Books with author C MacGregor

LONG, long years ago, Troy, one of the great cities in Asia Minor, was taken by the Greeks. Many mighty Trojans had defended their city well, and among them all none had fought more bravely than the prince Æneas. But when Æneas saw that the Greeks had set fire to the city, he fled, carrying, it is said, his father on his shoulders, and grasping by the hand his son Ascanius. Moreover, so precious to him was the sacred image of the goddess Pallas, that he saved it from the burning city. The gods, pleased with his reverence, helped him in his flight by building a ship. So when Æneas reached the sea he at once embarked in it, with his followers and their wives, and sailed away to seek for a new land in which to build a new city. As the Trojans sailed they saw a bright star shining above them. Day and night the star was always to be seen, showing the seafarers the direction in which to steer. At length the Trojans reached the western shore of Italy, and here, at a town called Latium, they disembarked. The women were weary of the sea, and no sooner had they landed than they began to wonder how they could persuade their husbands to journey no farther, but to settle in the pleasant country which they had reached. Among these women was a lady of noble birth, who was wise as she was good. Roma, for that was the lady's name, proposed that they should burn the ship in which they had sailed. Then it would be impossible for their husbands to go any farther in search of a new home...

Queen Guinevere lay idly in bed dreaming beautiful dreams. The sunny morning hours were slipping away, but she was so happy in dreamland, that she did not remember that her little maid had called her long ago. But the Queen's dreams came to an end at last, and all at once she remembered that this was the morning she had promised to go to the hunt with King Arthur.

One School Year describes the final year at a Scottish high school. Each chapter is narrated in turn by Olivia (aged 17) and her brother Hamish (aged 18). The story follows both their lives as they cope with exam pressures, chase boyfriends/girlfriends and party. This is a realistic, uplifting book with likeable characters and plenty of humorous dialogue.***** (5 star) review by Megan on Amazon UK "This book has a great story line and I like the way it projects both lives. It is an amazing book." ***** (5 star) review by Kristie on Amazon US "This story is extremely cute and funny. I loved it."Contains no bad language or upsetting scenes.

Queen Guinevere lay idly in bed dreaming beautiful dreams. The sunny morning hours were slipping away, but she was so happy in dreamland, that she did not remember that her little maid had called her long ago. But the Queen's dreams came to an end at last, and all at once she remembered that this was the morning she had promised to go to the hunt with King Arthur.

THE story of Greece began long, long ago in a strange wonderland of beauty. Woods and winds, fields and rivers, each had a pathway which led upward and onward into the beautiful land. Sometimes indeed no path was needed, for the rivers, woods, and lone hill-sides were themselves the wonderland of which I am going to tell. In the woods and winds, in the trees and rivers, dwelt the gods and goddesses whom the people of long ago worshipped. It was their presence in the world that made it so great, so wide, so wonderful. To the Hellenes, for that is the name by which the Greeks called themselves, there were eyes, living eyes in flowers, trees and water. 'So crowded full is the air with them,' wrote one poet who lived in the far-off days, 'that there is no room to put in the spike of an ear of corn without touching one.'When the wind blew soft, the Hellenes listened to the whispering of a voice. When it blew rough, and snatched one of the children from their midst, they did not greatly grieve. The child had but gone to be the playmate of the gods. The springs sparkled clean, for in them dwelt the Naiads or freshwater nymphs, with gifts as great as the river gods, who were ofttimes seen and heard amid the churning, tossing waters. In the trees dwelt the Dryads, nymphs these of the forest, and whom the Hellenes saw but seldom. Shy nymphs were the Dryads, born each one at the birth of a tree, in which she dwelt, fading away when the tree was felled, or when it withered and died. Their revels were held in some wooded mountain, far from the haunts of men. Were a human footfall heard, the frolics ceased on the instant, while each Dryad sped swift for shelter to the tree of her birth. So the gods wandered though the land, filling the earth with their presence. Yet there was one lofty mountain in central Greece, named Mount Olympus, which the Hellenes believed was the peculiar home of the gods. It was to this great mount that the actual roads on which the Hellenes walked each day seemed ever to lead. On the sides of the mountain, green trees and dark pines clustered close. The summit reached high up, beyond the clouds, so used the ancient people to tell. Here, where no human foot had ever climbed, up beyond the twinkling stars, was the abode of the gods...

Long, long ago the land which we now call France was called Gaul.Gaul was much larger than France is to-day, although north, south, and west France has the same boundaries now as Gaul had in the far-off days of which I am going to tell you.What these boundaries are, many a geography lesson will have shown. But, lest you have forgotten, take a map of Europe, and you will see that on the north France has to protect her the English Channel, on the south she is guarded by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees, while on her west roll the waters of the Atlantic. These mountains and waters were also the bulwarks of ancient Gaul.It was on the east that Gaul stretched far beyond the boundaries of France, reaching to the Alps and to the swift-flowing river Rhine.And it is of Gaul, as it was in those far-off days many centuries B.C., that I wish first to tell you.The large tract of land called Gaul was then little more than a dreary waste of moor and marsh, with great forests, larger and gloomier than any you have ever seen.Through these forests and marshlands terrible beasts prowled—wolves, bears, wild oxen. Herds of swine, too, fierce as any wolves, roamed through the marshes. These had been tamed enough to answer to their keepers horn...

Summer’s coming and school will soon be out! The Screech Owls would love to keep playing hockey, but Muck has a better idea. The Owls are going to learn why so many of the great hockey stars are devoted to the weird and wonderful game of lacrosse.Travis, Sarah, Nish, and their friends discover lacrosse is a lot like hockey, but with a magic all its own. When the Screech Owls meet their strange new lacrosse coach, however, Travis discovers something else.Their home town has a deadly secret. Something terrible once happened out on River Road, and a boy their own age disappeared – probably murdered.Nish is delighted. He’s been looking for the perfect plot for his new horror movie. But as the Screech Owls begin to uncover the truth about what happened, and start filming Nish’s movie, they find they are part of a real-life horror story themselves.Check out the Screech Owls' website at www.screechowls.com.

This looks at the legends of the Netherlands. From the intro: 'I believe there is no boy, the wide world over, who has not once upon a time set out in search of a hero, and found him, too, in many an unlikely corner. And thereupon he has set him up in a niche of the temple which he keeps for the most part locked, but which at rare moments he visits, reverently and with care. I who write came one day to a little sea-swept land bound by great reaches of grass-tied dunes, and there, lingering to learn the history of the country, unawares I found my hero. For the Romance of the Netherlands is in truth the life of William the Silent writ large. And in these pages, if the face of William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, does not look at you with living eyes, and if his voice does not vibrate in your heart in living tones, the glamour of the tale has been lost in the telling. You may shut the book in discontent. But if you find a living man, baffled indeed and often beaten, yet one who struggles on through failure to victory, one who gives his time, his possessions, and his life for the sake of his country, then unlock the temple where your heroes stand, and in a niche apart place William the Silent, the father of his people."

More than four hundred years ago there lived a man called SirThomas Malory, who wrote in English words many of the beautifulWelsh tales about King Arthur’s Knights, that the people of Walesloved so well.All the stories in this little book were found in Malory’s big book,except “Geraint and Enid.” But it, too, is one of the old Welsh talesthat tell of the brave knights and fair ladies of King Arthur’s Court.Many times, since Sir Thomas Malory wrote his book, have thesestories been told again to old and young, but perhaps never beforehave they been told to the children so simply as in this little book.Mary MacGregor.

The Screech Owls are flying around the world to Sydney, Australia, site of the 2000 Olympics, for an exhibition tournament to promote ice hockey in the sports-mad land down under.The trip, however, involves much more than hockey. The teams coming to Sydney will take part in “The Peewee Olympics” – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the youngsters to compete in real Olympic sports facilities.What will it be for Nish? The pole vault? Synchronized swimming? Beach volleyball?The team is also invited to tour Sydney’s magnificent zoo and the world-renowned Sydney Aquarium, where Sarah’s interest in bizarre marine biology leads to a field trip in search of an endangered sea horse. A field trip that brings the Screech Owls face-to-face with Death Down Under.Check out the Screech Owls' website at www.screechowls.com.