Girls Classic Fiction

Here's a heart-wrenching story about a poor little girl forced to sell matches on Christmas Eve. As she stumbles barefooted into a cold and lonely alley, she is enchanted by visions of Christmas wonders and her beloved grandmother long passed. "The Little Match Girl" is a tale that makes us all grateful for what we have this holiday season.

An Amish girl, Esther feels like "one black bird against the sky" in her plain clothes. So when she's forced to attend public school she's terrified. She fears the new world she must enter, fears the way she sticks out next to other kids, and--most of all--fears she may do what her brother did: Run away and join the sinful but great wide world she's only just discovering.

One day when she was younger and better looking, and when her voice was stronger, Nikolay Petrovitch Kolpakov, her adorer, was sitting in the outer room in her summer villa. It was intolerably hot and stifling. Kolpakov, who had just dined and drunk a whole bottle of inferior port, felt ill humoured and out of sorts. Both were bored and waiting for the heat of the day to be over in order to go for a walk. Read in English, unabridged.

This is a story from the In the Ravine and Other Stories collection.

She was an impulsive, fashionable, and carefree 1920's woman who embodied the essence of the Gatsby Girl, F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda. As Fitzgerald said, "I married the heroine of my stories." All of the eight short stories contained in this collection were inspired by Zelda. Fitzgerald, one of the foremost writers of American fiction, found early success as a short story writer for the most widely read magazine of the early 20th century - The Saturday Evening Post.

Princess Ava was sent to a neighboring kingdom as a lady-in-waiting to her sister, their future queen. Until a runaway horse, a case of amnesia, and a cold-hearted king conspire to bring her to the prince's attention. Now the prince believes Ava is his bride, and her sister is just a serving maid. One thing is certain: the prince must marry one of the princesses, or there will be war. But when all's fair in love and war, who will win the battle for the prince's heart?

The product of a brutal father, a drunken mother, and a faithless lover, Maggie's heartbreaking degeneration is described in Crane's distinctive prose. In George's Mother we witness the loving yet selfish relationship between a son and his mother. This second story includes a brief appearance by the title character of the first.

On New Year’s Eve, a small, poor girl walks in the darkness and cold trying to sell her matches. Hungry and frozen, she curls up in a nook and lights her matches in search for warmth. Looking into the glow of the matches, she is transported far, far away from the hunger and the cold.

Two delightful, fanciful, and heartwarming stories. "The Velveteen Rabbit" tells the tale of a stuffed rabbit that longs to become real, while "The Girl Who Owned a Bear" tells of a little girl who receives a magical book filled with the most unpredictable of magic.

In this dazzling tale, L. Frank Baum proves once again his power to delight and enchant readers of all ages. Follow the adventures of a charming new band of characters as they explore the wondrous land of Oz and discover that you learn more by traveling than by staying at home. Forced to venture out of the dark forest, Unc Nunkie and Ojo the Unlucky call on the Crooked Magician, who introduces them to his latest creation: a living girl made out of patchwork quilts and cotton stuffing. But when an accident leaves beloved Unc Nunkie a motionless statue, it is up to Ojo to save him.

A young munchkin boy named Ojo embarks on a quest to save his grandfather who has been petrified by a magician. On his quest, he is joined by a life-sized patchwork doll named Scraps. Along the way, he encounters Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man. The seventh in the Oz books series, this novel was adapted into a 1914 silent film of the same name produced by L. Frank Baum’s Oz Film Manufacturing Company.

In Enid Blyton's best-selling school series, Elizabeth Allen is sent away to boarding school and makes up her mind to be the naughtiest pupil there's ever been. In book 10, Elizabeth is overjoyed to be appointed monitor again. But one of the second-form boys is turning all the other boys against her, starting with a nasty note in her desk and ending with a false tip-off about a midnight pillow fight in the boys' dormitory. Can she find out who has a grudge against her - and why?

Two little girls from different houses happened to meet in a lane between two homesteads, where the dirty water, after running through the farmyards, had formed a large puddle. One girl was very small, the other a little bigger. Their mothers had dressed them both in new frocks. The little one wore a blue frock, the other a yellow print, and both had red kerchiefs on their heads. They had just come from church when they met, and first they showed each other their finery, and then they began to play....

King Midas is obsessed with gold: counting it, touching it, imagining it. But when a strange young man grants his wish for a golden touch, things don't go quite as he planned -- particularly for his daughter Marigold. In these selections from classic American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's charming retellings of Greek myths, children meet Midas and another engaging troublemaker, Pandora, and learn lessons about love and forgiveness.

Few winter stories are more affecting than Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Written in 1848, and strictly speaking a New Year's Eve story, it showed so clearly then, as it does now, that the Christmas holidays do not represent fireside, food, and presents for all. This story never fails to move, yet it somehow avoids serious sentimentality.

First published as Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne in 1845, The Little Match Girl is one of Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen’s most poignant fairy tales. On New Year’s Eve a poor young match seller, too scared to go home to her abusive father, lights her remaining matches in order to stave off the cold. This collection also includes The Fir Tree and Little Ida’s Flowers.

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection Final Acts. Anthony Wynne's series detective Dr Eustace Hailey becomes involved in the affairs of Lord and Lady Rushmore, the dancer Lalette Yorke, and their acquaintance Michael Dale, as lies and secrets escalate to a life-threatening climax.

Este curso está lleno de novedades. Las delegadas son dos chicas repetidoras que tienen que ganarse a sus compañeras. Además, han llegado alumnas nuevas, Gladys y Mirabel, dispuestas a lo que sea para no seguir en la escuela.

Matilda ist ein sehr besonderes kleines Mädchen. Sie ist blitzgescheit und liest unendlich viele Bücher, sie ist mutig und abenteuerlustig und sie hat ein großes Herz. Jeder Pappkopf könnte das erkennen – doch die Erwachsenen sind leider völlig ahnungslos. Allen voran die gefürchtete Rektorin von Matildas Schule. Sie heißt Knüppelkuh und benimmt sich auch so. Einzig Matildas Klassenlehrerin, Jennifer Honig, erkennt, was in Matilda steckt. Leider hat es die Knüppelkuh auf Jenny Honig ganz besonders abgesehen.

When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert try to adopt a boy to help out with their farm on Prince Edward Island, they are completely unprepared for the 11-year-old girl who is mistakenly sent instead. Anne is feisty, red-haired, and never stops talking. She is also smart and incredibly imaginative, with a huge capacity for love that wins over shy Matthew, crusty Marilla, and their entire community of Avonlea.