Family Classics

Generations of young readers continue to fall in love with Marguerite Henry’s “horse stories.” In one of her most famous, King of the Wind, the author traces the ancestry of the great Kentucky Derby winner, Man o’ War, whose mysterious pedigree is linked to the noble line leading from the Godolphin Arabian.

For listeners who are tired of Christmas commercialism, or who feel that Santa Claus and reindeer don’t tell the whole story, these classic gems provide a winning alternative. Selected for their insightfulness, spiritual value, and literary quality (nothing moralistic here) they project the spirit of the season in a fresh, compelling manner that will resonate with listeners of all ages - from children too young to read to themselves, to parents and grandparents who enjoy listening to stories, as well.

The only friend Emmie Hatton has ever had at the Craven Home for Orphaned Children is Lucy, the little black kitten that visits her on the fire escape every day. But when the children of Craven Home are evacuated out of London because of the war, heartbroken Emmie is forced to leave sweet Lucy behind. The children are sent to Misselthwaite Manor, a countryside mansion full of countless dusty rooms and a kind, if busy, staff. Emmie even finds a gruff gardener and an inquisitive little robin that just might become new friends.

A classic of children's literature, Pollyanna's success led to Porter writing a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up. Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published. Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times.

Heidi es una niña que, huérfana desde muy pequeña y queda al cuidado de su joven tía Dete. Apenas la mujer encuentra una buena oportunidad de trabajo, lleva a la niña a vivir a la aldea de Dörffi en la comuna suiza de Maienfeld con su abuelo, a quien no conocía, y a quien los habitantes llamaban "El Viejo de los Alpes", por ser casi un ermitaño. Heidi es cautivada por la vida en los Alpes, donde lleva un contacto directo con la naturaleza. La niña vive feliz, pero alejada de la sociedad, por lo que su tía decide llevarla a la ciudad para una mejor educación.

An insightful story about a happily married woman who takes over her husband’s business upon his early death and creates a prospering business with seed capital from a childhood friend. She maintains her beliefs and avocations while doing the hard work of farming.

Il più importante romanzo verista della letteratura italiana, un capolavoro senza pari che racconta la storia di una famiglia di pescatori di Aci Trezza, paesino nei pressi di Catania, all'indomani dell'Unità d'Italia.

A witty retelling of a well-known fairy tale features the adventures of two children who are abandoned in the forest and lured into the clutches of a witch by her confection cottage. By the creator of the George and Martha series.

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Sal and her mother are picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Meanwhile Sal's mother is being followed by a small bear with a big appetite for berries! Will each mother go home with the right little one?

A moving musical score helps bring to life this unforgettable story from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

Sylvester is a rock collector. One day he finds a magic pebble that makes wishes come true. He rushes home to share his good fortune with his parents. On the way, he’s frightened by a hungry lion and quickly asks the pebble to turn him into a rock, so the lion can’t eat him. It works - but there sits Sylvester on Strawberry Hill with no way to hold the pebble to wish himself back into a donkey. Seasons come and go as Sylvester’s parents desperately search for him....

The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet: a hardworking father, a loving mother, three fine sons, and a bright, pretty daughter. But an incident occurs on Valentine's Day, 1976 - hushed up in the rural town of Mt. Ephraim, New York and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home - that rends the fabric of their family life.

Hawthorne approached the Romantic notion of the ability of science to destroy art (or beauty) in the form of fictive "horror stories" of biological research out of control. This story is the best of that group. A devoted scientist marries a beautiful woman with a single physical flaw: a birthmark on her face. Aylmer becomes obsessed with the imperfection and his attempts to remove it via his scientific skills, thus rendering his bride perfect.

Henry Stanton’s 1922 book Sex: Avoided Subjects Discussed in Plain English is intended as a frank (although consevative and moralistic) guide to human sexual behaviour and relationships. It is partly a self-help book, partly an attempt to relay the scientific knowledge of the day in relation to sex and reproduction in a way suitable for popular consumption.

Heidi verkürzte für junge Hörer.

Anne Shirley has come a long way since her days as a mischievous orphan living in the house at Green Gables. She is now 18 and headed to faraway Redmond College in Kingsport. Anne's college years are sure to be full of fun, but they will also be a time for soul-searching and big decisions. When her longtime friend Gilbert Blythe proposes, Anne feels they can never be more than friends. But is her new admirer, the handsome and wealthy Roy Gardner, really the man of her dreams?

Bee Ridgway’s wildly inventive debut novel, The River of No Return, blends romance, conspiracy, and time travel for a tale sure to intrigue listeners. When soldier and aristocrat Nick Falcott is sent from a Napoleonic battlefield in 1815 to modern-day London, he never expects to go back - until the Guild calls for him. Returning home as if from the dead, Nick reunites with his lost love, Julia Percy, and enlists her help in finding a mysterious object known as the Talisman.

Betsan Llwyd yn darllen nofel â ddisgrifiwyd fel "Clasur Cymraeg cyntaf yr unfed ganrif ar hugain". Hunangofiant dychmygol hen fodryb yr awdures a fu farw yn ei phlentyndod, yn cynnwys portread byw a chynnes o gymdeithas wledig Gymraeg yn Sir Feirionnydd yn ystod yr 20fed ganrif.

Millions of readers around the world have followed the story of the gentle wood-carver and carpenter who was first introduced in 1983 in Joseph Girzone’s beloved parable, Joshua. In Joshua's Family, Girzone travels back in time, painting a captivating portrait of the mother and father who nurtured Joshua, and of the friends and neighbors who viewed the unusually precocious child with an uneasy balance of wonder and skepticism.

Since it first appeared in 1913, Pollyanna has become an enduring favorite with children. The tale of an orphan who maintains a strongly positive view of the world despite adversity has a strong affect on listeners of all ages, even in the 21st century - and especially when read with such warmth by Laura Lefkow.