Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the most characteristic examples of the "literary nonsense" genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates an entertaining adventure of Middle America in the 1800's - afloat on a raft on the Mississippi River. Huck escapes his civilized life when he arranges his own "murder" and turns back into the backwoods, downriver yokel he started as, and in the process springing a slave, Jim, from bondage.
Huck and Jim experience life as a series of tableaus as the river sweeps them through small towns on their way South. At each stop, Huck engages his talent for mixing fact with bald-faced lies to endlessly get himself out of situations... and of course, putting him into others!
Much has been written about the statement Twain is making about slavery in this book, but it's really secondary to the story. The facts of how black people were treated in this period give Huck and Jim their license for life on the run. Modern listeners will be intrigued by the unencumbered life of the pair; they make do with coffee, fish from the river, and little else (but of course, when they do need something extra, they don't mind helping themselves to it without recourse to money!)
Huck and Jim have run-ins with desperados and family feuds and even manage to get run down by a steamboat. The adventures ratchet up when they are joined on the raft by a self-proclaimed "duke" and a "king" - shysters both, who spend their time in figuring how to fleece the public in the little river towns. And when Jim is captured and threatened with being sent back into slavery, Huck enlists his old buddy Tom Sawyer in a frenzied, desperate, and terribly funny rescue.
I had to clip a lot of laughing from this recording at Twain's sly, catch-'em-when-they're-not-looking humor, but you can feel free to enjoy some good belly laughs at this crew of lovable rapscallions!
Treasure Island is an adventure novel, a thrilling tale of "buccaneers and buried gold." Traditionally considered a coming of age story, it is an adventure tale of superb atmosphere, character and action, and also a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality—as seen in Long John Silver—unusual for children's literature then and now.
A mysterious map, pirates, and pieces of eight! When young Jim Hawkins finds a map to pirates’ gold he starts on an adventure that takes him from his English village to a desert island with the murderous Black Dog, half-mad Ben Gunn, and (of course) Long John Silver. Arr Jim lad! R.L. Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Scotland and travelled extensively in California and the south Pacific.
Treasure Island is an adventure novel narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island is a tale noted for its atmosphere, characters and action, and also as a wry commentary on the ambiguity of morality -- unusual for children's literature. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders.
Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi river, a mischievous boy named Tom Sawyer spends his days getting into one scrape after another. Tom's constant cleverness, superstition, trickery, and daring make him a handful to raise, and his Aunt Polly declares that she has "never seen the beat of that boy!" Tom is essentially good-hearted, however, but when he is witness to a horrible crime, his courage and integrity are tested beyond anything he ever expected. A note to parents: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is considered a children's classic, but contains racial slurs which, although "acceptable" in the time and place of the story's setting, will likely offend modern listeners.
The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy Gale in the Land of Oz. As Baum says in the introduction "It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." And it succeeds wonderfully. It is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. This is the first of thirteen more Oz books.
When Dorothy is swept away from her home in Kansas by a cyclone, she finds herself in a mysterious land inhabited by equally mysterious people. She is told that only Oz, the great Wizard, can help her get back home, so Dorothy sets off along the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City. Along the way she meets characters such as the brainless Scarecrow, the heartless Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.
The timeless story of the Wizard Of Oz. Follow Dorothy as she leaves Kansas for Oz on a cyclone. She meets many strange, and wonderful people and creatures along the way. Enjoy it again with your children and family.
The story that started it all, and inspired plays, movies, and more. Young Dorothy Gale is whisked away to a magical land, meets wonderful friends, and has several adventures.
Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up, steals Wendy and her brothers away to a magical world called the Neverland. They come face to face with a fairy named Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, savages, pirates, mermaids, a crocodile that ticks, and Peter's nemesis--Captain Hook! The book is filled with excitement, and wonder, and teaches that with happy thoughts, and a little help of pixy dust, you can fly! Peter Pan inspires children everywhere to believe!
This delightful book about the Darling children and a boy named Peter, is what started it all. The writing of J.M. Barrie is whimsical and funny throughout but his understanding of children and their imaginations is what sets it apart.
In both the play and the novel, Peter often visits the "real world" of London to listen in on bedtime stories told by Mary Darling to her children. One night, Peter is spotted, and while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim his shadow, he wakes Mary's daughter, Wendy Darling. When Wendy succeeds in re-attaching his shadow to him, Peter takes a fancy to her and invites her to Neverland to be a mother to his gang of Lost Boys, the children who are lost in Kensington Gardens. Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along. The dangerous and magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are blown out of air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed by the Lost Boy Tootles. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to live in while she recuperates. Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys, while Wendy plays house in mothering them, all the while invoking the jealousy of Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, and the mermaids. Peter is often oblivious, concentrating on real and make-believe adventures and on taunting the pirate Captain Hook. Later follows adventures at Mermaids' Lagoon, the near deaths of Tinker Bell and Peter; a violent pirate/Indian massacre, and a climactic confrontation with Peter's nemesis, the pirate Captain Hook of the pirate ship the Jolly Roger. In the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, much to the joy of her heartsick mother. Wendy then brings all the boys back to London. Peter remains in Neverland, and Wendy grows up.
Peter Pan is the well-loved story of three children and their adventures in Neverland with the boy who refuses to grow up. Swashbuckling, fairy dust, and flight; mermaid lagoons, ticking crocodiles, and Princess Tiger Lily; second to the right and then straight on till morning. You know the story... and if you don't, please start listening immediately!
This classic children's book by Rudyard Kipling tells the story of Mowgli, a young boy raised by wolves: his escapades and adventures with his dear friends Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, his capture by the Monkey-People, his attempt at reintegration into human society, and his ultimate triumph over the lame tiger Shere Khan. The account of Mowgli's adventures is followed by several short stories, including the tales of the brave white seal, Kotick, and the tenacious mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Packed with adventure and Jungle Law wisdom, this book has pervaded popular culture as the basis of many film and stage adaptations, including the popular Disney movie, and through its adoption as a motivational book by the Cub Scouts.
This is the classic story of Mowgli, the young boy raised by wolves in India: his escapades and adventures with his dear friends Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear, his capture by the Monkey-People, his attempt at reintegration into human society, and his ultimate triumph over his avowed enemy the tiger Shere Khan. Included in the book is the story of the brave white seal, Kotick, and the tenacious young mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi who battled through the night to protect his human family from a pair of sly and viscous cobras. Packed with adventure and Jungle Law wisdom, this book has pervaded popular culture as the basis of many film and stage adaptations, including the popular Disney movie.
Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was written in 1872 and it finds Alice in a land when she walks through a mirror into the Looking-Glass House. The land is full of mythological creatures and characters and nursery rhyme characters. Alice makes a guest appearance in a bizarre game of chess with Humpty Dumpty! A charming, witty story!
The sequel to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” finds Alice back in Wonderland and a piece in a surreal chess game. This weird and wonderful book includes the poems “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” a talking pudding, and that immortal line “Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.” Lewis Carroll was the nom de plume of Charles Dodgson (1832-1890) an Anglican clergyman, photographer, and mathematician.
In this sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", Alice is playing with her kittens — a black kitten and a white kitten, the offspring of Dinah, Alice's cat in the first book — when she ponders what the world is like on the other side of a mirror's reflection...
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass or simply Through the Looking-Glass) is an 1871 novel by Lewis Carroll and the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic.
Alice becomes a player in a game of chess and works her way up to becoming a queen. On her way across the board she meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee, recites the classic poems, "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", amongst many more. She also demonstrates her ability at mathematics to her new found friends, the red and white queens.
The mirror that Alice ventured through is still on display in Charlton Kings, Gloucestershire. Do not let your children too close!!!
A delightful version of Alice's Adventures following that scurrying Rabbit with the watch that is shortened for the enjoyment of younger children. She meets all of the strange talking animals (and they are just as rude or silly as usual) and eats and drinks from all of the bottles and grows and shrinks alarmingly just like in the longer version. Enjoy.
Do today's children still learn what a "marionette" is? The beloved story of Pinocchio may represent a last lingering picture of a world not dominated by plastic or electronic toys.
Pinocchio is a puppet made from a piece of wood that curiously could talk even before being carved. A wooden-head he starts and a wooden-head he stays - until after years of misadventures caused by his laziness and failure to keep promises he finally learns to care about his family - and then he becomes a real boy.
Edith Nesbit’s classic story, in which three children, pulled suddenly from their comfortable suburban life, move to the country with their mother, where they come to know and love the ways of the railways.
When their father mysteriously goes away, three children and their story-writing mother leave their comfortable life in London and move to a little house, Three Chimneys, in the country. Free to roam the countryside, Peter, Bobbie, and Phil make friends and enjoy adventures in and around the nearby railway station, and wave to the passing train each day, asking it to send their love to Father. There areno magical adventures in this Nesbit story, but as usual her child characters are so realistic that you feel they are your friends!
John Dolittle, M. D., was once a famous doctor. But then he learned to talk Animal-Language, picked up several interesting pets, and gradually began to lose his patients. Finally the only patient who remains, the Cat's-Meat-Man, makes a suggestion - why doesn't he give up treating people and become an animal doctor?
And so Dr. Dolittle becomes an animal doctor, and life seems to be going well. But with the addition of an escaped crocodile to his store of pets, even the animals stop coming to see him. What to do?
Children of all ages - and adults too - will enjoy the story of the good Doctor and his animals as he travels to Africa and back, braves shipwrecks and pirates, escapes from prison, and tries to reunite a little boy with his kidnapped uncle, all with the help of his charming animal friends.
In The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920), the first of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books, we are introduced to the good doctor who gives up treating people after Polynesia, his parrot, teaches him animal languages. His fame in the animal kingdom spreads throughout the world and soon he sets off to cure a monkey epidemic in Africa, finding all sorts of exciting adventures on the way.
This recording is of the original edition, which is in the public domain. Later editions, which are still under copyright, changed some language and plot elements that are considered racially derogatory.
After his parrot Polynesia teaches him to speak animal languages, Doctor Dolittle decides to abandon his human practice, and become an animal doctor.
Four children: Henry, Jess Violet and Bennie. They are living alone in a stranded boxcar. They find items they need from the dump and a stray dog whom they name Watch. Henry earns money by working for a man named Dr. McAllister and his mother, Mrs. McAllister. But, while they are living their daily lives, little do they know that the McAllisters are watching their every move.
Peter and Wendy tells the classic story of Peter Pan, a mischievous little boy who can fly, and his adventures on the island of Neverland with Wendy and her brothers, the fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, the Indian princess Tiger Lily, and the pirate Captain Hook. (Introduction modified from Wikipedia)
Kim is a fabulous adventure story set in India during the former British Empire. It tells the story of a street-wise but (in typical Kipling fashion) highly moral Anglo-Indian boy who becomes enmeshed the “the Great Game” -– the competition between Britain and Russia for control over Asia. Taking time off from his role as the traveling companion of an aged Tibetan lama, the boy is trained as a spy, matches wits with various evildoers, and wins out in the end. So much more than just a spy story, Kim is one of the most enjoyable books that you will ever read -- or have read to you.
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in Bombay, India. He was the author of many short stories and novels including The Jungle Book.
Horatio Alger, Jr. was well known for his best-selling series of books highlighting “the American Dream” of poor boys making good and becoming rich and successful through “luck and pluck”. Ragged Dick was the first in this niche, and follows the adventures of Dick Hunter, a ragged bootblack as he makes the decision to “grow up ’spectable”, and how he goes about achieving his goals through the help of his friends, his inherent honesty, and his belief in hard work and study.
A dramatization of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass for the stage. In this version, Alice goes through the looking glass and encounters a variety of strange and wonderful creatures from favorite scenes of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland the Through the Looking Glass. Including a conversation with the Red and White Queens, encounters with Humpty Dumpty, the Mock Turtle, the Cheshire Cat, and the Caterpillar, and of course everyone's favorite Mad Tea Party.
This is the story of the Bastable children and their attempts to help the family finances by searching for treasure.
Diamond the little boy sleeps in the hayloft above the stall of Diamond the horse. The loft is snug but drafty, and after plugging a hole in the wall one night, Diamond is scolded by the beautiful Lady North Wind for closing her "window" into his room. Thus begins their friendship. Spirited away by the North Wind, Diamond embarks on a series of adventures both near to and far from his home. His pure heart and his simple, loving spirit guide him as he journeys to the back of the North Wind and home again.
At the Back of the North Wind is a children's book by George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered on a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind. Diamond travels together with the mysterious Lady North Wind through the nights. The book includes the fairy tale Little Daylight, which has been pulled out as an independent work, or separately, added to other collections of his fairy tales.
When he is seven days old, Peter Pan flies away from his mother (forgetting that he is no longer a bird and therefore cannot fly), comes to live in Kensington Gardens, and acquires a goat.
Asgard Stories - Tales from Norse Mythology. To all our Children who have loved the hearing of these Asgard Stories. This little volume is the outcome of several years experience in telling to classes of children the classic myths, both southern and northern.
"A broad simplicity, so very different from the light gracefulness of the old Greek paganism, distinguishes this Norse system. It is thought, the genuine thought of deep, rude, earnest minds, fairly opened to the things about them, - a face-to-face and heart-to-heart inspection of things, - the first characteristic of all good thought in all times." wrote Carlyle.
Anderson, the author of “Norse Mythology,” wrote: “In the Norse mythology the centralizing idea is its peculiar feature; in it lies its strength and beauty. The one myth and the one divinity is inextricably in communion with the other; and thus also the idea of unity, centralization, is a prominent feature and one of the chief characteristics of the Teutonic nations."
Ozma of Oz was the third title in the Oz series by L. Frank Baum. In this book Dorothy is shipwrecked and lands on the shores of a fairy country that adjoins Oz, the land of Ev. There she meets Tiktok, a wind up mechanical man, a talking chicken, Billina, and Ozma, the girl ruler of Oz who is leading a quest to rescue the royal family of Ev from their captivity by the Nome King. Dorothy is also reunited with her old friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Together the adventurers travel to the Nome King's underground kingdom and have many exciting adventures before returning to Oz, and for Dorothy, eventual return to her family in the "civilized" world. (description by Judy Bieber)
Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books.
L. Frank Baum's last beloved Oz book before his death, this story deals with the discovery of a powerful magic word by a young boy from Oz, who immediately is plunged head-first into adventure through his discovery.
The Master Key was one of Baum's earliest full length fantasy books for children, published in 1901 just one year after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The protagonist, Rob, while experimenting in his workshop, accidentally summons up an electrical fairy who presents him with electrical devices so advanced as to seem magical. His gifts include a flying contraption, a stun gun, and something resembling an omniscient portable TV set. Rob travels the world, rendering assistance to European heads of state and narrowly escaping disaster at the hands of “primitive” cannibals, Turks and Tatars, pirates, and evil scientists who try to steal his inventions. It's great fun, despite the occasional use of racial stereotypes that reflect the values of its time.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz was the fourth of 14 Oz books written by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919). Published in 1908, while Baum was resident in Coronado, California, it is considered one of the “darker” of the Oz tales. However, it also is enlivened by Baum’s considerable wit, penchant for puns, and dry social commentary. In this title, Dorothy, her kitten Eureka, Jim, a cab horse, and Zeb, a ranch hand, descend into the earth through a rift opened by an earthquake. There they encounter the “humbug” wizard who once ruled Oz. In their journey back to the earth’s surface, they meet a number of potentially dangerous magical peoples and creatures including the cold-blooded Mangaboos, invisible bears, the flying wooden Gargoyles, a den of dragonettes, and an eccentric inventor. With a little help from Ozma, the group end up in Oz where they are treated to feasts and celebrations. The animals end up humbled by a few of their experiences in Oz, where all animals can talk, and return home a little wiser.
When the professor decides to outline the ancestry of the eminent people of Oz, Scarecrow feels left out. He doesn't have a family tree - unless you count the bean pole on which he had been placed when the farmer put him in the cornfield! So he decides to seek out his roots . . . which leads him, Dorothy, and the Cowardly Lion on adventures they never dreamed, meeting new friends (and foes) along the way.
The Royal Book of Oz (1921) is the fifteenth in the series of Oz books, and the first to be written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after L. Frank Baum's death. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Thompson.
The Scarecrow is upset when Professor Wogglebug tells him that he has no family, so he goes to where Dorothy Gale found him to trace his "roots." Then he vanishes from the face of Oz.
Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion mount a search for their friend, but when that is successful, they will need to become a rescue party!
This book is an attempt to tell some of the stories of King Arthur and his Knights in a way which will be interesting to every boy and girl who loves adventures.
This delightful novel begins when a family of five children moves from London to the English countryside. While playing in a gravel pit soon after the move, they discover an ancient and rather grumpy sand-fairy known as the Psammead, who agrees to grant one wish of theirs per day. The children’s wishes send them on adventure after adventure, but rarely turn out as expected.
The Road to Oz takes Dorothy and her friends on an adventure in Oz to a grand party in honor of Ozma's birthday. It all starts near her home on Uncle Henry's farm in Kansas when she tries to help a shaggy stranger find the road he is seeking. On the way they find a young boy, Button-Bright, and together they get lost, only to find themselves in the fairylands of Oz.
Once again in the Land of Oz, Dorothy and her friends encounter a number of new fantasy characters: some good, some bad, some amusing, and all entertaining. They make their way eventually to the Emerald City to participate in Ozma's Birthday Celebration. In the end, Dorothy arrives safely back home, a little tired from her adventures, but quite content.
(Summary written by Kara Shallenberg)
Dorothy and Toto set out to help the Shaggy Man (who really is quite shaggy) and end up lost, following a strange road. Along the way they meet Button Bright, a little boy who is not really very bright at all, The Rainbow's Daughter, the Fox King and many other curious creatures including the deadly Scoodlers who want to make soup of them and the Musicker who can't stop making music. But the adventurers make their way to the Deadly Desert and cross it in a novel way to reach the Land of Oz. Santa Clause is a surprise guest at Ozma's Birthday Party along with many Queens, kings and and a wonderful time is had by all. Including Toto! [description by Phil Chenevert]
The rats and the mice thought that Miss Kitty Cat was a terrible person. She was altogether too fond of hunting them. They agreed, however, that in one way it was pleasant to have her about the farmhouse. When she washed her face, while sitting on the doorsteps, they knew—so they said!—that it was going to rain. And then Mrs. Rat never would let her husband leave home without taking his umbrella. As a rule Miss Kitty Cat didn't look at all frightful. Almost always she appeared quite unruffled, going about her business in a quiet way and making no fuss over anything. Of course when old dog Spot chased—and cornered—her, she was quite a different sort of creature. Then she arched her back, puffed her tail out to twice its usual size, and spat fiercely at Spot. He learned not to get within reach of her sharp claws, when she behaved in that fashion. For old Spot had a tender nose. And no one knew it better than Miss Kitty Cat.
The Emerald City of Oz (1910) was the sixth Oz book written by L. Frank Baum, a title he hoped would be the last. In this book, Dorothy and her impoverished Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are on the brink of losing their Kansas farm. Consequently, Ozma invites them all to live in the Emerald City. They then explore the countryside, visiting a series of strange beings including the Cuttenclips, the Fuddles, the Rigmaroles, the Flutterbudgets, and the residents of Utensia, Bunbury and Bunnybury. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry also meet old friends like the Wizard, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead and H. M. Wogglebug T. E. The travelers’ idyll is brought short by the plot of an old enemy, the Nome King. Seeking revenge for the loss of his magic belt, the Nome King has an underground tunnel built so he can invade and plunder Oz and enslave its peoples. Our friends manage to defeat the Nome King and his allies, but sobered by this threat, Glinda and Ozma decide to cut off Oz from the outside world forever. Happily for Oz fans, forever lasted only three years. Baum invented a way to reopen communications with Oz and eight more Oz books were published between 1913-1920.