Classic Childrens Fiction

Little Women is the story of a wife and her four daughters living in genteel poverty in the environs of Boston while the father is away as a chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War.

When the cupboard is bare at the Flopsy Bunnies' burrow, the family all have to go in search of food. They soon find some old lettuces on Mr. McGregor's rubbish heap, but who can imagine the horrors that await them as they enjoy a nap after lunch! Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny are two of Beatrix Potter's most popular characters, and they are brought together in this exciting tale of danger and friendship.

This is George Dasent's classic collection of Scandinavian folklore. This is not about Norse mythology per se; so if you are looking for tales of Odin, Loki, and Freya etc., you will have to look elsewhere. Rather, this is an anthology of folk tales, similar to the Grimm Brothers', or Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands. All of the usual suspects are in place, including giants, trolls, witches, evil step-siblings, magical boons and tasks, and anthropomorphic animals.

Young Trot and the old captain, peg-legged Cap'n Bill, might seem like odd friends, but they are constant companions and Cap'n Bill taught her to love and appreciate the ocean. Trot was especially fascinated by the idea of mermaids and talked about them often with Cap'n Bill, who warned that no one who had met a mermaid had ever lived to tell the tale. One day while out sailing around, the pair is greeted by a beautiful mermaid who extends an invitation for them to come and visit their underwater kingdom and even become mermaids themselves for the adventure.

With fighting erupting around his Kansas farm, 16-year-old Jefferson Davis Bussey can hardly wait to join the Union forces. He wants to defend his family from the dreaded Colonel Watie and his Cherokee Indian rebels. After enlisting, Jeff discovers the life of a soldier brings little glory and honor. During battle, his friends die around him. And when he infiltrates Watie’s camp as a spy, he discovers the enemy is much like himself—only fighting for a different cause.

New Mark Twain! This previously unpublished Twain piece was written 125 years ago, composed in 1876 as a "blind novelette" that Twain planned to launch as a competition for other great writers of the day. The competition never took place, and the story was thought by many to have been lost. This rediscovered gem, with a new introduction and afterword by Roy Blount, Jr., and brilliantly read by Blount and Garrison Keillor, allows us, once again, to celebrate the literary genius of Mark Twain.

After losing her parents, young Mary Lennox is sent from India to live in her uncle's gloomy mansion on the wild English moors. She is lonely and has no-one to play with, but one day she learns of a secret garden somewhere in the grounds that no one is allowed to enter. Then Mary uncovers an old key in a flowerbed - and a gust of magic leads her to the hidden door. Slowly she turns the key and enters a world she could never have imagined.

Dedicating the book "to my good friend & comrade, My Wife," L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, and it went on to become perhaps one of the most successful tales in the history of American children’s literature. Listeners new to the story and longtime fans alike will delight to join Dorothy and her friends in this timeless tale of the quest for courage, love, and a longing for Home.

A kingdom of shadows. A soldier sworn to protect. A princess silenced by love. Plagued by her mother's matchmaking attempts, Princess Lily, the eldest of 12 sisters and heir to a mighty kingdom, struggles to prove herself worthy of her inheritance while avoiding the attention of unwanted admirers. Tradition forbids marriage with the man she loves, so she would rather rule alone than marry someone who only wants the crown.

Join in and sing along with a host of much-loved holiday songs. The Wheels on the Bus Holiday Songs includes: "We Three Kings", "Deck the Halls", "Up On the Housetop", "I Saw Three Ships", "Jingle Bells", "Joy to the World", "Away in a Manager", "The First Noel", "Over the River and Through the Woods", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "Oh, Christmas Tree", "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", and "Jolly Old St. Nicholas".

A classic fable from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, read by Johnny Morris. Have you ever wondered how and why the animals came to be as they are? In these magical tales, drawn from stories he heard as a child in India as well as on folk traditions he later collected all over the world, Rudyard Kipling gives some wonderfully imaginative explanations.

Professor Wogglebug gets the characters of Oz thinking about their genealogy and where they came from because he wants to write The Royal Book of Oz recording all this information. This topic especially upsets the Scarecrow, as he knows that he was discovered by Dorothy hanging from a beanpole in a cornfield and he thinks that this mean he can't possibly have a family history. Woggleburg agrees and hurts Scarecrow's feelings by noting that because of Dorothy's discovery, Scarecrow has no family tree and should get the slightest mention in their Royal Book of Oz.

The good Doctor Dolittle, accompanied by his devoted animal friends, sets sail once again. This time it is a voyage of discovery, to learn the secret of the Shellfish language, and to teach Tommy Stubbins, the Doctor's young protege, all there is to know about animals and their languages. Choosing their destination by opening an atlas, closing their eyes, and touching the page with a pencil, they set off on the most amazing voyage.

One day a young girl, Trot, encounters a strange young boy with a big umbrella. She learns his name is Button Bright and he uses this umbrella to go on long journeys. Trot's friend, Cap'n Bill, joins the two children and they venture to a fantastical island, which they call Sky Island, as it is halfway in the sky.

The shoemaker can only afford the leather to make one more pair of shoes. He cuts the leather and lays it on his workbench - and the next morning, there are two perfectly-finished shoes! But who can have made them? A magical retelling of the classic tale, read by Tamsin Greig.

The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. The dead are pulling him to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world, and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand.

The mice of Brambly Hedge have many adventures but they always have time for fun too. All through the year, they mark the seasons with feasts and festivities and, of course, the mice never miss an opportunity to meet and celebrate. This collection contains four classic stories following their adventures throughout the year.

This is the complete Wizard of Oz collection of 22 stories written by L. Frank Baum. This is the only complete collection that includes all the Oz stories. All 22 stories are fully complete. They include the dedication and the introduction of each story/book. In this collection, you will find stories not available in other collections. It even includes stories published after the death of L. Frank Baum.

Two years have passed since young apprentice magician Nathaniel became famous by foiling the ruthless Simon Lovelace. Now 14, Nathaniel is ambitiously climbing the ranks of the magicians' government. The Prime Minister himself has placed Nathaniel in charge of capturing the Resistance, a group of unruly commoners working to undermine the magicians' empire. But after several failed attempts, Nathaniel is forced to admit he can't do it alone.

Taran dreams of adventure, but nothing exciting ever happens to an Assistant Pig-Keeper, until his pig runs away. A chase through the woods leads Taran far from home and into great danger, for evil prowls the land of Prydain. With a collection of strange and wonderful friends whom he meets on his journey, Taran finds himself fighting so that good may triumph over evil, and so that his beloved home will not fall to a diabolical fiend.