Showing results by narrator "Susie Berneis" in All Categories

In "Bertie's Box", a family sits around the table putting the finishing touches on their Christmas present wrapping. A letter arrives from a poor widow asking for assistance in providing a Christmas present for her two children. Overhearing this, young Bertie sets about packing up some of his toys to send to the unfortunate mother.

In this Christmas story, a poor girl named Tilly finds an injured bird in the snow and takes it home to care for it, believing in the lessons her mother has taught her concerning the golden rule and Christ's commandment to love our neighbors. Although her friends think she shouldn't take care of the bird, her kindness is rewarded unexpectedly on Christmas Eve. This version of "Tilly's Christmas" was recorded as part of Dreamscape's The Christmas Stories of Louisa May Alcott.

In What Love Can Do, two poor sisters share their modest Christmas wishes with each other, namely: a little money with which to buy gifts for their family members. Overhearing this, the kindly residents of a boarding house come together to make a lovely Christmas surprise for the two girls.

From the snow-covered prairie to the remote Australian Outback, a cowboy's loving kiss makes this Christmas merry and bright in each of these novellas.

The Lockdown Drill teaches students the importance of listening to their teacher and their school resource officer during school drills. Using fun characters and engaging rhymes, The Lockdown Drill explains safe emergency practices to young children in a nonthreatening manner.

In the 1930s, most girls were happy playing with dolls. But one girl, Betty Skelton, liked playing with airplanes, watching them fly around outside, and even flying airplanes herself! She lived for an adventure - in the air, the water, and on land - and nothing could stop her, especially not being a girl. When Betty Skelton was young there weren't many women flying airplanes or racing cars, but she wouldn't let that stop her. She was always ready to take on a challenge, and she loved to have fun.

Set in the 1870s, Edith Wharton examines the American elite culture on the East Coast. Newland Archer is a lawyer and heir to one of New York City's most prominent families. He is arraigned to be married to May Welland. Newland is pleased with the prospect, until he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, May's older cousin. Suddenly, Newland begins to doubt his arranged marriage and society's shallow rules as his attraction to Ellen increases.

Rodney Schmuck and his wife, Cleo, Hillside Manor's latest guests, seem completely ordinary. Judith McMonigle Flynn is touched to hear that the 40-something couple is in town to visit family. Rodney has come to visit his mother - who, he claims, is none other than Judith herself! Shocked to meet a son she's certain she never had, she insists he's made a mistake. Then Rodney shows her proof: a birth certificate from Norway General Hospital listing Judith Anne Grover as his mother.

1943: When seventeen-year-old Juliet Dufresne receives a cryptic letter from her enlisted older brother pleading for help, and then finds out he's been reported missing overseas, she lies about her age and volunteers as an army nurse to find him. Juliet is thrust into the bloody chaos of a field hospital, where she is increasingly consumed by the plight of her patients.

Bernie's college roommate, Ellen Hadley, is burning the candle at both ends. And after her children forget her birthday and her husband forgets their anniversary, her Mother's Day expectations are understandably modest. When Bernie jokingly suggests Ellen fake her own kidnapping to set her family straight, she never imagines the stunt will find Ellen in a hotel room next to a dead body.

Edda is a Valkyrie (an ancient Norse goddess who guides and protects heroes). She lives in a magical land called Asgard, where she has everything she wants. Well...almost everything. Edda wants to find a friend her own age.

It's 1796, and traveling weaver Will Rees is visiting Salem, Massachusetts. He's in town to buy a luxurious gift for his pregnant wife. While traveling through Salem, however, Rees comes upon a funeral procession for the deceased Mrs. Antiss Boothe. When Rees happens upon Twig, a friend who fought alongside him in the war, he learns that Mrs. Boothe had been very ill, and her death had not come as a surprise. But the next morning, Mr. Boothe has also died - and this time it is clearly murder.

Interior decorator Madison Night might look like a throwback to the 60s, but as business owner and landlord, she proves that independent women can have it all. When a killer targets women dressed in her signature style - estate sale vintage to play up her resemblance to fave actress Doris Day - what makes her unique might make her dead. The local detective connects the new crime to a 20-year-old cold case, and Madison's long-trusted contractor emerges as the leading suspect.

A neighborhood cat observes the changes in German and Jewish families in Berlin during the period leading up to Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. This cat's-eye view introduces the Holocaust to children in a gentle way that can open discussion of this period.

Both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford started off as insatiably curious tinkerers. That curiosity led them to become inventors - with very different results. As Edison invented hit after commercial hit, gaining fame and fortune, Henry struggled to make a single invention (an affordable car) work. Witnessing Thomas' glorious career from afar, a frustrated Henry wondered about the secret to his success.

Charles Minor Blackford, an aristocrat from Virginia, enlisted in the Second Virginia Cavalry at the start of the American Civil War. During his tour of duty, Captain Blackford kept constant correspondence with his wife, Susan Leigh Blackford. Captain Blackford wrote frequently about the horrible conditions in his camp, while Susan detailed her own struggles, including the loss of her home and the death of three children. This collection of letters highlights the misery of war, and offers a first-hand account of how the Civil War affected families.

A crucial lesson is delivered in this gentle tale about the importance of not letting strangers into school - even if that stranger is just a furry puppy! Author Becky Coyle learned firsthand how a child's trusting innocence can put them in danger in her role as an elementary school resource officer, and she was inspired to create this School Safety series to explain school safety to young children in a fun and engaging way.

Hazel Rose never dreamed that the murder mystery book group she and her friend Carlene started would stage a real murder. Nevertheless, the normally composed Carlene is unusually angry and rattled one night during a book group discussion and dies after drinking cyanide-spiked tea.

Will Rees is back home on his farm with his teenage son, his pregnant wife, their five adopted children, and endless farmwork under the blistering sun. But for all that, Rees is happy to have returned to Dugard, Maine, the town where he was born and raised and where he's always felt at home. When a man is found dead - murdered - after getting into a public dispute with Rees, Rees starts to realize someone is intentionally trying to pin the murder on him. Rees can feel the town of Dugard turning against him.

Poor Groundhog just can't sleep. He tosses. He turns. Finally, he gets out of bed and goes exploring. Outside his burrow, he finds amazing sights he has never seen before: glowing jack-o'-lanterns, gobbling turkeys, and sparkling holiday lights. But shouldn't Groundhog be in bed? With no sleep, how will he be able to get up for his big day?