'Tripitaka, can you go to the west for me – and for Buddha?' When the holy woman Guanyin asks the young Chinese monk Tripitaka to bring some holy writings back from India, he says 'yes'. But how can he travel across rivers, and fight terrible monsters and demons, on his long journey? He needs three strong helpers – Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy – to do that! But where do they come from? Do they always help? And can they bring the holy writings home again? Read this old Chinese story, and find o...

Outside, the night is cold and wet. Inside, the White family sits and waits. Where is their visitor? There is a knock at the door. A man is standing outside in the dark. Their visitor has arrived. The visitor waits. He has been in India for many years. What has he got? He has brought the hand of a small, dead animal – a monkey’s paw. Outside, in the dark, the visitor smiles and waits for the door to open.

A man from the British royal family leaves an expensive gold and emerald crown at Holder and Stevenson's – one of the best banks in London. When someone tries to take the crown from Mr Holder's desk, he asks Sherlock Holmes for help. Who wants the crown and why? Only Sherlock can find the answers.

'He's an intelligent man. He was once rich and is now poor. His wife loved him once, but she doesn't love him now. And he's thirty or forty years old.' One look at an old hat, and Sherlock Holmes can tell you a lot about its owner. He sees - and thinks - a lot more than the people around him, and when a beautiful blue diamond disappears, Sherlock is the only man in London who can find it.

Read and discover all about art. What do artists paint? What shapes can you see in art? Read and discover more about the world!This series of non-fiction readers provides interesting and educational content, with activities and project work.An Oxford Press Audio production.

Cedric Errol is seven years old. He lives with his mother in a little house in New York. They don't have much money, but mother and son are good friends. Cedric is a kind, friendly little boy, and everybody likes him. His father was English, but he is now dead, and Cedric and his mother are alone in the world. But one day a lawyer arrives from England with some very surprising news about Cedric's grandfather...

Everybody wants to win the lottery. A million pounds, perhaps five million, even ten million. How wonderful! Emma Carter buys a ticket for the lottery every week, and puts the ticket carefully in her bag. She is seventy-three years old and does not have much money. She would like to visit her son in Australia, but aeroplane tickets are very expensive. Jason Williams buys lottery tickets every week too. But he is not a very nice young man. He steals things. He hits old ladies in the street,...

'My first journey was a pilgrimage to Mecca. I got on a donkey and said "Goodbye" to my parents in Tangier when I was 21. My mother cried.' In this way Ibn Battuta, one of the greatest travellers in the world, begins telling his story to his nephew, Ahmed. His many journeys take him to new and interesting places far from home. He sees many strange and wonderful things, has many funny and frightening experiences, and meets many different people along the way. This is his story...

Join New York Times columnist David Brooks for an in-depth discussion about what constitutes character as explored in his new book.Some people seem to possess inner lives that are more substantive than the rest of ours. How do they do it? Depth, argues Brooks, is the core of our being and something we cultivate over time; it’s engraved by thought and action; it’s built through the commitments we make—to a nation, a faith, a calling or loved ones—and the sacrifices we endure because...

Must science and religion always be opposing and irreconcilable forces? Dr. Reza Aslan, Andrew Zolli and David Eagleman look at recent trends in theoretical physics and the response of contemporary theologians to scientific theories and discuss whether science and religion can, in fact, be seen as complementary ways of understanding our world.

When ship after ship goes down in the Atlantic, Dr Pierre Aronnax and his servant, Conseil, journey from Paris to learn more. What - or who - is attacking these ships? Aronnax, Conseil, and the Canadian, Ned Land, find the answer to this question when they meet the strange Captain Nemo. After a long journey under the sea in Nemo's submarine, the Nautilus, the doctor and his friends plan to leave for the surface. But how can they escape?

Amy and Matt are bored. They don't want to study for their exams. They want to have a good time. So they drive to the marina at West Palm Beach, and Matt jumps onto one of the boats. 'We can go anywhere!' he jokes. But when the owners of the boat come back and find them, Amy and Matt are in deep trouble. Matt is a good swimmer and enjoys scuba-diving, but now he must dive for their lives.