Said to be on the bookshelf of C.S. Lewis, "At the Back of the North Wind" by George MacDonald is the story of a young farm boy, Diamond, who is naturally connected to goodness and nature -- he was even named after a horse. Diamond's story unfolds as he befriends, and is befriended by a magical, fairy-like lady who embodies the "North Wind." Inspired by MacDonald's deep Christian faith, as were all his works, the remarkable, moving character of Diamond is in part also based upon MacDonald's own son Maurice, who died very young. Particularly written for young readers, "At the Back of the North Wind" will please everyone who loves C.S. Lewis's "Narnia." The enchanted land of the North Wind will please one and all.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who has hung on determinedly to an optimistic spirit and a wildly creative imagination through her early deprivations. She erupts into the lives of aging brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a girl instead of the boy they had sent for. Thus begins a story of transformation for all three; indeed the whole rural community of Avonlea comes under Anne's influence in some way. We see her grow from a girl to a young woman of sixteen, making her mistakes, and not always learning from them. Intelligent, hot-headed as her own red hair, unwilling to take a moral truth as read until she works it out for herself, she must also face grief and loss and learn the true meaning of love. Part Tom Sawyer, part Jane Eyre, by the end of Anne of Green Gables, Anne has become the heroine of her own story.

Little Women is one of the best-loved children's stories of all time, based on the author's own youthful experiences. It describes the family of the four March sisters living in a small New England community. Meg, the eldest, is pretty and wishes to be a lady; Jo, at fifteen is ungainly and unconventional with an ambition to be an author; Beth is a delicate child of thirteen with a taste for music and Amy is a blonde beauty of twelve. The story of their domestic adventures, their attempts to increase the family income, their friendship with the neighbouring Laurence family, and their later love affairs remains as fresh and beguiling as ever.

This book contains the story of Alice in Wonderland that has been adapted into a play for children. The play had been compiled from Lewis Carroll's stories, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. A lovely addition to the bookshelf of any child.

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - THE cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors. It cast its eyes upon the roads, which were growing from long troughs of liquid mud to proper thoroughfares. A river, amber- tinted in the shadow of its banks, purled at the army's feet; and at night, when the stream had become of a sorrowful blackness, one could see across it the red, eyelike gleam of hostile camp-fires set in the low brows of distant hills. Once a certain tall soldier developed virtues and went resolutely to wash a shirt. He came flying back from a brook waving his garment bannerlike. He was swelled with a tale he had heard from a reliable friend, who had heard it from a truthful cavalryman, who had heard it from his trustworthy brother, one of the orderlies at division headquarters. He adopted the important air of a herald in red and gold. "We're goin' t' move t' morrah - sure," he said pompously to a group in the company street. "We're goin' 'way up the river, cut across, an' come around in behint 'em."

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - YOU don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly - Tom's Aunt Polly, she is - and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

"Eight Cousins" (1875) is a happy story about a sad girl, thirteen-year-old Rose Campbell. Orphaned and weak, Rose is on the verge of tears in the book's first glimpse. She is a "low-spirited butterfly," as author Louisa May Alcott describes her. But Rose has big surprises coming -- for one, the appearance of her seven boy cousins of "all ages, all sizes." Another is the supposed boy-hater's discovery of how much she likes this "flock of tall lads," and even their bagpipes. The arrival of Rose's unconventional guardian, Uncle Alec, sets the stage for a summer of fun and learning. Alcott hides the book's lessons is a whirl of big-family commotion, but she is ever the moralist. "Eight Cousins" teaches Rose (and Alcott's readers) to eat right, exercise, and be ready to sacrifice for the sake of friendship. Rose's birthday signals a new beginning for the once-pensive little girl -- and one more surprise: that Rose might feel more than friendship for one boy in particular. "Rose in Bloom" is Alcott's sequel to "Eight Cousins."

As You Like It is set in the enchanted Forest of Arden, where Rosalind, the daughter of an exiled duke, and Orlando, the son of one of her father’s courtiers, become entangled in a game of love and mistaken identity.Also available as part of a 20 book set, including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tragedy of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Winter’s Tale, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Timon of Athens, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Cymbeline, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, Anthony and Cleopatra and All’s Well That Ends Well. About Sweet Cherry Easy Classics:Sweet Cherry Easy Classics adapts classic literature into stories for children, introducing these timeless tales to a new generation.

Let Harold and his purple crayon lead you on a fantastic journey of the imagination. The beloved classic is now available as a board book, perfect for little hands at bedtime.

"One cold and windy autumn evening many years ago a newspaper parcel was found on the doorstep of the Home for Moomin Foundlings. In that parcel I lay, quite small and shivering with cold." So begins the remarkable Memoirs of Moominpappa, a book written to delight his dear son Moomintroll and friends. What follows is a story about storytelling itself. Moominpappa weaves one fabulous tale after another, writing at night to read aloud by day and featuring not only the fearless, adventurous author but also the fathers of Sniff and Snufkin - the rather muddled Muddler and the carefree Joxter. Add to this mix the genius inventor Hodgkins and a grand finale in which Moominpappa rescues a shipwrecked Moominmamma from the waves and the fun becomes irresistible. The Memoirs of Moominpappa, was first published in the UK in 1950 under the title, The Exploits of Moominpapa. In the early 1960s Tove Jansson substantially revised this text, redrawing pictures and reinstating her preferred title. This is the very first time the revised edition has become available in the UK.

"Little Men" (1871) continues Louisa May Alcott's story of the March family. It picks up from "Little Women" and "Good Wives" to follow tomboy Jo into her married life. Jo and her husband, Prof. Bhaer, have opened a school for boys. Jo takes charge, but she retains a "merry sort of face," and the boys call her jolly. The school takes in troubled cases including homeless "little chap," Nat, and rowdy run-away Dan. Alcott pictures the kind of boyhood that the recent bestseller, "The Dangerous Book for Boys," hopes to rekindle. Alcott's boys climb trees and sneak off to light their first (choke ) cigars, but each lad has the makings of a good man -- qualities that Jo intends to bring out. The language might sound as quaint as "thunder turtles " and "hoydens" (grrrls), but the drama is the same now as always. Jo's concern for her boys is every teacher's -- every right parent's -- hope for every child. The story concludes with "Jo's Boys: And How They Turned Out."

When signs appear that a comet is heading towards their beloved Moominvalley, Moomin and his friend Sniff set sail to consult with the professors in the distant Lonely Mountains. Their journey is full of adventures and narrow escapes; from crocodiles, giant lizards, eagles and the like, but new friends - soon to become firm friends - help lighten the way. In this first and most exciting Moomin novel, we meet the wandering Snufkin, the fascinating Snork Maiden and her brother the Snork as they join Moomin in his race to get home to Moominmamma before the comet crashes.

Gretel looked at her mother] in troubled silence, wondering whether it were very wicked to care more for one parent than for the other-and sure, yes, quite sure, that she dreaded her father, while she clung to her mother with a love that was almost idolatry. -from Hans Brinker A beloved childhood favorite for a century and a half-and a book that readers continue to enjoy and appreciate long into adulthood-Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates went through more than 100 editions during the author's lifetime alone. First published in 1865, this replica of the 1917 edition features the exquisite illustrations by Alice Carsey, whose sensitive eye and delicate pen-and-ink lines enliven the tale of the poor but virtuous Dutch boy in a way that few other artists have achieved. This replica edition brings the enchanting work of Dodge and Carsey to a new generation of children. Author and editor Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905) was born in New York City. She served as editor of the children's magazine St. Nicholas, to which she attracted such writers as Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Rudyard Kipling. She also authored the short-fiction collection Irvington Stories (1864). ON FRONT FLAP: Gretel looked at her mother] in troubled silence, wondering whether it were very wicked to care more for one parent than for the other-and sure, yes, quite sure, that she dreaded her father, while she clung to her mother with a love that was almost idolatry. -from Hans Brinker A beloved childhood favorite for a century and a half-and a book that readers continue to enjoy and appreciate long into adulthood-Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates went through more than 100 editions during the author's lifetime alone. First published in 1865, this replica of the 1917 edition features the exquisite illustrations by Alice Carsey, whose sensitive eye and delicate pen-and-ink lines enliven the tale of the poor but virtuous Dutch boy in a way that few other artists have achieved. This replica edition brings the enchanting work of Dodge and Carsey to a new generation of children. ON BACK FLAP: COSIMO CLASSICS was inspired by Cosimo de Medici, the first of the de Medici dynasty, who ignited the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history - the Renaissance. This quest for enrichment is the foundation for COSIMO, an innovative publisher of books that inspire, inform, and engage readers worldwide. COSIMO brings to life unique, out-of-print classics, representing subjects as diverse as Alternative Health, Business & Economics, Eastern & Western Philosophy, Personal Growth, Mythology & Folklore, Science, and Sacred Texts & Spirituality, and much more

A paperback edition of E.B. White's classic novel about one small mouse on a very big adventure! With black and white illustrations.

Stuart Little is no ordinary mouse. Born to a family of humans, he lives in New York City with his parents, his older brother George, and Snowbell the cat. Though he's shy and thoughtful, he's also a true lover of adventure.

Stuart's greatest adventure comes when his best friend, a beautiful little bird named Margalo, disappears from her nest. Determined to track her down, Stuart ventures away from home for the very first time in his life. He finds adventure aplenty. But will he find his friend?

A young messenger. A secret mission. A kingdom in peril. When Tiuri answers a desperate call for help, he finds himself on a dangerous errand that could cost him his life. He must deliver a secret letter to the king who lives across the Great Mountains - and the future of the entire realm depends on his message. It means abandoning his home, breaking all the rules and leaving everything behind - even the knighthood he has dreamed of for so long. He must trust no one. He must keep his true identity a secret. Above all, he must never reveal what is in the letter. The fate of the kingdom rests on him. Part of the new Pushkin Children's Classics series of thrilling, magical and inspiring stories from around the world, which young readers will return to time and again. Translated by Laura Watkinson. Tonke Dragt was born in Jakarta in 1930 and spent most of her childhood in Indonesia. Her family moved to the Netherlands after the war and, after studying at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Dragt became an art teacher. She published her first book in 1961, followed a year later by The Letter for the King, which won the Children's Book of the Year award and has been translated into sixteen languages. Dragt was awarded the State Prize for Youth Literature in 1976 and was knighted in 2001. She died in 2024. Laura Watkinson is a full-time translator from Dutch, Italian and German. She has translated many titles for Pushkin Children's Books, including Jan Terlouw's Winter in Wartime, Tonke Dragt's The Letter for the King and Annet Schaap's Lampie. She lives in Amsterdam.