Classic For Adults

Exciting excerpts from some of the best classic stories for younger listeners, presented with classical music and, often, sound effects, to bring the characters vividly to life. Here is Mowgli, Anne of Green Gables, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Odysseus, the monster wolf Fenrir, and Tom Sawyer getting in and out of scrapes. Before each excerpt is an introduction, setting the scene.

1826. The sun is setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Head of the Dragon, is now only a story, like the ones Xiang has grown up with all her life. She desperately wants to prove her worth, especially to her mother, a shrewd businesswoman who never seems to have enough time for Xiang.

"The King of the Golden River" is the magical story of a boy named Gluck, his evil brothers, and a dangerous quest to find treasure lurking in the Golden River. It is a classic tale and the only fairy tale the famous English author and critic ever wrote. It could also be classified as a fable or parable since it it explains "how things came to be".

This is the timeless tale of Dorothy and her friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion, in the enchanting land of OZ. Those who have only seen the movie are in for a real treat, as much of the book did not make it into the classic 1939 film.

Yorkshire, North of England, 1786. As the abandoned son of a lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an "outsider." Now he's been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors, where he clings to his birth father's language even though it makes the children of the house call him an animal, and the maids claim he speaks gibberish. Catherine is the younger child of the estate's owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about. Her father is grooming her for a place in proper society, and that's all that matters.

It is an INVASION! H. G. Wells' classic story of Martians invading an unsuspecting and unprepared world continues to thrill and terrify listeners around the world. Following strange explosions on the surface of Mars, metallic cylinders crash in the English countryside - objects that carry hideous aliens possessed of deadly weapons and a rabid hunger for human flesh. No army can stop these monstrous hordes, no weapons can harm them - a terrified humanity watches helpless as cities are reduced to cinders and ash. There is no hope...here is no future...our world is lost - unlessa?S

Although best known for such long novels as Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens also wrote many wonderful short stories with both a supernatural and a humorous twist. This is one of his best.

For every fan who has wished Jane Austen herself might have enjoyed the romance and happy ending she so carefully crafted for all her heroines: The Persuasion of Miss Jane Austen, by Shannon Winslow. What if the tale Jane Austen told in her last, most poignant novel was inspired by momentous events in her own life? Did she in fact intend Persuasion to stand forever in homage to her one true love?

Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have listeners reevaluating one of mythology's most infamous monsters.

Anne has delayed her college ambitions to stay with Marilla at Green Gables after Matthew's passing. But when Marilla takes in a pair of twins, Anne must juggle her responsibilities at home, at Avonlea School, and at the local improvers' society. She rises to the occasion and meets a favorite author and new kindred spirits along the way.

In this fast-paced survival story set in Hawaii, electronics fail worldwide, the islands become completely isolated, and a strange starscape fills the sky. Leilani and her father embark on a nightmare odyssey from Oahu to their home on the Big Island. Leilani's epilepsy holds a clue to the disaster, if only they can survive as the islands revert to earlier ways.

It began in the graveyard.... Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan’s death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there - Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags.

Annabelle Doll and Tiffany Funcraft are two dolls who have been best friends since they met in Kate Palmer's house at 26 Wetherby Lane. In this sequel to The Doll People, they hitch a ride in Kate's backpack and find themselves in the biggest adventure of their lives, a day at school!

Susan Wittig Albert delights mystery lovers with this series based on the life and stories of beloved English children's author Beatrix Potter. When Beatrix finds an abandoned infant, Captain Woodcock and Dimity care for the child as Beatrix and her furry and feathered friends search for its mother.

It is a wild and slightly unsanitary ride as Spencer, Daisy, and the rebels find themselves chased by Mr Clean's new and terrifying breed of toxite - the Sweepers. Time is short. With the fable Manualis Custodem in hand, Spencer must figure out how to summon the founding witches if they ever hope to mop up and save education.

The St. Charles Players present a unique telling of Jules Verne's classic underwater adventure, in a new multi-cast dramatization performed in exciting Radio Theatre style.

Young orphan and heir David Balfour is victimized by his miserly Uncle Ebenezer, who has him kidnapped and sold into slavery on a ship bound for the Carolinas. But a shipwreck frees David, who then meets David Break, a Scotsman returning from political exile. Together, they witness a murder, and when suspicion falls on them, they undertake a dangerous journey across the Scottish Highlands.

"Whosoever pulleth that sword from the stone shall be rightful King of England!" But nobody can do it - except young Arthur! He becomes King of England, and so begin the adventurous tales of Excalibur, Merlin, the Round Table, and the Holy Grail! Included: A pdf file with track list!

Translated from the first edition, experience the tale of Hansel and Gretel in its original form, as brother and sister are abandoned in a great forest by their parents, only to discover that someone far more sinister than wild animals awaits them.

Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Written for all ages, it has been considered a children's novel since the mid-twentieth century. It recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in Prince Edward Island. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town.