When Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert send to anorphanage for a boy to help them at GreenGables，their farm in Canada，they are astonishedwhen a talkative little girl steps off the train。 Anne，red-headed，pugnacious andincurably romantic，causes chaos at GreenGables and in the village。 But her wit and goodnature make her a firm favourite not only in thefictional community on Prince Edward Island,but also with generations of readers on eitherside of the Atlantic。
Lively and mischievous, idle and brave, Tom Brown is both the typical boy of his time and the perennial hero celebrated by authors as diverse as Henry Fielding and Alec Waugh. The book describes Tom's time at Rugby School from his first football match, through his troubled adolescence when he is savagely bullied by the unspeakable Flashman, to his growing maturity as a young man. This classic tale of a boy's schooldays under the benevolent eye of the renowned Dr. Arnold has been through hundreds of printings, and retains the appeal for which it was acclaimed on first publication in 1857.
The Brothers Grimm rediscovered a host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds. This selection of their tales was made and translated by Lucy Crane, and includes firm favourites such as Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. It is Illustrated throughout by Walter Crane's charming line drawings.
The Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb were written to be an‘introduction to the study of Shakespeare’but are much more entertaining than that. All of Shakespeare's best loved plays，comic and tragic，are retold in a clear and robust style，and their literary quality has made them popular and sought-after ever since their first publication in 1807. This edition contains the delightful pen-and-ink drawings of that master of illustration. Arthur Rackham.
When Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables farm on Prince Edward Island, she surprises everyone: first of all, she is a girl. Marilla Cuthbert and her brother, Matthew, had specifically asked for an orphan boy. She has bright red hair that won't manage and a mouth that won't shut. Nothing will ever be the same at Green Gables! A favorite story of generations of girls ever since it was first published in 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic story of one girl's profound effect on a small Canadian community has stayed in print for nearly one hundred years and has been made into a popular TV series and even a musical
The magical Peter Pan comes to the night nursery of the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael. He teaches them to fly, then takes them through the sky to Never-Never Land, where they find Red Indians, wolves, Mermaids and... Pirates. The leader of the pirates is the sinister Captain Hook. His hand was bitten off by a crocodile, who, as Captain Hook explains 'liked me arm so much that he has followed me ever since, licking his lips for the rest of me'. After lots of adventures, the story reaches its exciting climax as Peter, Wendy and the children do battle with Captain Hook and his band. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is the magical tale that first introduces Peter Pan, the little boy who never grows any older. He escapes his human form and flies to Kensington Gardens, where all his happy memories are, and meets the fairies, the thrushes, and Old caw the crow. The fairies think he is too human to be allowed to stay in after Lock-out time, so he flies off to an island which divides the Gardens from the mo
The magical Peter Pan comes to the night nursery of the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael. He teaches them to fly, then takes them through the sky to Never-Never Land, where they find Red Indians, wolves, Mermaids and... Pirates. The leader of the pirates is the sinister Captain Hook. His hand was bitten off by a crocodile, who, as Captain Hook explains 'liked me arm so much that he has followed me ever since, licking his lips for the rest of me'. After lots of adventures, the story reaches its exciting climax as Peter, Wendy and the children do battle with Captain Hook and his band.
Andrew Lang draws on his classical learning to recount the Homeric legend of the wars between the Greeks and the Trojans. Paris, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Hector, Ulysses, the Amazons and the Wooden Horse all figure in this magical introduction to one of the greatest legends ever told. Also included in this book are the adventures of Theseus and his dramatic battle with the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, and the quest of Jason for the Golden Fleece with the help of the Princess Medea.
"For many days we had been tempest-tossed . . .the raging storm increased in fury on the seventh day all hope was lost." From these dire opening lines, a delightful story of adventure begins. One family will emerge alive from this terrible storm: the Robinson's -- a Swiss pastor, his wife, and four sons, plus two dogs and a shipload of livestock, hens, pigeons and geese! Inspired by Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Cruesoe," this heartwarming tale portrays a family's struggle to create a new life for themselves on a strange and fantastic tropical island. There each boy must learn to control his own nature -- such as Ernest's bookishness and Fritz's hot temper -- as their adventures lead to amazing discoveries, danger, and tantalizing surprises, including a puzzling message tied to an albatross's leg. But it is the authenticity of the boys' behavior, the ingenuity of the family, and the natural wonders of this exotic land that have made The Swiss Family Robinson, first published in 1812-1813, one of the world's best-l
Heidi is the heart-warming tale of a small girl's power for good, and it has remained a firm favourite since it was published over 100 years ago.It has teen filmed and televised several times. It tells of the orphan Heidi and her idyllic existence with her gruff grandfather in the mountains. When she is sent to live in a city, comic chaos ensues, and eventually it is arranged that Heidi should return to the mountains. Together she and her friend Peter, the goat-herd, achieve wondrous changes in the community in which they live.
Robin Hood is the best-loved outlaw of all time. In this edition Henry Gilbert tells of the adventures of the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest - Robin himself, Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Alan-a-Dale, as well as Maid Marian, good King Richard, and Robin's deadly enemies Guy of Gisborne and the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.
With 90 million copies sold worldwide,the key words with ladybird reading scheme is the springboard to reading for life. 100 key words make up half of all those we read and write. This essential vocabulary is carefully introduced,practised and developed throughout the scheme.
Far from fading with time, Kenneth Grahame's classic tale of fantasy has attracted a growing audience in each generation. Rat, Mole, Badger, and the preposterous Mr. Toad （with his 'Poop-poop-poop' road-hogging new motor-car）, have brought delight to many through the years with their odd adventures on and by the river, and at the imposing residence of Toad Hall. Grahame's book was later dramatised by A.A.Milne, and became a perennial Christmas favourite,as Toad of Toad Hall. It continues to enchant and,above all perhaps, inspire great affection.
The tales are translated by A. E. Johnson. Eight of the twelve tales in this book are from the master hand of Charles Perrault (1628-1703). Although Perrault enjoyed much distinction in the French literary circle of the late seventeenth century, his fame today rests upon his authorship of the traditional "Tales of Mother Goose", or "Stories of Olden Times". And it is true to say that as long as there are children to listen spellbound to the adventures of "Cinderella", "Red Riding Hood", and that arch rogue "Puss in Boots", his memory will endure. Three of the tales, "The Ridiculous Wishes", "Donkey-Skin" and "Patient Griselda", are seldom included in Perrault collections as they were written in a very florid verse form. Not only Perrault, but Boccaccio, Chaucer and others have used the story of "Patient Griselda".The last story, "Beauty and the Beast", again not by Perrault (it was penned by Mme. Leprince de Beaumont 1711-1781), has a similarity of style and celebrity which justifiably merits its inclusion.
Its eyes were on long horns like a snail's eyes... it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a spider's and covered with thick, soft fur... and it had hands and feet like a monkey's. 'It' was the Psammead, the grumpy sand-fairy that could, if in the mood, grant a wish a day. When the five children befriend him they find that each wish granted often has a sting in its tail. Golden guineas are too difficult to spend, wings let them down in a most inconvenient way, and when they wish for Red Indians, the children forget that they can sometimes be a little warlike. Generations of children have come to love the fantasy and the whimsy of the stories in the classic book from the author of The Railway Children.
When Polyanna Whittier goes to live with her sour-tempered aunt after her father's death, things seem bad enough, but then a dreadful accident ensues. However, Pollyanna's sunny nature and good humour prove to have an astonishing effect on all around her, and this wonderful tale of how cheerfulness can conquer adversity has remained one of the world's most popular children's books since its first publication in 1913.
The captivating Irish stories collected in this new edition include both comic tales such as 'Paddy O'Kelly and the Weasel', and tales of heroes from ancient literature such as 'How Cormac Mac Art went to Faery'. By turns funny, fantastical and mysterious, the stories are matched in liveliness by the original illustrations of John D. Batten. It would be hard to find a better introduction for children to the special magic of Celtic storytelling. The stories in this book are taken from Joseph Jacob's classic two-volume collection Celtic Fairy Tales (1891-2) and More Celtic Fairy Tales (1894).
