John Wyndham

Midwich: peaceful, charming even, but a nowhere place, where nothing happens. Then, something remarkable occurs; remarkable and quietly terrible. And now there are strangers here, golden-eyed children, born to the women of the village, but not of them. For they are other, different and powerful. They came that late summer evening, when the village and its inhabitants fell into an enforced and lengthy sleep ... and then awoke to the slow realization that nothing would ever be the same.

Contemporary / British English (Available May 2008) The island of Tanakuatua seems like heaven to the forty people who go there to create a new society. But soon they start to die in a horrible way. Something strange is in the forest. Two of the group decide to fight

Matthew's parents are worried. At eleven, he's much too old to have an imaginary friend, yet they find him talking to and arguing with a presence that even he admits is not physically there. This presence - Chocky - causes Matthew to ask difficult questions and say startling things. Who is Chocky? And what could it want with a 11-year-old boy?

In Chocky, pioneering science-fiction master John Wyndham confronts an enigma as strange as anything found in his classic works The Day of the Triffids or The Chrysalidsthe mind of a child.Its not terribly unusual for a boy to have an imaginary friend, but Matthews parents have to agree that hisnicknamed Chockyis anything but ordinary. Why, Chocky demands to know, are there twenty-four hours in a day? Why are there two sexes? Why cant Matthew solve his math homework using a logical system like binary code? When the questions Chocky asks become too advanced and, frankly, too odd for teachers to answer, Matthews parents start to wonder if Chocky might be something far stranger than a figment of their sons imagination.Chocky, the last novel Wyndham published during his life, is a playful investigation of what being human is all about, delving into such matters as child-rearing, marriage, learning, artistic inspirationand ending with a surprising and impassioned plea for better human stewardship of the earth.

Las Crisálidas está ambientada en el futuro, después de una guerra nuclear a nivel mundial de efectos devastadores. David, el joven héroe de la novela, vive en el seno de una compacta comunidad de fundamentalistas genéticos y religiosos, siempre atentos a cualquier desviación en las normas de la creación divina. Toda planta anómala se quema en público mientras se cantan himnos. Los humanos anómalos (que en realidad no son humanos) también están condenados a la destrucción, a no ser que consigan huir a Bordes, un territorio salvaje en el que, según dicen las autoridades, uno se puede fiar de nada y en el que el demonio hace su trabajo. David crece rodeado de advertencias: MANTÉN PURO EL REBAÑO DEL SEÑOR, CUÍDATE DE LOS MUTANTES. Al principio David no se hace ninguna pregunta. Sin embargo, después se da cuenta de que él también está fuera de la normalidad, que tiene un poder que podría condenarlo a la destrucción o llevarlo a un nuevo y hasta ahora jamás pensado mundo de libertad.

Els trífids són unes plantes grotesques i perilloses de mes de dos metres d'alçada que es cultiven per extreure'n oli. Pero un desastre mundial de grans dimensions els transforma en una terrible amenaça. Un dels pocs supervivents d'aquest desastre ens narra l'horror d'un mon dominat per aquestes plantes.

The island of Tanakuatua seems like heaven to the 40 people who go there in order to create a utopian society, but soon they start to die in a horrible way and it seems that something strange and deadly is out there in the jungle. "Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders. "Penguin Readers" are graded at seven levels of difficulty, from "Easystarts" with a 200-word vocabulary, to Level 6 (Advanced) with a 3000-word vocabulary. In addition, titles fall into one of three sub-categories: "Contemporary", "Classics" or "Originals". At the end of each book there is a section of enjoyable exercises focusing on vocabulary building, comprehension, discussion and writing.Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.

It was just a smooth round metal ball, less than a metre in diameter. Although it was still hot from its journey through the huge nothingness of space, it looked quite harmless. But what was it, exactly? A meteor, perhaps - just one of those pieces of rock from outer space that occasionally fall down on to the planet Earth. But meteors don't usually make strange hissing sounds ...In this collection of four of his famous science-fiction stories, John Wyndham creates visions of the future that make us think carefully about the way we live now.

Some years after a terrible war, parts of the world are still dead and black while in other places, plants, animals and people grow in strange shapes. In Waknuk people follow their own strict religious rules. Plants, animals and children must be perfect. David is different but this difference is kept secret until people begin to ask questions. Life suddenly becomes very dangerous. John Wyndham is one of the most notable British science fiction writers of the Twentieth Century.

The island of Tanakuatua seems like heaven to the 40 people who go there in order to create a utopian society, but soon they start to die in a horrible way and it seems that something strange and dea