Bored of the same old dinner-party chitchat? Spice up your soirées, impress your guests and show up your brother-in-law with these hilarious, and sometimes dangerous, after-dinner tricks and challenges.

Twenty-one handsome cards presented in a beautiful gift tin illustrate each technique along with step-by-step instructions and explanations of the science behind the tricks. From sabring a bottle of champagne to hammering a needle through a coin, each of these tricks is guaranteed to wow your guests.

About the Author:

Kendra Wilson is the author of My Garden is a Car Park and Other Design Dilemmas, and co-author of The Book of the Dog and The Book of the Bird for Laurence King. Her writing has also appeared in Gardenista, The Sunday Times and House & Garden.

The Book of the Bird celebrates the bird in art with an elegant, international collection of paintings, illustrations and photographs, featuring all kinds of birds from the smallest tits and wrens to colourful exotics.

Interspersed though the illustrations are short texts giving background to the pictures and information on bird species. This is the perfect gift for all bird lovers.

About the Authors:

Angus Hyland is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and a partner at Pentagram Design London. In 2001 he was the co-curator with Roanne Bell of 'Picture This', a British Council exhibition featuring the work of London illustrators. His work for Laurence King includes Hand to Eye (2003, with Roanne Bell), The Picture Book (2010, with Steven Bateman), Symbol (2011), and The Purple Book (2013).
Kendra Wilson is a writer with an interest in the natural world. She has written for American style blog Gardenista since its inception and she has also been a designer and picture editor on magazines in London and New York, including Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler and Observer Food Monthly.

Do you share your garden with a car? Worried that your neighbour’s trees are blocking your light? Is your garden too big? Too small? An awkward shape? Or maybe you just don’t know where to begin…

Whether you are grappling with a particular dilemma or just need some inspiration, this guide leads the way forward with sharp design advice and beautiful images. Read this book and the prospect of tackling your own garden will seem suddenly less daunting and more fun.

About the Author:

Kendra Wilson has access to some of the most remarkable gardens in England, while dissecting them for the American online publication Gardenista. With experience as a writer, picture editor and designer for Vogue, Condé Nast Traveler and Observer Food Monthly, she brings her unique perspective to the way gardens look and why they work.

Contents:

Introduction
I don’t know where to begin
I’m daunted by the garden I’ve inherited
My garden is overlooked on several sides
My garden is too small
My garden is a car park
I’ve spent all my money on the house
Free food for plants
My garden is excessively hot and dry
My garden is a passageway
I have room for one tree. What should it be?
My garden has no soil, just pots
My garden is too long and narrow
I’d like water without a water ‘feature’
Simple pools, rills, ponds
My garden is overshadowed by trees
I have nowhere to sit
I have high walls and railings
I don’t like gardening in the cold
Large front gardens: what’s the point?
My garden is full of old rubbish
Bomb-proof plants
My garden is under siege
Do painted walls cheer up a garden?
My garden is an awkward shape
My garden is like a child’s tea set
I detest orange in the garden
Are roses complicated?
Ways with roses
Does a cottage garden require a cottage?
Is a white garden a cliché?
Has decking been overdone?
I don’t have time to water regularly
How do cutting gardens work?
I’d like an elegant vegetable garden
Ways with willow and other pliable things
Will chickens destroy my garden?
 I garden on rock
My garden is like a bog
I want an English flower border
I’m worried by wasps
I hear that meadows are difficult
Gallery of grass
I am worried by my wisteria
Is formality out of the question?
I want trees for me, not the next generation
My garden collapses after June
There is nothing to look at in winter
My garden is on a steep slope
Inclines and changes of level
My garden is windy
My garden is too big
My garden is a field
I don’t like digging
My plants prefer to grow in the path
I need a fast-growing hedge
Interesting hedges
I don’t like mowing around trees
I’d like an orchard without the glut
My garden competes with the view
I am fed up with slugs
What can I plant instead of box?
I’d like a wild garden
Garden bestiary
I’m not really a flower person
I don’t like weeding
My garden is not relaxing
Glossary
Index
Voices
Resources