Alistair D'Arcy McDermott has a great mum and a great dad who love him very much ... but aren't so keen on each other. He also has a best friend with a wicked laugh and a teacher who wears tight white trousers and likes humiliating kids. So when his mum decides that she's going on a blind date with the teacher from hell, Burke the Jerk, Al's worst nightmare has come true. And when she tells him that they're going on holiday with her new man, Al's got to do something drastic. He packs his bag of total destruction and heads off for the holiday of a lifetime ...

Alastair D'Arcy McDermott - otherwise known as Al - is less than thrilled at his holiday project: helping out at the local old people's home. How did he end up getting stuck with old Violet Rose and batty Major Maddocks? But then he meets the sinister Mrs Black, and the fun begins - Al's on his greatest mission yet ... And don't miss the first story of Al's adventures, OPERATION ITCHY BUM.

Advances in itch research have elucidated differences between itch and pain but have also blurred the distinction between them. There is a long debate about how somatic sensations including touch, pain, itch, and temperature sensitivity are encoded by the nervous system. Research suggests that each sensory modality is processed along a fixed, direct-line communication system from the skin to the brain. Itch: Mechanisms and Treatment presents a timely update on all aspects of itch research and the clinical treatment of itch that accompanies many dermatological conditions including psoriasis, neuropathic itch, cutaneous t-cells lymphomas, and systemic diseases such as kidney and liver disease and cancer. Composed of contributions from distinguished researchers around the world, the book explores topics such as: Neuropathic itch Peripheral neuronal mechanism of itch The role of PAR-2 in neuroimmune communication and itch Mrgprs as itch receptors The role of interleukin-31 and oncostatin M in itch and neuroimmune communication Spinal coding of itch and pain Spinal microcircuits and the regulation of itch Examining new findings on cellular and molecular mechanisms, the book is a compendium of the most current research on itch, its prevalence in society, and the problems associated with treatment.

Boyface Antelope has been waiting his whole life to turn ten and be allowed to enter his parents' stripemongering shop so he can take stripes off animals and put them on something different. Like tartan onto badgers, or removing the stripes of zebras to make ponies. On the morning of his tenth birthday he finds his parents ill, and they ask him not just to go in the shop but to look after it on his own! Will he be able to keep the stripemongery running smoothly?

Aunt Edna has created a no-nonsense nanny android to make sure Billy and Alfie don't have any fun. But then Alfie discovers how to override Auntie Anne-Droid's programming and nothing can stop them eating all the Cheeki Choko Cherry Cakes they like ... until the real aunt Edna is kidnapped!

Join Secret Agent Barker on his crazy quest to rid the world of megafleas. Lift the flaps, fold out pages. Humorous. 4 yrs+