Classic Childrens Fiction

Emily of New Moon is the first in the Emily Starr series by beloved Canadian author L.M. Montgomery. Young Emily is a quick-witted and imaginative orphan who is sent to live with her two maiden aunts at New Moon Farm on Prince Edward Island. Though initially disheartened by her strict and conventional Aunt Elizabeth, Emily soon grows to love her new family and New Moon Farm. Adventures await as Emily makes new friends: passionate, hot-tempered Ilse Burnley; quiet, artistic Teddy Kent; and rough and tumble fast-talker, Perry Miller.

After Emily Starr loses her dear father, the ten-year-old orphan is packed off to live with her starched relatives on Prince Edward Island. If only she could relate to them. Frankly, whip-smart, ambitious Emily can’t imagine ever feeling at home at New Moon Farm. Especially when her writerly dreams are routinely dashed by her autocratic aunt. Then Emily finds an outlet for her creative spirit with a group of friends every bit as passionate and gifted as she. With their help, New Moon could start to feel like home after all.

Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet that is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good.

Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. But swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiance have begun to track her down.

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, the younger two of the four English children featured in the first two Narnia books, return to the kingdom. The ship The Dawn Treader was built by King Caspian for a voyage to find the seven lords banished by his evil Uncle Miraz when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace to the Eastern Islands beyond the Silver Sea, en route to Aslan's country at the End of the World. Each island they visit has its own story so the narrative almost reads like a series.

As a brand new blood slave, Annika must learn to survive her dangerous new circumstances or face imminent death from the monstrous wolves prowling outside the Vale's enchanted walls. But not all in the kingdom is as it appears, and when a handsome vampire disguised as a human steps into her life, Annika discovers that falling for the enemy is sometimes too tempting to resist.

This, the complete and unabridged original tale that provided us with the best-loved classic movie, stands on its own as a great modern fairy tale. Dorothy, her dog, Toto, and her companions, the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion, are characters who endure in the hearts of children and adults alike. Join them on their enchanting journey as they follow the Yellow Brick Road in search of the wonderful Wizard in the enchanted Emerald City.

Enid Blyton's much-loved classic series, packed full of adventure and mystery. Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack escape their tutor for a lovely holiday in Cornwall, right by the sea. They can see the sinister Isle of Gloom from their window, covered in mist and harbouring strange secrets. Are they prepared for the dangerous adventure that awaits them there? Perfect for fans of the Famous Five looking for their next adventure.

Grandma's house was a magical place, and in this vivid memoir, Donald Davis makes it possible for each of us to go back to our own grandma's kitchen, clutter room, living room, and to that immeasurable bed that seemed to swallow us whole. This selection also contains a traditional story Davis learned from his grandmother, one handed down through his family from generations who once lived in Scotland before coming to the Appalachian mountains, about the time that fortune-seeker named Jack made the king mad.

He had likewise, by another wife, a young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world. No sooner were the ceremonies of the wedding over than the mother-in-law began to show herself in her true colors. She could not bear the good qualities of this pretty girl, and the less because they made her own daughters appear the more odious. She employed her in the meanest work of the house.

Former teachers Richard and Judy Dockrey Young bring their frightening performances alive on tape with 14 ghost stories from the American Southeast.

When three poor soldiers found themselves unable to live on their meager pay, they decided to try to desert the army. The three men are forced to hide, trapped because the army is not moving on from the camp. While stuck in a ditch, the men encounter a dragon who offers to take them into his service for seven years. They layer find out the dark side of the deal, when the dragon tells them they will only be released if they can solve a riddle. One of the soldiers stumbles across the grandmother of the dragon....

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.

Sebastian and Anna are best friends who do everything together. So when Sebastian falls into the hands of the evil Snow Queen, Anna is determined to rescue him. A magical retelling of the classic fairy tale, read by Stephen Mangan.

There's more to life than lessons at Malory Towers, Enid Blyton's best-loved boarding-school series. This fantastic bumper collection contains Malory Towers books one to three, with a brand-new cover illustrated by Pippa Curnick.

Original adventures of the classic bear from Darkest Peru, soon to be a major movie star! Paddington doesn't intentionally turn his friend's wedding into an uproar by getting the wedding ring stuck on his paw. Nor does he mean Mr Curry to slip on his marmalade sandwich in the middle of an important gold shot. But these sorts of things just happen to a bear like Paddington!

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.

Here are American author Howard Pyle's exciting and hilarious tales of Robin Hood and his merry band of outlaws, who reigned over Sherwood Forest doing many good deeds for the poor - and deserved misdeeds to the pompous and haughty rich.

Anne Shirley’s adventures continue with new friends and a new setting as she fulfills her lifelong dream of attending college. Phillipa Gordon, Aunt Jamesina, Roy Gardner, a houseful of cats, and others become beloved friends. Through both wonderful and painful years at Redmond, Anne comes to an important realization about love that changes the course of her life.

Twelve-year-old Mary Jemison took for granted her peaceful days on her family's farm in eastern Pennsylvania. But on a spring day in 1758, something happened that changed her life forever. When a band of warriors invades the Jemisons' house and takes the family captive, Mary is separated from her parents and siblings. She travels with the Indians to southern Ohio and later to a Seneca village on the Genesee River in what is now western New York.

When the fiercest dragon in the whole world smashes Princess Elizabeth’s castle, burns all her clothes, and captures her fiancé, Prince Ronald, Elizabeth takes matters into her own hands. With her wits alone and nothing but a paper bag to wear, the princess challenges the dragon to show his strength in the hopes of saving the prince. But is it worth all that trouble? Listeners the world over have fallen in love with this classic story of girl power.