Classic Childrens Fiction

Set in the Netherlands, the beautiful land of windmills, tulips, and wooden shoes, the story concerns the experiences of the impoverished Brinker family, including the thrilling race for the silver skates. The good deeds of the Brinker children, Hans and Gretel, help to restore their father's health and bring about their own good fortune.

Mother Duck's brood of little ducklings are all adorable - except for one. The ugly duckling is large, grey, and awkward - but he has a surprise in store.... A magical retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale, read by Stephen Mangan.

This reissue of the 1919 classic combines the immortal stories from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into one glorious saga of heroism and magical adventure. Beloved by generations, Padraic Colum's masterful retelling of these epic adventures is remarkably fresh, consistently spellbinding, and unmatched for its richness and poetry.

These classic fables use simple allegories to convey universal truths. Though it is unkown if Aesop ever actually existed, dating back to the sixth century, BC, these fables are known in cultures throughout the world and have been translated into many languages.

A little magic can take you a long way. After James Henry Trotter's parents are tragically eaten by a rhinoceros, he goes to live with his two horrible aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Life there is no fun, until James accidentally drops some magic crystals by the old peach tree and strange things start to happen. The peach at the top of the tree begins to grow, and before long it's as big as a house. Inside, James meets a bunch of oversized friends - Grasshopper, Centipede, Ladybug, and more. With a snip of the stem, the peach starts rolling away, and the great adventure begins!

Meet Ramona. She lives on Klickitat Street with her mother, father and big sister, Beezus. She’s not afraid of anything and is always up to something. And that’s just the beginning…. In this audio collection, join Ramona, one of Beverly Cleary’s most beloved characters, on all her wacky adventures!

From a cemetery in a mythical small town in Illinois, the dead speak about their lives. Each free-verse monologue stands as an epitaph for the person speaking, yet the play is ultimately about life, not death. Featuring 50 performers with specially commissioned original music, this is the only audio version of this landmark classic available.

Jo March Bhaer, who first appeared in Little Women, returns as the compassionate mentor to the boys and girls of Plumfield school. The original students are now young men and women, scattered the world over but always drawn to Plumfield to share their experiences. With fond memories of their school days to comfort them, the young men travel far and wide in search of happiness and fulfillment. The firebrand Dan finds adventure and peril in the American West. Emil’s life is threatened as he sails the high seas. And all the while, tender romances are finally blossoming.

Collected and published by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s, "Snow White" is a classic and timeless tale. The jealous queen's multiple attempts to take the beautiful Snow White's life are foiled by the sympathetic dwarfs. Eventually, Snow White gets her happily ever after with the prince, while the queen receives her comeuppance. Included in this book are this and 20 more tales from the Grimm Brothers' collection and by Charles Perrault.

Doctor Dolittle, a little, lovable, old doctor, has so many animal pets spread throughout his house and garden that patients will not come to him anymore. As a result, he becomes poorer and poorer. But he occupies nearly all of his time as the animals' doctor, and soon discovers that he can talk to the animals; Jip the dog, Dab Dab the duck, and Polynesia the parrot.

When young little Mowgli's parents are run out of their camp by a formidable Bengal tiger, the toddler scampers to safety alone in the cave of a Seeonee wolf pack. Thereafter forest animals succor Mowgli, and through his wits and their kindness, he reaches adulthood.

Wilder's stories consistently explored the connections between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, always returning to fundamental questions about the meaning of life. This Pulitzer Prize-winning tale concerns the lives of five people who fall to their deaths from a Peruvian rope bridge in 1714. A humble Franciscan, Brother Juniper, witnesses the accident and determines to learn about the lives of the victims in order to find out whether this accident happened by chance or by plan.

When the Tootings return to Zobrowski Terrace at the end of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, they find that home is looking a lot like Jurassic Park. But this is no theme park - a very real and very hungry Tyrannosaurus rex is charging them! Thanks to Dad inadvertently yanking Chitty's "Chronojuster" lever, the spirited car has flown them back to prehistoric times, where the family - and especially Baby Harry - has a narrow escape.

Generations of young readers continue to fall in love with Marguerite Henry’s “horse stories.” In one of her most famous, King of the Wind, the author traces the ancestry of the great Kentucky Derby winner, Man o’ War, whose mysterious pedigree is linked to the noble line leading from the Godolphin Arabian.

In this spirited and romantic saga, a young heir named David Balfour meets his miserly uncle Ebenezer, who has illegally taken control of the Balfour estate. Ebenezer kidnaps David and plots to have him seized and sold into slavery on a ship to the Carolinas. A couple of days into the voyage, a shipwreck throws David together with David Break, a Scotsman returning from political exile in France, and the two of them journey together.

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spider web tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter. E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

The Deerslayer is the first of the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper. Here we meet Natty Bumppo as a young man living in upstate New York in the early 1740s. The action begins as Bumppo, called "Deerslayer", and his friend Hurry Harry approach Lake Glimmerglass, or Oswego, where the trapper Thomas Hutter lives with his daughters, the beautiful Judith and the feeble-minded Hetty. Hutter's floating log fort is attacked by Iroquois Indians, and the two frontiersmen join in the fight.

The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".

Written in 1831, Irving's dreamlike description of the Alhambra, the beautiful Moorish castle that defined the height of Moorish civilization, and the surrounding territory of Granada remains one of the best guidebooks to the region and one of the most entertaining travelogues ever written.

Robert, Anthea, Jane, Cyril and the Lamb are on holiday at the White House, a beautiful place on the edge of a hill with a chalk quarry one side and a gravel-pit on the other. Before they have even been there a week, they make an amazing discovery. Digging in the gravel-pit, they find a fairy! The Psammead is brown, furry, fat and shaped like a spider- as well as being very old, and very grumpy. But most importantly, the creature can grant wishes, and the children are soon having the most wonderful adventures...