Classics Library

They tell Jip he tumbled off the back of a wagon when he was small, and no one ever came back for him. He never had a reason to question this tale - but then a stranger shows up and begins asking about him around town. Who is this man, and could he possibly know something about Jip's past?

The best and most revered works of famed poet and author, Edgar Allen Poe.

Whether it's the adventures of Greek gods and goddesses or Norse trickster tales, we all love to hear a good story. Best-selling author Kenneth C. Davis gives readers a taste of these enchanting myths and the diverse people who tell them. In his trademark question-and-answer style peppered with entertaining sidebars and quotes, he also shows how almost every civilization's mythology shares common themes.

This delightful true story, written in the first person by the spouse of the title character, will have readers reliving their own pasts. Baby boomers will surely savor references to the pop culture, history, and politics of their collective youth as they get caught up in the personal lives of the author and his spouse. In an afternoon you will learn how a speeding ticket and an interest in four-part a cappella harmony intersected with the Cold War to start the protagonists on the road to holy matrimony.

"Send Us a Boy, We'll Send You a Cowboy!" is the slogan of the Box Canyon Boys Camp. But for the nail biters, thumb suckers, and teeth grinders, the cast-away offspring of parents who are busy traveling, being divorced, remarrying, and garnering fortunes, it's just another place to face rejection. Until Cotton.

It's 1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing's that easy in Penny's family. For starters, she can't go swimming because her mother's afraid she'll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father's name is mentioned. And the two sides of her family aren?t speaking to each other!

Evil men have come to the land of Tarzan of the Apes, looting and killing as they move. But other evil lurks in a small valley of the Ghenzi Mountains, where the last remnants of an ugly, perverted people dwell in what they call their faith—an ancient belief that came from Rome nearly 2,000 years before. Now they are wicked and many of them are insane. And now they have captured Lady Barbara Collis and mean to use her as a human sacrifice—unless Tarzan arrives in time!

Presenting a delightful collection of children's favorite Mother Goose rhymes by Tomie dePaola. Young listeners and their parents will enjoy meeting up with familiar friends, including Old King Cole, Little Bo-Peep, Jack and Jill, and many more in an audiobook that is sure to be a story-hour favorite.

Washington Irving's tales of romance, travel, biographical discourse, and literary musing introduced such classic fictional figures as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horsemen of Sleepy Hollow. A sage, storyteller, and wit, Irving earned his preeminence in early American literature with these masterpieces in miniature.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Gibson worships her widowed father. But when he decides to remarry, Molly’s life is thrown off course by the arrival of her vain, shallow, and selfish stepmother. There is some solace in the shape of her new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, sophisticated and irresistible to every man she meets. Soon the girls become close, and Molly finds herself cajoled into becoming a go-between in Cynthia’s love affairs. But in doing so, Molly risks ruining her reputation in the gossiping village of Hollingford - and jeopardizing everything with the man she is secretly in love with.

Thomas Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy, and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal. Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, Far from the Madding Crowd shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world.

Elizabeth Gaskell's compassionate, richly dramatic novel features one of the most original and fully-rounded female characters in Victorian fiction, Margaret Hale. It shows how, forced to move from the country to an industrial northern town, she develops a passionate sense of social justice, and a turbulent relationship with mill-owner John Thornton. North and South depicts a young woman discovering herself, in a nuanced portrayal of what divides people, and what brings them together.

Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew want to adopt an orphan, to help on the farm at Green Gables. They ask for a boy, but they get Anne, who has red hair and freckles, and who talks and talks and talks.They didn’t want a girl, but how can they send a child back, like an unwanted parcel? So Anne stays, and begins a new life in the sleepy, quiet village of Avonlea in Canada.

When Lisa takes Corduroy to the theater for the very first time, it’s so magnificent and exciting that he just can’t help heading out on his own to explore. From the orchestra pit to the prop table to the dressing rooms, Corduroy sees it all. Could there be a place for Corduroy on stage, too? Fifty years after this lovable, inquisitive teddy bear was first introduced, he’s now the star of the show. Author Viola Davis uses her own experience as an Emmy, Tony, and Oscar award-winning actress to imbue Corduroy’s adventure with all the magic of the stage.

When timid and plain Catherine Sloper acquires a dashing and determined suitor, her father, convinced that the young man is nothing more than a fortune-hunter, decides to put a stop to their romance. Torn between her desire to win her father’s love and approval and her passion for the first man who has ever declared his love for her, Catherine faces an agonising dilemma, and becomes all too aware of the restrictions that others seek to place on her freedom.

Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious, and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena’s vivacious cousin enters their household as a "hired girl", Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent. In one of American fiction’s finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill-starred trio towards their tragic destinies. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

You are walking through the streets of London. It is getting dark and you want to get home quickly. You enter a narrow side-street. Everything is quiet, but as you pass the door of a large, windowless building, you hear a key turning in the lock. A man comes out and looks at you. You have never seen him before, but you realize immediately that he hates you. You are shocked to discover, also, that you hate him. Who is this man that everybody hates?

Young children will learn a valuable lesson about teamwork from this funny, favorite folktale of Little Red Hen working hard to plant her wheat.

Meant for "bigger things," Scuffy the Tugboat leaves the man with the polka-dot tie and his little boy and sets off to explore the world. But on his daring adventure down the river, Scuffy realizes that home is where he'd rather be, sailing in his bathtub. Generations of parents and children have cherished this classic Little Golden Book, originally published in 1946.

In this Little Golden Book Classic, follow Margaret Wise Brown's furry, lovable bunny on his springtime journey to find a home! A family favorite since 1956.