Family Classics

On the far northwest coast of Tasmania at Cape Grimm lies the isolated and idiosyncratic community of Skye, which practises a religion that reveres the imagination. One clear evening in 1992 all the inhabitants enter the church hall, where they are locked in and burned alive. They have been persuaded to do this by a young man called Caleb Mean - also known as El Nino, the Christ Child.

Pen's life is about secrets: the secret of the city's spirits, deities and monsters, living just beyond the notice of modern Londoners; the secret of Pen's intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly; and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflections in a school bathroom mirror.

Rule by head or rule by heart? Elinor Dashwood is a great believer in "sense," while her exuberant younger sister Marianne feels keenly that only "sensibility" (what today we'd call passion) serves to guide the heart. Through vicissitudes and, in the case of Marianne, outright betrayal by her lover, these two women learn the value in the other's outlook, and thereby prepare themselves for later domestic bliss that is the hallmark resolution of Jane Austen's novels.

Calamity is confronting two big transitions: the death of her beloved father and the beginning of menopause, a physical shift that has rekindled her gift for finding lost things. Suddenly, she is getting hot flashes that seem to forge objects out of thin air, most notably a four-year old boy. As Calamity takes the child into her care, she discovers that all is not as it seems. Then, Calamity must reawaken to the mysteries surrounding her own childhood and the early disappearance of her mother.

When Jada Jinks finds a box of magic tricks in her granny’s flat, she uncovers her granny’s secret dream of becoming a magician. Jada soon decides that she’s going to help Granny Jinks fulfil her dreams, but one thing stands in her way - her dad, Jonny Jinks, who hates magic! Will Jada be able to help Granny Jinks pass the auditions for Dalton Green Magic Society, and will she learn some tricks of her own along the way?

Narrheit und Schelmenstreiche haben ihre lustigen Seiten. So gibt es über Till Eulenspiegel viele, ja unglaubliche Geschichten. Oft hat sich dieser Held der Kinder dumm gestellt, sodass Leute über ihn gelacht und ihn aufgrund seiner Einfälle zu einem Narren erklärt haben. Aber in Wirklichkeit war er schlau, meist schlauer als die Menschen in seiner direkten Umgebung, und hat den Menschen so saftige, ja einfallsreiche Streiche gespielt.

Since summer was six years old she lived with dear Aunt May and Uncle Ob. Now, six years later, Aunt May has died. Summer, who misses May with all her might, is afraid something will happen to Ob. Most days Ob seems like he doesn't want to go on. But then Ob feels May's spirit around him and he wants to contact her. Cletus Underwood, a strange boy from school, reads about someone who could help him do that. Summer wants to hear from May too. Ob and Summer don't know what to expect when they set off on their search for some sign from May.

One very special boy weaves some magic in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s sentimental favorite. When young Cedric Errol learns that he is actually a British lord and heir to an estate, his life is transformed. He leaves Boston for Dorincourt Castle to live with his uncle, the earl - a tyrant who’s loathed by one and all. Will Cedric succeed in melting his cold, cruel uncle’s heart?

Wenn die drei Thalbach-Frauen mit verteilten Rollen E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Nussknacker und Mausekönig" sprechen, Enkelin Nellie die Weihnachtsgeschichte berlinert und (Groß-)Mutter Katharina und Tochter Anna Thalbach ihre liebsten Weihnachtsgedichte und -märchen vorlesen, dann fangen Augen an zu leuchten, dann wird selbst dem größten Weihnachtshasser warm ums Herz.

We face a crisis of sexuality. During the last few years, we have witnessed an unprecedented breakdown of traditions and mores concerning sexuality and the family. Countries across the West have suddenly and seemingly irrevocably instituted same-sex marriage; a former athlete has won awards for publicly changing gender; and no one seems to know what restroom to use any more. What used to be taboo and frowned upon has become normal and even encouraged. What used to be normal and sought after is now viewed as unnecessary and possibly harmful.

Jon Tunstall is an apprentice to the wizard Artax, the owner of the wandering magic shop Spells 4 U. In the midst of the bustling Winter Solstice shopping season, Jon's routine is interrupted by the arrival of Esmeralda, a beautiful and powerful wizard. Esme and Artax have a tumultuous history together, but Esme hopes she can convince the elder wizard to help her with an important personal problem. Caught between two temperamental and headstrong wizards, it might be Jon who holds the solution to Esme's difficulties - and to the rift that has grown between them.

Die Fortsetzung des Weihnachts-Bestsellers! Diesmal mit Mann und Hund. "Schon wieder Weihnachten?!" Tatsächlich will uns der charmant-verrückte Thalbach-Clan erneut in Festtagsstimmung versetzen - diesmal sogar mit Mann und Hund! Katharina Thalbach liest gemeinsam mit ihrem Bruder Pierre Besson, Tochter Anna und Enkelin Nellie besinnliche und humorvolle Texte zum Fest: Zum Beispiel von Charles Dickens, Theodor Storm, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Joachim Ringelnatz.

Die Geschichte von Aladin und der Wunderlampe gehört sicherlich zu den berühmtesten Erzählungen aus "Tausendundeiner Nacht", jenen Märchen, die die schöne Scheherazade Nacht für Nacht ihrem König erzählt, um dadurch ihr eigenes Leben zu retten. Von einem Zauberer beauftragt, findet Aladin in einer magischen Höhle eine alte Lampe und entdeckt das Geheimnis ihrer Zauberkraft: In der Lampe ist nämlich ein Dschinn verborgen, der die Wünsche des Lampenbesitzers erfüllen muss. Aber gelingt ihm das auch mit Aladins größtem Wunsch - die Tochter des Sultans zur Frau zu bekommen?

Die Geschichte von "Sindbad dem Seefahrer", der auf seinen sieben Reisen allerhand Abenteuer erlebt - er erleidet etwa Schiffbruch, fliegt mit dem Vogel Rock durch die Lüfte, findet Schätze und reist bis ans Ende der Welt - gehört sicherlich zu den berühmtesten Erzählungen aus "Tausendundeiner Nacht", jenen Märchen, die die schöne Scheherazade Nacht für Nacht ihrem König erzählt, um dadurch ihr eigenes Leben zu retten.

There is quite a large race or class of people in America, for whom we scarcely seem to have a parallel in England. Of pure white blood, they are unknown or unrecognizable in towns; inhabit the fringe of settlements and the deep, quiet places of the country; rebellious to all labour, and pettily thievish, like the English gipsies; rustically ignorant, but with a touch of wood-lore and the dexterity of the savage. Whence they came is a moot point.

"Facts concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family" is a horror short story written by H.P. Lovecraft. As Lovecraft's both parents died in a mental hospital, it is believed that Lovecraft handled some of his own family issues in this very story.

Literary critic, E. A. Koltonovskaya, described the literary style of novelist Maria Krestovskaya as follows, “Her pen, for all its feminine agility, is often remarkable for its nearly masculine reticence. She has none of the chaotic flood of thoughtless emotions, which so frequently plagues the works by female writers. She does not like lyrical diversions and allows her characters to speak and act for themselves. Even during the most dramatic scenes, her tone remains restrained. Her formulation of women’s issues gives one the sense of a broad, universal foundation...."

A selection from the John Updike audio collection. These extraordinarily evocative stories depict the generation born in a small-town America during the Depression and growing up in a world where the old sexual morality was turned around and material comforts were easily had. Yet, as these stories reflect so accurately, life was still unsettling, and Updike chronicles telling moments both joyful and painful.

In klarer Sprache wird die flotte Handlung der Geschichten von Gulliver bei den Lilliputanern und bei den Riesen geschildert. Er versucht, gut mit ihnen auszukommen, lernt ihre Sprache und es entwickeln sich Freundschaften - aber manche Adelige und Militärs werden zu Feinden. So lebt er in ständiger Gefahr. Wie wird es ihm ergehen?

In der Übergangsphase zum Erwachsensein sind die jungen Menschen besonders sensibel gegen Ungerechtigkeit, gegen Ungleichheit und im Wunsch nach einer besseren Welt. Dies ist auch das Anliegen von Robin Hood und seinen Freunden, die gemeinsam durch dick und dünn gehen, die sehr verschiedene Charaktere haben und doch zusammen halten, um gemeinsam Abenteuer zu erleben.