Classic Childrens Literature

Fantastic Mr. Fox is on the run! The three meanest farmers around are out to get him. Fat Boggis, squat Bunce, and skinny Bean have joined forces, and they have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded. What they don’t know is that they’re not dealing with just any fox–Mr. Fox would never surrender. But only the most fantastic plan ever can save him now.

The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing?

When a novel like Huckleberry Finn or The Yearling comes along, it defies customary adjectives because of the intensity of the response it evokes in the reader. Such a tale is Old Yeller; to listen to this eloquently simply story of a boy and his dog in the Texas hill country is an unforgettable and deeply moving experience.

It's pooey on B-A-B-I-E-S until Junie B. finds out that her new dumb old baby brother is a big fat deal. Her two bestest friends are giving her everything they own just to see him. And guess what else? Maybe she can bring him to school on Pet Day.

Lester's demigod friends at Camp Jupiter just helped him survive attacks from bloodthirsty ghouls, an evil Roman king and his army of the undead, and the lethal emperors Caligula and Commodus. Now the former god and his demigod master Meg must follow a prophecy uncovered by Ella the harpy. Lester's final challenge will be at the Tower of Nero, back in New York.

Can Danny and his father outsmart the villainous Mr. Hazell? Danny has a life any boy would love - his home is a gypsy caravan, he's the youngest master car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. But one night Danny discovers a shocking secret that his father has kept hidden for years. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world.

Here are the beloved adventures of the mischievous hero Robin Hood and his brave and merry band of outlaws, who forged a chivalrous code to protect the oppressed and despoil the oppressors. Follow along as Robin makes his breathtaking escapes from his archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, while classic characters like Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Little John create one hilarious escapade after another.

On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.

A flash of lightning, quivering ground, and, instead of her grandparents' farm, Polly sees mist and jagged mountains - and coming toward her, a group of young men carrying spears. Why has a time gate opened and dropped Polly into a world that existed 3,000 years ago? Will she be able to get back to the present before the time gate closes - and leaves her to face a group of people who believe in human sacrifice?

Hero Wantage is desperate to change her fate. When the dashing Lord Sherry proposes out of the blue, Hero is overjoyed—she'll escape a life as a governess and, once they wed, he can finally claim his inheritance. But as Hero attempts to social climb in glamorous London society, Sherry is concerned that her naivety will ruin them both and takes drastic action. The chaos that follows will push friendships—and hearts—to breaking point.

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels. Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, their destinies are bound together...until they are split apart.

In this companion volume to A Wrinkle in Time (Newbery Award winner) and A Wind in the Door fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo. They are not alone in their quest. Charles Wallace's sister, Meg - grown and expecting her first child, but still able to enter her brother's thoughts and emotions by "kything" - goes with him in spirit.

Eustace Scrubb returns to Narnia—this time with his classmate Jill Pole—for a quest more perilous than either could have imagined. Prince Rilian, heir to the Narnian throne, has vanished, and only the cryptic signs given by Aslan can guide the way. Their journey leads them through treacherous lands, to the eerie underworld, and into the clutches of a witch whose enchantments could doom Narnia itself.

A young Munchkin boy, Kiki Aru, discovers a forbidden magical word in his father's laboratory while exploring one day and gets himself into a world of trouble. Since Princess Ozma had decreed that magic was forbidden to be practice by anyone except Glinda the Good Witch, Oz has been lacking in magical adventures and Kiki quickly changes that. Kiki uses the magic word, "pyrzqxgl", to transform himself and others into animals, including an exiled Nome, Ruggedo. Ruggedo and Kiki plan an invasion of Oz, changing people to animals and vice versa to get their way. It falls into the hands of the Wizard to start changing things back to normal, with Dorothy there to assist him.

When the Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of puppies (fifteen in all) everyone is delighted. But their joy is shattered when the pups are kidnapped! The humans don't have a clue as to who the culprit is, but the smartest dogs in London are on the case, and on the trail of fur-loving Cruella de Vil, who will stop at nothing to have a Dalmatian fur coat!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves everyone, and everyone loves her right back. The Children love her because she is lots of fun. Their parents love her because she can cure children of absolutely any bad habit. The treatments are unusual, but they work! Who better than a pig, for instance, to teach a piggy little boy table manners? And what better way to cure the rainy-day "waddle-I-do's" than hunt for pirate treasure in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's upside-down house?

The green leaves on the trees are changing to red and gold. A chilly wind blows from the north. Mrs. Cottontail and her littlest rabbit watch a flock of wild geese in the sky. “Cold winter days are near,” she tells him. All through the woods, creatures of every size are busy. Squirrels are storing acorns and seeds under logs. The ground hog is growing a warm fur coat. The blue bird begins his long trip south. They must hurry—soon the big snow is coming.

Revolutionary for the time in encouraging children to think like children, the adventure of Princess Irene and Curdie, the boy miner, was to influence generations of writers, including Chesterton and Tolkien. Overflowing with fantastic ideas and images to delight the young and allegory to inspire their morality ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ has remained one of the most exciting tales for over 100 years.Irene lives in a castle on a mountain under which there is a labyrinth of tunnels inhabited by Goblins.

Lorelei King reads Susan Coolidge's classic tale about feisty Katy and her adventures. Twelve-year-old Katy lives with her father, Aunt Izzy, and five younger brothers and sisters in the little town of Burnet. Tall, tomboyish and with a head full of plans and dreams, she just can't help getting into scrapes - she loses her homework, is late for school and gets her siblings in trouble when she persuades them to stay up past bedtime playing noisy games.

This box set brings the Bard's timeless tales to life for a younger generation, with wit and panache. Samantha Newman's cleverly reworked text retains many of Shakespeare's own inimitable turns of phrase, while simplifying and clarifying the language and plots to make stories accessible to children. Perfect for children aged 7+.