Classic Childrens Literature

Russell Tovey reads the story of the handsome and spirited horse, Black Beauty. 'I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick...' So says Black Beauty's mother when he is a very young colt, and he never forgets her advice. This is the story of the horse's adventures and the disappointments and joys that surround him, from his carefree early days on an English farm with his mother, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London and finally his happy retirement in the country.

After the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All. No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them; nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality…

Ayla and Jondalar set out on horseback across the windswept grasslands of Ice Age Europe. To the hunter gatherers of their world - who have never seen tame animals - Ayla and Jondalar appear enigmatic and frightening.

He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever: the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero.

One of Newbery Medalist Sid Fleischman's most beloved books, this rip-snortin' saga of a young man and his butler bound for California during the great Gold Rush was just made to be read by a full cast. Our collection of coots, codgers, geezers, and outlaws will have you laughing out loud...when you're not holding your breath in suspense!

Tommy and his sister Annika have a new neighbor, and her name is Pippi Longstocking. She has red pigtails, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a pet monkey named Mr. Nilsson. Whether Pippi's scrubbing her floors, doing arithmetic, or stirring things up at a fancy tea party, her flair for the outrageous always seems to lead to another adventure.

A strange sea monster suddenly appears on the lake… a fortune is unearthed from an old cannon…a valuable dinosaur egg is stolen. Who’s responsible? Those seven junior geniuses—and their wild ideas! "Every time you Mad Scientists get mixed up in something, it means trouble!" cries the mayor of Mammoth Falls. Watch out as the seven junior geniuses of the Mad Scientists’ Club turn the town upside down.

Cybils Award-winning author Laura Amy Schlitz crafts a masterful interpretation of one of the Grimm Brothers' most engrossing fairy tales. A cold and hungry soldier is returning from war. He has no money, so he makes a pact with the devil. If he can wear a bearskin for seven years, he will always have plenty of gold. But if he tells anyone of the pact, he will lose his soul.

When the Watson family—ten-year-old Kenny, Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron—sets out on a trip south to visit Grandma in Birmingham, Alabama, they don’t realize that they’re heading toward one of the darkest moments in America’s history. The Watsons’ journey reminds us that even in the hardest times, laughter and family can help us get through anything.

Friar Tuck, a big golden Labrador, is young Helen’s inseparable companion. She still remembers the sunny day three years ago when her father dumped the fat, wriggling puppy into her surprised arms and said, “All yours, Helen.” Since then, her dog has grown into a wonderful friend for the lanky, red-haired girl. No one knows exactly when Tuck began to go blind. By the time Helen and her parents notice the symptoms, the dog is knocking over chairs and can no longer chase squirrels.

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run from somewhere she wants to run to somewhere--to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and preferably elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother, Jamie, has money and thus can help her with the serious cash flow problem she invites him along.

Louis is a Trumpeter Swan, but he has no voice. Leaving his wild and beautiful home, he finds a young human friend, Sam Beaver, who helps him learn to read and write. When he returns to the lake, Louis discovers his education isn't enough: the beautiful swan he loves, Serena, can't read his declarations of love, and he can't trumpet them. Louis' resolution to win the swan of his desire launches him on an adventure that will take him far from home and lead where fate and love have a few surprises in store.

Anne Shirley has left Redmond College behind to begin a new job and a new chapter of her life away from Green Gables. Now she faces a new challenge: the Pringles. They're known as the royal family of Summerside - and they quickly let Anne know she is not the person they wanted to be principal of Summerside High School.

In an attempt to win the heart of her king and a nightly stay of execution, the beautiful and wise Scheherazade spares her life and enchants her husband with exotic tales of jinn, magic lamps, daring heroics and true love. First dated as early as the 9th century, this collection of stories-within-a-story, also called The Thousand and One Nights, is colorfully narrated and will charm listeners with the classic tales of Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad and more.

Thornton Waldo Burgess (1874-1965) was a conservationist and author of children's stories. Burgess loved nature and its wild animals so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column. The delightful Adventures of Sammy Jay combines humorous animal escapades with gentle lessons about wildlife and nature, while The Burgess Bird Book for Children (1919) is a classic nature book which introduces young listeners to the subject of bird life by means of a series of interviews within a story....

James Marshall retells the familiar tale in which one of three pigs survives a wolf's attacks by using his head.

Following up on the classic children's novel The Saturdays, Elizabeth Enright continues the engaging tale of the Melendy family (Mona, Rush, Randy, Oliver, Father, and Cuffy, the housekeeper) and their move from an old brownstone in New York City to a charming house in the country. Called the Four-Story Mistake for its odd look and confused architectural history, the house offers the Melendys wonderful quirks and surprises.

Introduce your children to the magic of Shakespeare with these 20 favorite tales. Although simplified, these lively stories don't underestimate young readers; they keep the complexity, twists of plot, and turns of fate found in the originals.

After their epic journey across Europe, Ayla and Jondalar have reached his home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, the old stone-age settlement in the region known today as southwest France. Jondalar's family greet him warmly, but they are initially wary of the beautiful young woman he has brought back, with her strange accent and her tame wolf and horses.

A woodcutter and his wife are desperate for a child - even one as small as his father's thumb. So Merlin and the Faerie Queen grant their wish, and Tom Thumb is born! A magical retelling of the classic tale, read by Stephen Mangan.