - World Stories

Nani Tama looked at each of us - Dad, Auntie Hiraina, my cousin Timi, and myself. His eyes were angry. 'You fullas want me to die here in this room? Looking at these four walls? When the whakapapa is not yet finished?'

But Nani Tama gets his own way, and his grandson drives him through the night, to find the missing pieces from the family history.

The stories in this volume of World Stories are by New Zealand writers James Courage, Witi Ihimaera, Philip Mincher , and Joy Cowley.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Doors to a Wider Place: Stories from Australia

Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 4 - World Stories

'When it came to football, Billy was different. Black hands grab the ball. Black feet kick the ball. Black hopes rise up with the ball to the sickly white sky. No one can stop him now. He forgets about the river, and the people of his blood . . .'

But who can forget their own past? Billy finds that the ties which hold him to the people of his blood are strong indeed . . .

The stories in this volume of World Stories are by Australian writers Mena Abdullah & Ray Mathew, Judith Wright, Archie Weller, Dal Stivens, David Malouf, Marion Halligan.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Australia and New Zealand

Christine Lindop

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

What do you find in these two countries at the end of the world? One is an enormous island, where only twenty million people live - and the other is two long, narrow islands, with ten sheep for every person. One country has the biggest rock in all the world, and a town where everybody lives under the ground; the other has a beach where you can sit beside the sea in a pool of hot water, and lakes that are bright yellow, green, and blue.

Open this book and start your journey - to two countries where something strange, beautiful or surprising waits around every corner.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Australia and New Zealand Audio CD Pack

Christine Lindop

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

What do you find in these two countries at the end of the world? One is an enormous island, where only twenty million people live - and the other is two long, narrow islands, with ten sheep for every person. One country has the biggest rock in all the world, and a town where everybody lives under the ground; the other has a beach where you can sit beside the sea in a pool of hot water, and lakes that are bright yellow, green, and blue.

Open this book and start your journey - to two countries where something strange, beautiful or surprising waits around every corner.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Lord Jim

Joseph Conrad
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

A hundred years ago a seaman's life was full of danger, but Jim, the first mate on board the Patna, is not afraid of danger. He is young, strong, confident of his bravery. He dreams of great adventures - and the chance to show the world what a hero he is.

But the sea is no place for dreamers. When the chance comes, on a calm moonlit night in the Indian Ocean, Jim fails the test, and his world falls to pieces around him. He disappears into the jungles of south-east Asia, searching for a way to prove himself, once and for all . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 On the Edge

Gillian Cross
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

When Tug wakes up, he is not in his own bedroom at home. The door is locked and there are bars across the window. Loud music hammers through the house and through his head. Then a woman comes in and says that she is his mother, but Tug knows that she is not his mother . . .

Outside, Jinny stares through the trees at the lonely house on the hill. She hears strange noises, but she turns away. After all, it's none of her business . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Desert, Mountain, Sea

Sue Leather

STAGE 4 - True Stories

Three different parts of the world, but all of them dangerous, lonely places. Three different women, but all of them determined to go - and to come back alive!

Robyn Davidson walked nearly 3,000 kilometres across the Australian desert - with a dog and four camels.

Arlene Blum led a team of ten women to the top of Annapurna - one of the highest mountains in the world. Only eight came down again.

Naomi James sailed around the world alone, on a journey lasting more than 250 days.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 A Pair of Ghostly Hands and Other Stories

Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

If you wake up in the night and hear a tap running somewhere in the house, what do you do? You get up, of course, and go and turn the tap off. A little later you hear the tap running again. You are alone in the house, and you know you turned the tap off. What do you do then?

The ghosts in these stories all have unfinished business with the living world. They come back from the grave to continue their work, to keep a promise, to look for something they have lost. Sometimes they want to help people, sometimes they want to punish them - or kill them.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 As the Inspector Said and Other Stories

Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Crime & Mystery

The murder plan seems so neat, so clever. How can it possibly fail? And when Sonia's stupid, boring little husband is dead, she will be free to marry her handsome lover. But perhaps the boring little husband is not so stupid after all . . .

Murder plans that go wrong, a burglar who makes a bad mistake, a famous jewel thief who meets a very unusual detective . . . These five stories from the golden age of crime writing are full of mystery and surprises.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 As the Inspector Said and Other Stories Audio CD Pack

Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Crime & Mystery

The murder plan seems so neat, so clever. How can it possibly fail? And when Sonia's stupid, boring little husband is dead, she will be free to marry her handsome lover. But perhaps the boring little husband is not so stupid after all . . .

Murder plans that go wrong, a burglar who makes a bad mistake, a famous jewel thief who meets a very unusual detective . . . These five stories from the golden age of crime writing are full of mystery and surprises.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Ethan Frome

Edith Wharton
Retold by Susan Kingsley

STAGE 3 - Classics

Life is always hard for the poor, in any place and at any time. Ethan Frome is a farmer in Massachusetts. He works long hours every day, but his farm makes very little money. His wife, Zeena, is a thin, grey woman, always complaining, and only interested in her own ill health.

Then Mattie Silver, a young cousin, comes to live with the Fromes, to help Zeena and do the housework. Her bright smile and laughing voice bring light and hope into the Fromes' house - and into Ethan's lonely life.

But poverty is a prison from which few people escape . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Go, Lovely Rose and Other Stories

H.E. Bates
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

A warm summer night. The moon shines down on the quiet houses and gardens. Everyone is asleep. Everyone except the man in pyjamas and slippers, standing on the wet grass at the end of his garden, watching and waiting . . .

In these three short stories, H. E. Bates presents ordinary people like you and me. But as we get to know them better, we see that their feelings are not at all ordinary. In fact, what happens to them - and in them - is passionate, and even extraordinary. Could this happen to you and me?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Goldfish

Raymond Chandler
Retold by Christine Lindop

STAGE 3 - Crime & Mystery

The Leander pearls were stolen nineteen years ago. The thief was caught, but the pearls were never found, and there is still a $25,000 reward for anyone who finds them. Then somebody comes to private detective Carmady with a story about a guy who knows where the pearls are hidden.

Carmady agrees to talk to the guy who says he knows. But he finds him dead in his bed, with burned feet, and it seems there are quite a lot of people in Los Angeles who have heard the story, and who are out looking for the Leander pearls . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Information Technology Audio CD Pack

Paul A. Davies

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

It is hard to imagine the modern world without information technology. At home, at work, and at play, mobile phones, emails and computers have become part of daily life.

The story of information technology is a story of machines - from the ancient abacus to the small powerful computer chips of today. But it is also a story of people. Meet a woman who wrote computer programs two hundred years ago, a teenage millionaire, a man who began with a paperclip and ended with a house - and the criminals who want your name and your money.

Come and discover the world of information technology.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Martin Luther King Audio CD Pack

Alan C. McLean

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

The United States in the 1950s and 60s was a troubled place. Black people were angry, because they did not have the same rights as whites. It was a time of angry words, of marches, of protests, a time of bombs and killings.

But above the angry noise came the voice of one man - a man of peace. 'I have a dream,' said Martin Luther King, and it was a dream of blacks and whites living together in peace and freedom. This is the story of an extraordinary man, who changed American history in his short life.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Recycling Audio CD Pack

Sue Stewart

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

What will we do when there is nowhere to put our rubbish? Every day, all over the world, people drop cans, boxes, paper, and bottles into bins and never think about them again. And the rubbish mountains get bigger and bigger.

But there is another way - a way that makes old paper into houses, broken bottles into jewellery, and old cans into bridges. Anyone can recycle - it's easy, it saves money, and it's a way to say, 'I care about the Earth.' Saving the world starts with you - here - now.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Brontë Story

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - True Stories

On a September day in 1821, in the church of a Yorkshire village, a man and six children stood around a grave. They were burying a woman: the man's wife, the children's mother. The children were all very young, and within a few years the two oldest were dead, too.

Close to the wild beauty of the Yorkshire moors, the father brought up his young family. Who had heard of the Brontës of Haworth then? Branwell died young, but his sisters became famous writers.

But they did not live to grow old or to enjoy their fame. Only their father was left, alone with his memories.

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Card

Arnold Bennett
Retold by Nick Bullard

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

Every town should have a 'card' - someone who gets talked about, someone who does mad and wonderful things, someone who makes you laugh.

Bursley in the Five Towns has a 'card': Edward Henry Machin (Denry for short). Denry begins life in a poor little house where the rent is twenty-three pence a week. But before he's thirty, he's made a lot of money, and had more adventures than you and I have had hot dinners. The town of Bursley never stops talking about him. Whatever will young Denry do next?

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Last Sherlock Holmes Story Audio CD Pack

Michael Dibdin
Retold by Rosalie Kerr

STAGE 3 - Crime & Mystery

For fifty years after Dr Watson's death, a packet of papers, written by the doctor himself, lay hidden in a locked box. The papers contained an extraordinary report of the case of Jack the Ripper and the horrible murders in the East End of London in 1888. The detective, of course, was the great Sherlock Holmes - but why was the report kept hidden for so long?

This is the story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote. It is a strange and frightening tale . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The USA Audio CD Pack

Alison Baxter

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

Everybody knows about the United States of America. You can see its films, hear its music, and eat its food just about everywhere in the world. Cowboys, jazz, hamburgers, the Stars and Stripes - that's the United States.

But it's a country with many stories to tell. Stories of busy cities, and quiet, beautiful forests and parks. Stories of a country that fought against Britain, and then against itself, to make the United States of today. Stories of rich and poor, black and white, Native American and immigrant. And the story of what it is really like to be an American today . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 'Who, Sir? Me, Sir?'

K. M. Peyton
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

Sam Sylvester is a teacher who wants his class to have ambition, and to do great things in life. So he enters them for a sporting competition against the rich students of Greycoats School.

The team that he has chosen for the competition think Sam has gone crazy. 'Who, Sir? Me, Sir?' says little Hoomey, his eyes round with horror. 'We'll never beat Greycoats,' the others cry. 'Never in a million years!'

But you don't know what you can do - until you try . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Wyatt's Hurricane

Desmond Bagley
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

Hurricane Mabel is far out in the Atlantic Ocean and moving slowly northwards. Perhaps it will never come near land at all. But if it hits the island of San Fernandez, many thousands of people will die. There could be winds of more than 250 kilometres an hour. There could be a huge tidal wave from the sea, which will drown the capital city of St Pierre. Mabel will destroy houses, farms, roads, bridges . . .

Only one man, David Wyatt, believes that Mabel will hit San Fernandez, but nobody will listen to him . . .

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Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Persuasion

Jane Austen
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

At nineteen Anne Elliot refuses an offer of marriage from Frederick Wentworth, persuaded to do so by Lady Russell, a friend of her dead mother. Wentworth is a sailor, with no money and an uncertain future, says Lady Russell - just a nobody, certainly not worthy of a baronet's daughter.

Eight years later Wentworth returns, a rich and successful captain, looking for a wife. Anne is still unmarried, but Captain Wentworth clearly prefers the company of the two Musgrove girls . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Scarlet Letter Audio CD Pack

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Classics

Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter 'A' stands for 'Adultery'. In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was a child of sin.

Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne.

And what will happen to her sinful lover - the father of her child?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Unquiet Grave - Short Stories

M.R. James
Retold by Peter Hawkins

STAGE 4 - Fantasy & Horror

If you find a locked room in a lonely inn, don't try to open it, even on a bright sunny day. If you find a strange whistle hidden among the stones of an old church, don't blow it. If a mysterious man gives you a piece of paper with strange writing on it, give it back to him at once. And if you call a dead man from his grave, don't expect to sleep peacefully ever again.

Read these five ghost stories by daylight, and make sure your door is locked.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea

Arthur Ransome
Retold by Ralph Mowat

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

The four Walker children never meant to go to sea. They had promised their mother to stay safely in the harbour, and to be home on Friday in time for tea.

But there they are in someone else's boat, drifting out to sea in a thick fog. When the fog lifts, they can turn round and sail back to the harbour. But then comes the wind and the storm, driving them out even further across the cold North Sea . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Moondial

Helen Cresswell
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

'Moondial!' As Minty spoke the word, a cold wind went past her, and her ears were filled with a thousand frightened voices. She shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears - and the voices and the wind went away. Minty opened her eyes . . . and knew that she was in a different morning, not the one she had woken up to.

And so Minty's strange adventure begins - a journey through time into the past, where she finds Tom, and Sarah . . . and the evil Miss Vole.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Crown of Violet

Geoffrey Trease
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

High up on a stone seat in the great open-air theatre of Athens, Alexis, son of Leon, watches the Festival of Plays - and dreams of seeing his own play on that famous stage.

So, as the summer passes, Alexis writes his play for the next year's Festival. But then, with his friend Corinna, he learns that Athens has enemies - enemies who do not like Athenian democracy, and who are planning a revolution to end it all . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Star Zoo

Harry Gilbert

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

In our world today a hummingbird is a small, brilliantly coloured bird that lives in the tall trees of tropical forests.

In the far distant future, Hummingbird (Hummy for short) is a girl of sixteen who lives somewhere in the Galaxy, on a planet called Just Like Home. She has the name 'Hummingbird' in big letters on all her clothes, but she has never seen a real hummingbird. She has never seen any living animal or bird at all. The Book of Remembering says that there were once many animals on a planet called Earth, but that was before the Burning, a long, long time ago . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Three Strangers and Other Stories

Thomas Hardy
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Classics

On a stormy winter night, a stranger knocks at the door of a shepherd's cottage. He is cold and hungry, and wants to get out of the rain. He is welcomed inside, but he does not give his name or his business. Who is he, and where has he come from? And he is only the first visitor to call at the cottage that night . . .

In these three short stories, Thomas Hardy gives us pictures of the lives of shepherds and hangmen, dukes and teachers. But rich or poor, young or old, they all have the same feelings of fear, hope, love, jealousy . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Classics

Down by the river bank, where the wind whispers through the willow trees, is a very pleasant place to have a lunch party with a few friends. But life is not always so peaceful for the Mole and the Water Rat. There is the time, for example, when Toad gets interested in motor-cars - goes mad about them in fact . . .

The story of the adventures of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad has been loved by young and old for over a hundred years.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Mr Midshipman Hornblower

C.S. Forester
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

'Hornblower fired. There was a small cloud of smoke, but no bang. This is death, he thought. My pistol was the unloaded one.'

But Horatio Hornblower does not die. He survives the duel with Simpson, learns to overcome his seasickness, and goes on to risk his life many times over. It is 1793, Britain is at war with France, and life on a sailing ship of war is hard and dangerous. But the hardest battles are fought by Hornblower within himself.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Reflex

Dick Francis
Retold by Rowena Akinyemi

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

People who ride racehorses love the speed, the excitement, the danger - and winning the race. Philip Nore has been riding for many years and he always wants to win - but sometimes he is told to lose. Why?

And what is the mystery about the photographer, George Millace, who has just died in a car crash?

Philip Nore knows the answer to the first question, and he wants to find out the answer to the second. But as he begins to learn George Millace's secrets, he realizes that his own life is in danger.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Silver Sword

Ian Serraillier
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

Jan opened his wooden box and took out the silver sword. 'This will bring me luck,' he said to Mr Balicki. 'And it will bring you luck because you gave it to me.'

The silver sword is only a paper knife, but it gives Jan and his friends hope. Hungry, cold, and afraid, the four children try to stay alive among the ruins of bombed cities in war-torn Europe. Soon they will begin the long and dangerous journey south, from Poland to Switzerland, where they hope to find their parents again.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Whispering Knights

Penelope Lively
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Fantasy & Horror

'I don't know that you have done anything wrong,' Miss Hepplewhite said. 'But it is possible that you have done something rather dangerous.'

William and Susie thought they were just playing a game when they cooked a witch's brew in the old barn and said a spell over it, but Martha was not so sure. And indeed, the three friends soon learn that they have called up something dark and evil out of the distant past . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Justice

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

London: November.

Terrorists blow up the Queen's coach outside Parliament. The Queen escapes, but five people are killed, and forty others badly hurt - ordinary, innocent people, like Alan Cole, the Queen's coachman, who loses his leg in the bombing. And for Alan and his daughter Jane there is more terror to come, in the search for the truth behind the bombing. Will the terrorists be caught and brought to justice?

But what kind of justice? What can give Alan Cole his leg back, or give life back to people who have been blown to pieces by a bomb?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Last Sherlock Holmes Story

Michael Dibdin
Retold by Rosalie Kerr

STAGE 3 - Crime & Mystery

For fifty years after Dr Watson's death, a packet of papers, written by the doctor himself, lay hidden in a locked box. The papers contained an extraordinary report of the case of Jack the Ripper and the horrible murders in the East End of London in 1888. The detective, of course, was the great Sherlock Holmes - but why was the report kept hidden for so long?

This is the story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote. It is a strange and frightening tale . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Railway Children

Edith Nesbit
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

'We have to leave our house in London,' Mother said to the children. 'We're going to live in the country, in a little house near a railway line.'

And so begins a new life for Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. They become the railway children - they know all the trains, Perks the station porter is their best friend, and they have many adventures on the railway line.

But why has their father had to go away? Where is he, and will he ever come back?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Tooth and Claw

Saki
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

Conradin is ten years old. He lives alone with his aunt. He has two big secrets. The first is that he hates his aunt. The second is that he keeps a small, wild animal in the garden shed. The animal has sharp, white teeth, and it loves fresh blood. Every night, Conradin prays to this animal and asks it to do one thing for him, just one thing.

This collection of short stories is clever, funny, and shows us 'Nature, red in tooth and claw'. In other words, it is Saki at his very best.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Cranford

Elizabth Gaskell
Retold by Kate Mattock

STAGE 4 - Classics

Life in the small English town of Cranford seems very quiet and peaceful. The ladies of Cranford lead tidy, regular lives. They make their visits between the hours of twelve and three, give little evening parties, and worry about their maid-servants. But life is not always smooth - there are little arguments and jealousies, sudden deaths and unexpected marriages . . .

Mrs Gaskell's timeless picture of small-town life in the first half of the nineteenth century has delighted readers for nearly 150 years.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Eagle of the Ninth

Rosemary Sutcliff
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

In the second century AD, when the Ninth Roman Legion marched into the mists of northern Britain, not one man came back. Four thousand men disappeared, and the Eagle, the symbol of the Legion's honour, was lost.

Years later there is a story that the Eagle has been seen again. So Marcus Aquila, whose father disappeared with the Ninth, travels north, to find the Eagle and bring it back, and to learn how his father died. But the tribes of the north are wild and dangerous, and they hate the Romans . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Classics

Scarlet is the colour of sin, and the letter 'A' stands for 'Adultery'. In the 1600s, in Boston, Massachusetts, love was allowed only between a husband and a wife. A child born outside marriage was a child of sin.

Hester Prynne must wear the scarlet letter on her dress for the rest of her life. How can she ever escape from this public shame? What will happen to her child, growing up in the shadow of the scarlet letter? The future holds no joy for Hester Prynne.

And what will happen to her sinful lover - the father of her child?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Songs of Distant Earth and Other Stories

Arthur C. Clarke
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 4 - Fantasy & Horror

'High above them, Lora and Clyde heard a sound their world had not heard for centuries - the thin scream of a starship coming in from outer space, leaving a long white tail like smoke across the clear blue sky. They looked at each other in wonder. After three hundred years of silence, Earth had reached out once more to touch Thalassa . . .'

And with the starship comes knowledge, and love, and pain.

In these five science-fiction stories Arthur C. Clarke takes us travelling through the universe into the unknown, but always possible future.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Washington Square Audio CD Pack

Henry James
Retold by Kieran McGovern

STAGE 4 - Classics

When a handsome young man begins to court Catherine Sloper, she feels she is very lucky. She is a quiet, gentle girl, but neither beautiful nor clever; no one had ever admired her before, or come to the front parlour of her home in Washington Square to whisper soft words of love to her.

But in New York in the 1840s young ladies are not free to marry where they please. Catherine must have her father's permission, and Dr Sloper is a rich man. One day Catherine will have a fortune of 30,000 dollars a year . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Kidnapped

The Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751

Robert Louis Stevenson
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

'I ran to the side of the ship. "Help, help! Murder!" I screamed, and my uncle slowly turned to look at me. I did not see any more. Already strong hands were pulling me away. Then something hit my head; I saw a great flash of fire, and fell to the ground . . .'

And so begin David Balfour's adventures. He is kidnapped, taken to sea, and meets many dangers. He also meets a friend, Alan Breck. But Alan is in danger himself, on the run from the English army across the wild Highlands of Scotland . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Through the Looking-Glass

Lewis Carroll
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - Classics

'I wish I could get through into looking-glass house,' Alice said. 'Let's pretend that the glass has gone soft and . . . Why, I do believe it has! It's turning into a kind of cloud!'

A moment later Alice is inside the looking-glass world. There she finds herself part of a great game of chess, travelling through forests and jumping across brooks. The chess pieces talk and argue with her, give orders and repeat poems . . .

It is the strangest dream that anyone ever had . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 A Dubious Legacy

Mary Wesley
Retold by Rosalie Kerr

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

In 1944 Henry Tillotson brings his new wife, Margaret, home to his farmhouse in the English countryside. Margaret is a strange, unpleasant woman, determined, it seems, to make Henry's life miserable. 'Poor Henry!' say his friends, as they visit at weekends and holidays. 'What an awful life he has!' But Henry is not at all the sad and disappointed man we might expect him to be. He manages to enjoy life, and indeed, has quite a lot of fun, one way and another . . .

Mary Wesley's story takes a sharp but light-hearted look at love, sex, and marriage - and the things people will do to get what they want.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 A Morbid Taste For Bones

Ellis Peters
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Crime & Mystery

Murder in the twelfth century is no different from murder today. There is still a dead body, though this time with an arrow through the heart instead of a bullet. There is still a need to bury the dead, to comfort the living - and to catch the murderer.

When Brother Cadfael comes to a village in the Welsh hills, he finds himself doing all three of those things. And there is nothing simple about this death. The murdered man's daughter needs Cadfael's help in more ways than one. There are questions about the arrow. And the burial is the strangest thing of all . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Lorna Doone

R.D. Blackmore
Retold by David Penn

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

One winter's day in 1673 young John Ridd is riding home from school, across the wild lonely hills of Exmoor. He has to pass Doone valley - a dangerous place, as the Doones are famous robbers and murderers. All Exmoor lives in fear of the Doones.

At home there is sad news waiting for young John, and he learns that he has good reason to hate the Doones. But in the years to come he meets Lorna Doone, with her lovely smile and big dark eyes. And soon he is deeply, hopelessly, in love . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The African Queen

C.S. Forester
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

The African Queen is an old, dirty, ugly, unreliable steamboat. No one would expect a missionary's sister and a rough, uneducated mechanic to take a boat like that down a dangerous river through the forests of Central Africa. But Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnutt do just that.

Why do they do it? The First World War has just begun, and Rose has a wild and crazy plan. She and Charlie set off down the river and come close to death many times, but they survive all dangers - except the danger of falling in love . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler
Retold by Rosalie Kerr

STAGE 4 - Crime & Mystery

General Sternwood has four million dollars, and two young daughters, both pretty and both wild. He's an old, sick man, close to death, but he doesn't like being blackmailed. So he asks private detective Philip Marlowe to get the blackmailer off his back.

Marlowe knows the dark side of life in Los Angeles well, and nothing much surprises him. But the Sternwood girls are a lot wilder than their old father realizes. They like men, drink, drugs - and it's not just a question of blackmail.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Washington Square

Henry James
Retold by Kieran McGovern

STAGE 4 - Classics

When a handsome young man begins to court Catherine Sloper, she feels she is very lucky. She is a quiet, gentle girl, but neither beautiful nor clever; no one had ever admired her before, or come to the front parlour of her home in Washington Square to whisper soft words of love to her.

But in New York in the 1840s young ladies are not free to marry where they please. Catherine must have her father's permission, and Dr Sloper is a rich man. One day Catherine will have a fortune of 30,000 dollars a year . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Information Technology

Paul A. Davies

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

It is hard to imagine the modern world without information technology. At home, at work, and at play, mobile phones, emails and computers have become part of daily life.

The story of information technology is a story of machines - from the ancient abacus to the small powerful computer chips of today. But it is also a story of people. Meet a woman who wrote computer programs two hundred years ago, a teenage millionaire, a man who began with a paperclip and ended with a house - and the criminals who want your name and your money.

Come and discover the world of information technology.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Martin Luther King

Alan C. McLean

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

The United States in the 1950s and 60s was a troubled place. Black people were angry, because they did not have the same rights as whites. It was a time of angry words, of marches, of protests, a time of bombs and killings.

But above the angry noise came the voice of one man - a man of peace. 'I have a dream,' said Martin Luther King, and it was a dream of blacks and whites living together in peace and freedom. This is the story of an extraordinary man, who changed American history in his short life.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Rabbit-Proof Fence

Doris Pilkington Garimara
Retold by Jennifer Bassett

STAGE 3 - True Stories

Fourteen-year-old Molly and her cousins Daisy and Gracie were mixed-race Aborigines. In 1931 they were taken away from their families and sent to a camp to be trained as good 'white' Australians. They were told to forget their mothers, their language, their home.

But Molly would not forget. She and her cousins escaped and walked back to Jigalong, 1600 kilometres away, following the rabbit-proof fence north as part of their guide across the desert.

This is the true stoy of that walk, told by Molly's daughter, Doris. It is also a prize-winning film.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Recycling

Sue Stewart

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

What will we do when there is nowhere to put our rubbish? Every day, all over the world, people drop cans, boxes, paper, and bottles into bins and never think about them again. And the rubbish mountains get bigger and bigger.

But there is another way - a way that makes old paper into houses, broken bottles into jewellery, and old cans into bridges. Anyone can recycle - it's easy, it saves money, and it's a way to say, 'I care about the Earth.' Saving the world starts with you - here - now.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The USA

Alison Baxter

STAGE 3 - Factfiles

Everybody knows about the United States of America. You can see its films, hear its music, and eat its food just about everywhere in the world. Cowboys, jazz, hamburgers, the Stars and Stripes - that's the United States.

But it's a country with many stories to tell. Stories of busy cities, and quiet, beautiful forests and parks. Stories of a country that fought against Britain, and then against itself, to make the United States of today. Stories of rich and poor, black and white, Native American and immigrant. And the story of what it is really like to be an American today . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Death of an Englishman

Magdalen Nabb
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 4 - Crime & Mystery

It was a very inconvenient time for murder. Florence was full of Christmas shoppers and half the police force was already on holiday.

At first it seemed quite an ordinary murder. Of course, there are always a few mysteries. In this case, the dead man had been in the habit of moving his furniture at three o'clock in the morning. Naturally, the police wanted to know why. The case became more complicated. But all the time, the answer was right under their noses. They just couldn't see it. It was, after all, a very ordinary murder.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Moonspinners

Mary Stewart
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

When Nicola arrives in Crete a day early, she gets more than just an extra day of holiday. She comes to a village where no one can be trusted, and she becomes involved in a murder mystery that puts her own life in danger.

This story is set in a small village in the mountains of Crete. This is an island where people have strong feelings, where arguments begin suddenly, and end quickly. And Nicola has arrived in the middle of an argument that could end very quickly - with a gun.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Bestseller Pack

Pack contains one copy of each of the following ten titles:

The Call of the Wild
Chemical Secret
A Christmas Carol
Frankenstein
Love Story
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Secret Garden
Skyjack!
Tales of Mystery and Imagination

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Bestseller Pack

Pack contains one copy of each of the following ten titles:

Black Beauty
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Gulliver's Travels
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Little Women
Silas Marner
A Tale of Two Cities
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Three Men in a Boat
Treasure Island

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 A Christmas Carol Audio CD Pack

Charles Dickens
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Classics

Christmas is humbug, Scrooge says - just a time when you find yourself a year older and not a penny richer. The only thing that matters to Scrooge is business, and making money.

But on Christmas Eve three spirits come to visit him. They take him travelling on the wings of the night to see the shadows of Christmas past, present, and future - and Scrooge learns a lesson that he will never forget.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Chemical Secret Audio CD Pack

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

The job was too good. There had to be a problem - and there was.

John Duncan was an honest man, but he needed money. He had children to look after. He was ready to do anything, and his bosses knew it.

They gave him the job because he couldn't say no; he couldn't afford to be honest. And the job was like a poison inside him. It changed him and blinded him, so that he couldn't see the real poison - until it was too late.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Frankenstein Audio CD Pack

Mary Shelley
Retold by Patrick Nobes

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

Victor Frankenstein thinks he has found the secret of life. He takes parts from dead people and builds a new 'man'. But this monster is so big and frightening that everyone runs away from him - even Frankenstein himself!

The monster is like an enormous baby who needs love. But nobody gives him love, and soon he learns to hate. And, because he is so strong, the next thing he learns is how to kill . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Love Story Audio CD Pack

Erich Segal
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 3 - Human interest

This is a love story you won't forget. Oliver Barrett meets Jenny Cavilleri. He plays sports, she plays music. He's rich, and she's poor. They argue, and they fight, and they fall in love.

So they get married, and make a home together. They work hard, they enjoy life, they make plans for the future. Then they learn that they don't have much time left.

Their story has made people laugh, and cry, all over the world.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Skyjack! Audio CD Pack

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

When a large plane is hijacked, the Prime Minister looks at the list of passengers and suddenly becomes very, very frightened.

There is a name on the list that the Prime Minister knows very well - too well. There is someone on that plane who will soon be dead - if the hijackers can find out who he is!

And there isn't much time. One man lies dead on the runway. In a few minutes the hijackers will use their guns again. And the Prime Minister knows who they are going to kill.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Tales of Mystery and Imagination Audio CD Pack

Edgar Allan Poe
Retold by Margaret Naudi

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

The human mind is a dark, bottomless pit, and sometimes it works in strange and frightening ways. That sound in the night . . . is it a door banging in the wind, or a murdered man knocking inside his coffin? The face in the mirror . . . is it yours, or the face of someone standing behind you, who is never there when you turn round?

These famous short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, that master of horror, explore the dark world of the imagination, where the dead live and speak, where fear lies in every shadow of the mind . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Call of the Wild Audio CD Pack

Jack London
Retold by Nick Bullard

STAGE 3 - Classics

When men find gold in the frozen north of Canada, they need dogs - big, strong dogs to pull the sledges on the long journeys to and from the gold mines.

Buck is stolen from his home in the south and sold as a sledge-dog. He has to learn a new way of life - how to work in harness, how to stay alive in the ice and the snow . . . and how to fight. Because when a dog falls down in a fight, he never gets up again.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Prisoner of Zenda Audio CD Pack

Anthony Hope
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

'We must leave for Zenda at once, to find the King!' cried Sapt. 'If we're caught, we'll all be killed!'

So Rudolf Rassendyll and Sapt gallop through the night to find the King of Ruritania. But the King is now a prisoner in the Castle of Zenda. Who will rescue him from his enemies, the dangerous Duke Michael and Rupert of Hentzau?

And who will win the heart of the beautiful Princess Flavia?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Secret Garden Audio CD Pack

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

Little Mary Lennox is a bad-tempered, disagreeable child. When her parents die in India, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle in a big, lonely, old house.

There is nothing to do all day except walk in the gardens - and watch the robin flying over the high walls of the secret garden . . . which has been locked for ten years. And no one has the key.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 A Tale of Two Cities Audio CD Pack

Charles Dickens
Retold by Ralph Mowat

STAGE 4 - Classics

'The Marquis lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper, with the words: Drive him fast to the grave. This is from JACQUES.'

The French Revolution brings terror and death to many people. But even in these troubled times people can still love and be kind. They can be generous and true-hearted . . . and brave.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Black Beauty Audio CD Pack

Anna Sewell
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back, or to pull a carriage behind him, he finds it hard at first. But he is lucky - his first home is a good one, where his owners are kind people, who would never be cruel to a horse.

But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses, whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead. Black Beauty soon finds this out, and as he describes his life, he has many terrible stories to tell.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Audio CD Pack

Robert Louis Stevenson
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 4 - Fantasy & Horror

You are walking through the streets of London. It is getting dark and you want to get home quickly. You enter a narrow side-street. Everything is quiet, but as you pass the door of a large, windowless building, you hear a key turning in the lock. A man comes out and looks at you. You have never seen him before, but you realize immediately that he hates you. You are shocked to discover, also, that you hate him.

Who is this man that everybody hates? And why is he coming out of the laboratory of the very respectable Dr Jekyll?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Gulliver's Travels Audio CD Pack

Jonathan Swift
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

'Soon I felt something alive moving along my leg and up my body to my face, and when I looked down, I saw a very small human being, only fifteen centimetres tall . . . I was so surprised that I gave a great shout.'

But that is only the first of many surprises which Gulliver has on his travels. He visits a land of giants and a flying island, meets ghosts from the past and horses which talk.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Little Women Audio CD Pack

Louisa May Alcott
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

When Christmas comes for the four March girls, there is no money for expensive presents and they give away their Christmas breakfast to a poor family. But there are no happier girls in America than Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They miss their father, of course, who is away at the Civil War, but they try hard to be good so that he will be proud of his 'little women' when he comes home.

This heart-warming story of family life has been popular for more than a hundred years.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Silas Marner

George Eliot
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

In a hole under the floorboards Silas Marner the linen-weaver keeps his gold. Every day he works hard at his weaving, and every night he takes the gold out and holds the bright coins lovingly, feeling them and counting them again and again. The villagers are afraid of him and he has no family, no friends. Only the gold is his friend, his delight, his reason for living.

But what if a thief should come in the night and take his gold away? What will Silas do then? What could possibly comfort him for the loss of his only friend?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Silas Marner Audio CD Pack

George Eliot
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

In a hole under the floorboards Silas Marner the linen-weaver keeps his gold. Every day he works hard at his weaving, and every night he takes the gold out and holds the bright coins lovingly, feeling them and counting them again and again. The villagers are afraid of him and he has no family, no friends. Only the gold is his friend, his delight, his reason for living.

But what if a thief should come in the night and take his gold away? What will Silas do then? What could possibly comfort him for the loss of his only friend?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Hound of the Baskervilles Audio CD Pack

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Retold by Patrick Nobes

STAGE 4 - Crime & Mystery

Dartmoor. A wild, wet place in the south-west of England. A place where it is easy to get lost, and to fall into the soft green earth which can pull the strongest man down to his death.

A man is running for his life. Behind him comes an enormous dog - a dog from his worst dreams, a dog from hell. Between him and a terrible death stands only one person - the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Three Men in a Boat Audio CD Pack

Jerome K. Jerome
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

'I like work. I find it interesting . . . I can sit and look at it for hours.'

With ideas like this, perhaps it is not a good idea to spend a holiday taking a boat trip up the River Thames. But this is what the three friends - and Montmorency the dog - decide to do. It is the sort of holiday that is fun to remember afterwards, but not so much fun to wake up to early on a cold, wet morning.

This famous book has made people laugh all over the world for a hundred years . . . and they are still laughing.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Treasure Island Audio CD Pack

Robert Louis Stevenson
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

'Suddenly, there was a high voice screaming in the darkness: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" It was Long John Silver's parrot, Captain Flint! I turned to run . . .'

But young Jim Hawkins does not escape from the pirates this time. Will he and his friends find the treasure before the pirates do? Will they escape from the island, and sail back to England with a ship full of gold?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Picture of Dorian Gray Audio CD Pack

Oscar Wilde
Retold by Jill Nevile

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

'When we are happy, we are always good,' says Lord Henry, 'but when we are good, we are not always happy.'

Lord Henry's lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Chemical Secret

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

The job was too good. There had to be a problem - and there was.

John Duncan was an honest man, but he needed money. He had children to look after. He was ready to do anything, and his bosses knew it.

They gave him the job because he couldn't say no; he couldn't afford to be honest. And the job was like a poison inside him. It changed him and blinded him, so that he couldn't see the real poison - until it was too late.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens
Retold by Ralph Mowat

STAGE 4 - Classics

'The Marquis lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper, with the words: Drive him fast to the grave. This is from JACQUES.'

The French Revolution brings terror and death to many people. But even in these troubled times people can still love and be kind. They can be generous and true-hearted . . . and brave.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Black Beauty

Anna Sewell
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

When Black Beauty is trained to carry a rider on his back, or to pull a carriage behind him, he finds it hard at first. But he is lucky - his first home is a good one, where his owners are kind people, who would never be cruel to a horse.

But in the nineteenth century many people were cruel to their horses, whipping them and beating them, and using them like machines until they dropped dead. Black Beauty soon finds this out, and as he describes his life, he has many terrible stories to tell.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 4 - Fantasy & Horror

You are walking through the streets of London. It is getting dark and you want to get home quickly. You enter a narrow side-street. Everything is quiet, but as you pass the door of a large, windowless building, you hear a key turning in the lock. A man comes out and looks at you. You have never seen him before, but you realize immediately that he hates you. You are shocked to discover, also, that you hate him.

Who is this man that everybody hates? And why is he coming out of the laboratory of the very respectable Dr Jekyll?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 4 - Classics

'Soon I felt something alive moving along my leg and up my body to my face, and when I looked down, I saw a very small human being, only fifteen centimetres tall . . . I was so surprised that I gave a great shout.'

But that is only the first of many surprises which Gulliver has on his travels. He visits a land of giants and a flying island, meets ghosts from the past and horses which talk.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Little Women

Louisa May Alcott
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

When Christmas comes for the four March girls, there is no money for expensive presents and they give away their Christmas breakfast to a poor family. But there are no happier girls in America than Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They miss their father, of course, who is away at the Civil War, but they try hard to be good so that he will be proud of his 'little women' when he comes home.

This heart-warming story of family life has been popular for more than a hundred years.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Retold by Patrick Nobes

STAGE 4 - Crime & Mystery

Dartmoor. A wild, wet place in the south-west of England. A place where it is easy to get lost, and to fall into the soft green earth which can pull the strongest man down to his death.

A man is running for his life. Behind him comes an enormous dog - a dog from his worst dreams, a dog from hell. Between him and a terrible death stands only one person - the greatest detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 The Thirty-Nine Steps

John Buchan
Retold by Nick Bullard

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Adventure

'I turned on the light, but there was nobody there. Then I saw something in the corner that made my blood turn cold. Scudder was lying on his back. There was a long knife through his heart, pinning him to the floor.'

Soon Richard Hannay is running for his life across the hills of Scotland. The police are chasing him for a murder he did not do, and another, more dangerous enemy is chasing him as well - the mysterious 'Black Stone'. Who are these people? And why do they want Hannay dead?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Three Men in a Boat

Jerome K. Jerome
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 4 - Human Interest

'I like work. I find it interesting . . . I can sit and look at it for hours.'

With ideas like this, perhaps it is not a good idea to spend a holiday taking a boat trip up the River Thames. But this is what the three friends - and Montmorency the dog - decide to do. It is the sort of holiday that is fun to remember afterwards, but not so much fun to wake up to early on a cold, wet morning.

This famous book has made people laugh all over the world for a hundred years . . . and they are still laughing.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4 Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson
Retold by John Escott

STAGE 4 - Thriller & Bestseller

'Suddenly, there was a high voice screaming in the darkness: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" It was Long John Silver's parrot, Captain Flint! I turned to run . . .'

But young Jim Hawkins does not escape from the pirates this time. Will he and his friends find the treasure before the pirates do? Will they escape from the island, and sail back to England with a ship full of gold?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Classics

Christmas is humbug, Scrooge says - just a time when you find yourself a year older and not a penny richer. The only thing that matters to Scrooge is business, and making money.

But on Christmas Eve three spirits come to visit him. They take him travelling on the wings of the night to see the shadows of Christmas past, present, and future - and Scrooge learns a lesson that he will never forget.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

Victor Frankenstein thinks he has found the secret of life. He takes parts from dead people and builds a new 'man'. But this monster is so big and frightening that everyone runs away from him - even Frankenstein himself!

The monster is like an enormous baby who needs love. But nobody gives him love, and soon he learns to hate. And, because he is so strong, the next thing he learns is how to kill . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Love Story

Erich Segal
Retold by Rosemary Border

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

This is a love story you won't forget. Oliver Barrett meets Jenny Cavilleri. He plays sports, she plays music. He's rich, and she's poor. They argue, and they fight, and they fall in love.

So they get married, and make a home together. They work hard, they enjoy life, they make plans for the future. Then they learn that they don't have much time left.

Their story has made people laugh, and cry, all over the world.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Skyjack!

Tim Vicary

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

When a large plane is hijacked, the Prime Minister looks at the list of passengers and suddenly becomes very, very frightened.

There is a name on the list that the Prime Minister knows very well - too well. There is someone on that plane who will soon be dead - if the hijackers can find out who he is!

And there isn't much time. One man lies dead on the runway. In a few minutes the hijackers will use their guns again. And the Prime Minister knows who they are going to kill.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Edgar Allan Poe

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

The human mind is a dark, bottomless pit, and sometimes it works in strange and frightening ways. That sound in the night . . . is it a door banging in the wind, or a murdered man knocking inside his coffin? The face in the mirror . . . is it yours, or the face of someone standing behind you, who is never there when you turn round?

These famous short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, that master of horror, explore the dark world of the imagination, where the dead live and speak, where fear lies in every shadow of the mind . . .

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde
Retold by Jill Nevile

STAGE 3 - Fantasy & Horror

'When we are happy, we are always good,' says Lord Henry, 'but when we are good, we are not always happy.'

Lord Henry's lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Prisoner of Zenda

Anthony Hope
Retold by Diane Mowat

STAGE 3 - Thriller & Adventure

'We must leave for Zenda at once, to find the King!' cried Sapt. 'If we're caught, we'll all be killed!'

So Rudolf Rassendyll and Sapt gallop through the night to find the King of Ruritania. But the King is now a prisoner in the Castle of Zenda. Who will rescue him from his enemies, the dangerous Duke Michael and Rupert of Hentzau?

And who will win the heart of the beautiful Princess Flavia?

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 3 The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Retold by Clare West

STAGE 3 - Human Interest

Little Mary Lennox is a bad-tempered, disagreeable child. When her parents die in India, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle in a big, lonely, old house.

There is nothing to do all day except walk in the gardens - and watch the robin flying over the high walls of the secret garden . . . which has been locked for ten years. And no one has the key.

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Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Gold (Stages 3 and 4)

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

• Where to order

Bookworms Club Stories for Reading Circles Silver (Stages 2 and 3)

Short stories from Oxford Bookworms with a unique set of resources and information for running successful Reading Circles.

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Bestseller Packs

• Where to order

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 4

CEF level B1/B2

• Where to order