Showing titles in Classics

Determined not to grow up, Peter Pan has escaped to Neverland. But when he loses his shadow, his attempt to reclaim it brings him into contact with the Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael. Peter teaches them to fly and convinces them to come back to Neverland with him - but when they find a dark island besieged by pirates and Red Indians, Wendy learns that dreamed-about Neverlands are all too often tinged with darker realities as well.

After Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are whisked away from Kansas by a cyclone, they embark on a remarkable odyssey accompanied by the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion. As they travel through enchanted lands toward the Emerald City, they find perils and colorful opponents including the wonderfully evil Wicked Witch.

An amazingly fast and strong but gentle thoroughbred, Black Beauty peacefully gallops across open meadows, carrying adoring children through the English countryside. But then a tragic accident forces his owner to sell him, and Black Beauty enters a world where horses are treated with bitter violence. Longing for his joyful youth on his original master's farm, Black Beauty faces horrible, demeaning abuse but never loses his spirit - or his great hope that he'll find happiness again.

"The great panther leaped as a kitten leaps at a dead leaf...landed noiselessly and leaped again and again, while the half purr, half growl gathered head as steam rumbles in a boiler." Kipling's magnetic, vivid descriptions of both the fierce and gentle aspects of the jungle are gathered here in a second collection of tales, along with the further adventures of Mowgli, the wolf-child.

When shy Mole ventures from his new home on the River Bank, he meets friendly Rat, gruff Badger and rich, crazy Toad. The 4 soon become friends and embark on rollicking adventures, from lazy picnics to wild motor-car rides to war with the Weasels. The Wind in the Willows began as a bedtime story that its author, Kenneth Grahame, told to his 4-year-old son. The tale quickly became one of the best-loved children's stories of all time.

Now adapted for a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton, the story of the Headless Horseman is a classic of American folklore. It is paired here with the myth of Rip Van Winkle who wanders into the Catskill Mountains for his legendary snooze.

White Fang, a wolf born in a litter full of puppies, learned the rules of nature from his mother, Kiche. She taught him about meat, predators, and survival - but not about his greatest and least predictable adversary - man. When the cruel Indian Gray Beaver captures him, White Fang is separated from his mother and forced to fight other camp dogs to survive. But things get even worse when Gray Beaver sells him to the cowardly Beauty Smith, who trains White Fang to hate by destroying other dogs in his pen. As his memories of Kiche and the laws she taught him fade, White Fang becomes little more than a vicious animal, but still yearns for the freedom of his early life.

When young Alice follows a White Rabbit down a hole, she plunges into a fantasy land of bizarre adventures. Alice encounters such strange characters as the Cheshire Cat, the Duchess, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Mock Turtle, and the croquet-playing Queen of Hearts. As if that weren't enough, Alice often grows as tall as a house or shrinks to 3 inches. This classic story has delighted children and adults for generations.

Robin and Maid Marian, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Friar Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet, and evil Prince John - these names have been the stuff of legend for over a thousand years. But they were scattered legends until E. Charles Vivian gathered the tales and distilled them into this novel, codifying the classic story we know today of the man who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Follow along with the hero of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, to the climatic attack on the castle known as Evil Hold.

From the oldest "Cinderella" story in the world to a tale of a boy who lived among seals, storyteller Rafe Martin delivers imaginative and impressive tales that will delight the whole family. He presents his award-winning children's picture books, which originally developed from his performances. "The Rough-Face Girl," an ancient Algonquin Indian tale, may have been brought back to France by fur traders, where it became "Cinderella." "Foolish Rabbit," Martin's first children's book, is based on a 3,000-year-old story from India about facing fear, while "The Boy Who Lived with the Seals" is a longer version of a Native American tale about following our own visions. Finally, the evocative "The Boy Who Loved Mammoths" grew out of Martin's childhood wishes, dreams, and memories.

Sarah Crewe is treated like a princess at Miss Minchin's boarding school - until her father dies, leaving her peniless. Now she must struggle as a servant to evil Miss Minchin, but the intellgent, kind-hearted girl never loses hope. From her garrett, she soon makes friends and finds incredible adventures. And good will and imagination ultimately triumph by this book's glorious ending. This beloved classic has been continuously in publication since 1905. Experienced Shakespearean actress Wanda McCaddon captures all the drama of Sarah Crewe's adventures as well as the accents of Miss Minchin, the scullery maid, and Sarah herself.

Originally written as a protest against cruelty and ill treatment of horses, this compassionate tale has captured the imagination of generations of children. The saga begins with Black Beauty as a young thoroughbred in a stable with his beloved Squire Gordon, who is forced to sell the horse, beginning a tragic but exciting journey. The sweet-tempered horse must deal with broken knees, narrow escapes from disaster, and the drudgery of pulling a London cab for a cruel owner.

Set in faraway India and the Aleutians, the animals and humans who inhabit Kipling's Jungle Books have been children's favorites for generations. Book I introduces the black panther Bagheera, the lame and evil tiger Shere Khan, the rock python Kaa, the brown bear Baloo who teaches the wolf cubs the Law of the Jungle, the man cub Mowgli who lives with the wolves, Toomai of the elephants, and many others.

Five tales which range from the jungles of India to the frozen emptiness of the North... In all of them, Kipling's extraordinary powers of description and ability to identify with human aspiration and animal survival are vividly shown. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi must battle with Nag, the cobra, in his territory; Toomai has a unique glimpse of the elephant world, Kotick, the White Seal, searches for sanctuary, while Kotuko has to find food for his starving Eskimo village. Above all, Kipling's love of life in all its variety shines through.

Here are some of the most enchanting fairy stories of all time. The Brothers Grimm conjure up a world of fantasy, hope and good fortune where the princess meets and marries the right prince (even if he once was a frog), and where the cruel witch, the arrogant wife and the greedy wolf get their comeuppance.

Alice's adventures, funny, inventive, and disturbing, have fascinated and delighted children and adults alike since their publication. The fantasy worlds in which she finds herself introduce her to characters as varied and well-known as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and the Cheshire Cat.

Robin Hood, one of the great legends of England, lives again in this re-telling of the famous story. Dressed in Lincoln green, with his longbow never far from his hands, he moves through Sherwood Forest, with the help of his companions Little John, Will Scarlett, Friar Tuck, and Lady Marion, righting wrongs done by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his mysterious sister, the Prioress.

Eleven-year old orphan Anne Shirley has red hair, a vivid imagination and cannot stop talking. Quite a shock for old Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who wanted a boy to help them on the farm... Anne is soon the talk of the town with her funny ways and endless adventures, but it is not long before she has won the hearts of everyone. This classic story is set in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century and is one of the most enduring favorites of children's literature.

The world of Hans Christian Andersen is seen through the eyes of children. There is the every-day wonder of an ugly duckling being transformed into a swan; the puffed-up Emperor being fooled by his own importance; the tender tragedy of a little match girl; the upright honesty of John rewarded by his traveling companion.

Now Anne is sixteen and a half and is about to start teaching at the very same school she hefself attended. Those of you who know Anne will realise that she has always been delighfully, accident prone, falling into scrapes because of her plans and adventures.