Classic Childrens Fiction

From adventures with sleepy giants to bedtime stories about how Bobs the dog got a cold nose, drift into dreamland with these short stories by Enid Blyton. Look out for midnight parties and falling stars! These traditional tales are ideal for younger children listening along with parents or for those listening independently. Each story stands alone and is the perfect length for listening to at bedtime or in the classroom.

Actress Glenn Close reads Washington Irving's eerie tale of romantic rivalry along the Hudson. The story pits the new schoolmaster Ichabod Crane against the local hero and bully, Brom Bones, for the hand of Katrina Van Tassel. This haunting drama climaxes with the appearance of one of the great, legendary ghosts of all time: the headless horseman.

In Wonderland, she encounters strange creatures like the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts, each more surreal than the last.

Eleven year-old Portia and her younger brother, Foster, spend a summer with their cousin, Julian, engaged in more than the usual summer pastimes of sun, fun and games. The children discover a fascinating abandoned summer resort, consisting of deserted crumbling Victorian summer homes surrounding a vanished lake, which is now a swamp. But, best of all, they discover and befriend an elderly eccentric brother and sister who tell them the story of Gone-Away Lake.

Now a major Lifetime movie event—Book Four of the Dollanganger series that began with Flowers in the Attic—the novel of forbidden love that captured the world’s imagination and earned V.C. Andrews a fiercely devoted fanbase. They escaped their mother’s hellish trap years ago, but a cruel...

Heroes Ralph, Jack and Peterkin set sail on the Arrow and are the only three survivors of a fearful shipwreck. They are washed ashore on a seemingly idyllic coral island.This tranquillity is violently disturbed, first by a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibals and then by the invasion of a vicious pirate and his gang of cut-throats. Will the boys thwart their enemies and live to see England again?

When first published, Walker’s versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey attracted attention for the quality of the writing. Multi-award-winning author Gillian Cross makes two of the greatest stories in the world come alive for children in her strong, clear, deceptively simple retellings, which are faithful to the spirit and structure of Homer’s epic poems, and this new bind-up in a friendly format comes complete with an introduction.

Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) wrote Old Peter's Russian Tales while he was in Russia during the First World War, prior to becoming a war correspondent for The Manchester Guardian. There are 22 stories in all and are told by Old Peter at the behest of his grandchildren, Ivan and Maroosia, in a cozy log cabin in the middle of the forest. These are delightful re-tellings in Ransome's own words of Russian folk tales, and include stories such as "The Little Snow Girl", "Baba Yaga", "Frost", and "Salt".

When James wakes to see snow falling one December morning, he is delighted and rushes outside to make a snowman. With coal eyes, an old green hat and scarf and a tangerine nose, he is perfect and James can hardly bear to go inside and leave him. In the middle of the night, he wakes and creeps out to see his snowman again - and to his amazement, the snowman comes to life.... This special tale of true Christmas magic will bring everyone's favourite childhood festive character to a brand-new audience.

Chatterer the Red Squirrel finds himself in trouble again and is forced to abandon his old home. As the search for a new home begins, Chatterer's curiosity gets the better of him and a moment of carelessness causes him to stumble into a far different home than he ever imagined. This book is Thornton W. Burgess at his best as he captures the personalities and behaviors of the animals in the Green Forest delightfully well and tells a story of mischievousness and unexpected friendship.

Steve Boswell will never forget Carly Beth's Halloween mask. It was so gross. So terrifying. But this year Steve wants to have the scariest costume on the block. So he gets a mask from the same store where Carly Beth got hers. It looks like a creepy old man. With stringy hair. A wrinkled face. And spiders crawling out of the ears! Steve's definitely got the scariest mask around. Too bad he's starting to feel so old. And so tired. And so evil.

This bundle includes The Curse of the Ancient Emerald and Tunnel of Secrets.

A classic tale of adventure and survival, The Swiss Family Robinson has been a best seller ever since it was published in 1812, just over 200 years ago. Written by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss, it begins with a shipwreck. A boat carrying a family of settlers to a distant colony is driven onto a reef just off an uncharted tropical island. The sailors desert the ship in lifeboats, leaving the family onboard.

In this sequel to The Princess and the Goblin, Curdie has returned to his life as a miner and has dismissed the supernatural happenings of the past, believing them to have been a dream. When Curdie callously wounds a pigeon, his conscience leads him to Princess Irene's mystical great-great-grandmother for help. She has him plunge his hands into a pile of rose petals that burns like fire. Extraordinarily, this grants him the power to see what kind of "animal" a person is at heart.

Good Wives continues the story of the Little Women, the March sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, as they approach womanhood. Meg longs to begin her new life with John Brook, though they can never be rich; Jo returns to devote herself to literature, and to Beth, whose illness has left her weak but whose serenity shines through the household; and Amy has gone to Aunt March, bribed with the offer of drawing lessons.

Lucy likes to tell monster stories. She's told so many that her friends and family are sick of it. Then one day, Lucy discovers a real, live monster: the librarian in charge of the summer reading program. Too bad Lucy's told so many monster tall tales.

Pas étonnant que Guillaume s'endorme pendant les cours : toutes les nuits, il observe les drôles de choses qui se passent dans l'immeuble d'en face. Une mystérieuse vieille dame qui n'arrête pas d'écrire, une jeune fille qui s'enfuit dans les rues sombres, toujours à la même heure... Un jour, il se lance à sa poursuite, et découvre que toutes les réponses à ses questions se trouvent... à la bibliothèque ! Avec l'aide de ses amis, il se lance dans un fantastique voyage au pays des livres, qui le mènera à la rencontre d'Alice au pays des merveilles, de Poil de Carotte, du Petit Prince.

Once upon a time there were two princes who were twins... begins Charles Kingsley in his 1856 rendering of Greek mythological heroes for children. Featuring the many exploits of Perseus, Jason and the Argonauts, and Theseus, this timeless collection of myths is a rich tapestry of adventure celebrated in early Greek lore. Kingsley’s Heroes is a classic book that will please listeners of all ages.

Mrs. Pepper, a widow, and her five children lived in a plain little brown house, where she struggled to feed and clothe her lively brood. The family had little in the way of luxury and hardly any of the things that many of us today take for granted, but they had such fun and good times together, and loved one another so dearly that, when a very rich little boy discovered the warmth and happiness that flooded the little brown house, he felt himself lucky to be in it.

Now a major Lifetime movie event, from New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic, My Sweet Audrina) comes the fourth installment in the classic story of the Casteel family saga. Stunned by tragedy, a young woman finds herself desperate and alone...