As I write this, I have before me on my desk, propped up against the telephone, an old rag doll. Dear old Raggedy Ann!
The same Raggedy Ann with which my mother played when a child.
There she sits, a trifle loppy and loose-jointed, looking me squarely in the face in a straightforward, honest manner, a twinkle where her shoe-button eyes reflect the electric light.
Evidently Raggedy has been to a "tea party" today, for her face is covered with chocolate.
She smiles happily and continuously.
True, she has been nibbled by mice, who have made nests out of the soft cotton with which she has been stuffed, but Raggedy smiled just as broadly when the mice nibbled at her, for her smile is painted on.
What adventures you must have had, Raggedy!
What joy and happiness you have brought into this world!
And no matter what treatment you have received, how patient you have been!
What lessons of kindness and fortitude you might teach could you but talk; you with your wisdom of fifty-nine years. No wonder Rag Dolls are the best beloved! You are so kindly, so patient, so lovable.
The more you become torn, tattered and loose-jointed, Rag Dolls, the more you are loved by children.
Who knows but that Fairyland is filled with old, lovable Rag Dolls—soft, loppy Rag Dolls who ride through all the wonders of Fairyland in the crook of dimpled arms, snuggling close to childish breasts within which beat hearts filled with eternal sunshine.
So, to the millions of children and grown-ups who have loved a Rag Doll, I dedicate these stories of Raggedy Ann.
Under the Lilacs is a tale of friendship and adventure from celebrated author Louisa May Alcott.
When sisters Bab and Betty Moss decide to have a tea party one spring morning, little did they know a strange and talented dog and a bedraggled circus run-away would come into their lives. Ben Brown is believed to be orphaned. With no family to return to, the girl's kind neighbour, Miss Celia, takes Ben under her care, where he learns the true meaning of friendship, home and family.
A little girl (Trot) and her friend (Cap'n Bill) team up with a young boy named Button-Bright. Button-Bright had found a magical umbrella in his attic. He meets the kind girl and sailor and they are transported to a different world in the sky where he and his friends face many dangers.
The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what was, for many years, the Stratemeyer Syndicate's longest-running series of children's novels, penned under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. The first of 72 books was published in 1904, the last in 1979. The books related the adventures of the children of the middle-class Bobbsey family, which included two sets of fraternal twins: Bert and Nan, who were 12 years old, and Flossie and Freddie, who were six.
Yes, this is another wonderful OZ book with all the old familiar characters and some new delightful ones. The Patchwork Girl, a free spirit if ever there was one, is brought to life in this story and then sets out into the wonderful world of OZ to help her friend Ojo find the ingredients for a magic potion to save his Uncle. The five things they need are strange and the places and people they meet along their journey are sometimes dangerous and sometimes funny but the Patchwork Girl always finds humor and fun in all of them. They are accompanied by the Glass Cat who is stuck up and arrogant because of her good looks and 'pink brains'. Another fun book well written by Baum and worth listening to by fans of OZ from 7 to 107.
Patty, Conny, and Priscilla are the best of friends, and roommates at boarding school. While the teachers might say they are mischievous, even troublemakers, Patty and her friends act only in accordance with their convictions. From forming a labor union to furnishing a house for the neighbors, Patty's ideas are unconventional, yet loads of fun. Just Patty is the prequel to When Patty Went to College, the first novel by the author of Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy.
The Little Kentucky "Colonel," so much of a favorite with young readers, has reached the age for interest in other people's love affairs. The main action of this new page of happenings in the life of Lloyd Sherman centers about a southern wedding, so perfectly arranged as to give the impression that everything "bloomed into place." (Book Review Digest, Vol. 2 - 1906)
A voyage on the famous Nonestic Ocean! What could be more thrilling than that? We—many of us—have taken trips on the prosaic Atlantic or even Pacific, but have we found a SEA FOREST with flying fish and swimming birds? Have we been pursued by a real SEA SERPENT, or had our ship transfixed by the immense ivory tusk of a NARWHAL? Have we come upon the glittering island of PEAKENSPIRE, or made friends with a charming talking hippopotamus? Yet all these things and more befall Captain Salt, one time Pirate and now Royal Explorer of Oz, and his merry crew. They come back with their hold bursting with unique and fascinating specimens, with their chart crowded with new islands, all claimed for Ozma of Oz!Captain Salt in Oz (1936) is the thirtieth in the series of Oz novels created by L. Frank Baum. (Original publisher's book summary)
Young King Randy of Regalia is visited by his old friend, Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink. Together, they set out to visit their friend Jinnicky the Red Jinn in the Land of Ev. On the way, they meet Planetty, the silver Princess from Anuther Planet, and her fire-breathing thunder colt. When they reach Jinnicky's palace, they find that Jinnicky has been deposed and enchanted by an untrustworthy slave! Can Randy and Kabumpo defeat Gludwig and restore peace and justice to Ev? The Silver Princess in Oz (1938) is the thirty-second of the Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the eighteenth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.
“wish we were not so terribly poor, Grant," said Mrs. Thornton, in a discouraged tone. "Is there anything new that makes you say so, mother?” Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day. This book, a true rags-to-riches novel, follows Grant, the oldest of three children that their mother, a widow is struggling to feed and clothe. His determination to succeed is fierce and yet he never cheats or follows the easy path to success.
The novel carries forward the continuing story of the three cousins Louise Merrick, Beth De Graf, and Patsy Doyle, and their circle. The title is somewhat misleading; it could more accurately have been called Aunt Jane's Nieces in Politics. (Uncle John Merrick tells his nieces that politics is "work," which yields the title.)
The story begins three days after the end of the previous book, Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville; the freckled and red-haired Patsy still sports a sunburn from her summer in the Adirondacks. She and Louise have received letters from their "cousin" Kenneth Forbes, the young man who inherited Aunt Jane's estate in the first book of the series. Kenneth has become involved in politics: he is running as the Republican candidate for the local seat in the New York State legislature, but thinks he is going to lose to his opponent. The family decide to go all out to help Kenneth win the election...
So the parties separated and then Dorothy was free to leave her hiding place. She longed to tell her friends the strange story, but she knew that the finding of Tavia was the one and only thing to be thought of just then. "Are you sure that this is the direction in which the boys went?" asked Nat, with something like a sigh. Dorothy looked over the rough woodland. "No," she said, "there was a swamp, for I distinctly remember that they picked their way through tall grass, and about here the grass is actually dried up." (Extract from Chapter 26)
The four series follow Grace Harlowe and her friends through high school, college, abroad during World War I, and on adventures around America. In The High School Girls Series, Grace attends Oakdale High School with friends Anne Pierson, Nora O'Malley, and Jessica Bright. The four promote fair play and virtue while winning over troubled girls like Miriam Nesbit and Eleanor Savell, playing basketball, and founding sorority Phi Sigma Tau. The group becomes friends with boys in their acquaintance: David Nesbit, Tom Gray, Hippy Wingate, and Reddy Brooks, forming "The Eight Originals."
The four series follow Grace Harlowe and her friends through high school, college, abroad during World War I, and on adventures around America. In The High School Girls Series, Grace attends Oakdale High School with friends Anne Pierson, Nora O'Malley, and Jessica Bright. The four promote fair play and virtue while winning over troubled girls like Miriam Nesbit and Eleanor Savell, playing basketball, and founding sorority Phi Sigma Tau. The group becomes friends with boys in their acquaintance: David Nesbit, Tom Gray, Hippy Wingate, and Reddy Brooks, forming "The Eight Originals."
The four series follow Grace Harlowe and her friends through high school, college, abroad during World War I, and on adventures around America. In The High School Girls Series, Grace attends Oakdale High School with friends Anne Pierson, Nora O'Malley, and Jessica Bright. The four promote fair play and virtue while winning over troubled girls like Miriam Nesbit and Eleanor Savell, playing basketball, and founding sorority Phi Sigma Tau. The group becomes friends with boys in their acquaintance: David Nesbit, Tom Gray, Hippy Wingate, and Reddy Brooks, forming "The Eight Originals."
Dawn (also known in England as "Keith’s Dark Tower"), was published in 1919, and is set during World War I. Keith Burton is going blind. It is hard for him and his family. Most of the book deals with their ways - right and wrong - of dealing with the situation. At the end, Keith finds pride in helping blind solders.
Eleanor H. Porter was a writer of many popular children’s books and novels, including the Pollyanna and Miss Billy series, as well as Just David, Oh, Money! Money! and more.
Not the tale of Robin Hood’s friend, but a charming Victorian age story of Marian, a little girl being raised by her formal but loving grandparents. When the new school teacher comes to stay, she adds warmth and whimsy to Marian’s life and helps guide her to make her most fervent wishes come true.
In the first book of this classic series, Anne Shirley is an 11 year-old orphan girl who has never had a true home. Through an adoption mistake, Anne comes to live in the small-town of Avonlea where she makes new friends and spreads her joy for all things. Follow her as she is introduced to new 'kindred spirits' and has all sorts of adventures. Sometimes her wild imagination will get the better of her, putting her in a variety of scrapes. She learns many life lessons while slowly capturing the hearts of those around her—even the most unlikely.
A selection of famous tales selected and re-worked for a junior audience. Stories are taken from Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Shakespearean plays, Pilgrim's Progress, Ivanhoe, and The Startling Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
The first part of this volume consists of stories by modern writers dealing mainly with life in our own day. They are, of course, meant for the older children, and both the style and the situations call for more maturity on the part of the reader. The lure of the extraordinary is now dispensed with, and instead these tales supply the interest that comes from recognizable truth to experience.
The list of fiction contained in this volume, representing the imaginative product of almost all races and times, is fitly closed by the gift made to the children of England of a story for themselves by the master of English novelists, William Makepeace Thackeray.
Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery, related to the Anne of Green Gables series. It features a number of stories relating to the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea, and was first published in 1912.
This is a collection of some of the delightful nonsense verses and stories by Edward Lear. A lot of them are also my favorites. The Jumblies, The Owl and the Pussy-cat; the Broom, the Shovel, The Poker and the Tongs; The Duck and the Kangaroo; The Cummerbund; The Dong with the Luminous Nose; The New Vestments; Calico Pie; The courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo and Incidents in the Life of My Uncle Arly. Also included at no extra cost are two sections with my favorite Lear limericks. Only about 30 of them but they are all funny and full of delectable silliness. I hope you enjoy listening to these as much as I enjoyed recording them.
These three stories,The Frog Prince, Princess Belle-Etoile and Alladin, beloved by generations of children, are here retold in a format and style close to their earliest beginnings. Many of the embellishments that have been added to them over the centuries and which we now automatically associate with them have been omitted and the stores are presented in a simplicity and clarity that is refreshing to hear. They are full of beautiful princesses, noble, brave and handsome princes, dangerous quests, evil plotters and magic birds. In all, the righteous win out in the end and the wicked are properly punished.
Before he wrote the Oz books, L. Frank Baum wrote this book which was the best selling book of 1897. Taking 22 beloved nursery rhymes, he explains their meaning and fascinating history. What is the true story of Little Boy Blue? Why was Mary contrary?
As he says in the introduction, "Many of these nursery rhymes are complete tales in themselves, telling their story tersely but completely; there are others which are but bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of the story. Perhaps therein may lie part of their charm, but however that may be I have thought the children might like the stories told at greater length, that they may dwell the longer upon their favorite heroes and heroines. For that reason I have written this book." L. Frank Baum
This books is a select collection of Christmas Stories in one volume. It is just that and nothing more.Each of the stories has already won the approval of thousands of children, and each is fraught with the true Christmas spirit.It is hoped that the collection will prove equally acceptable to parents, teachers, and librarians.
This book is a collection of short stories from India.
The Governess, or The Little Female Academy (published 1749) by Sarah Fielding is the first full-length novel written for children, and a significant work of 18th-century children's literature. (Wikipedia) It's about a boarding school for girls and its students. On each day, a story or part of a story is read aloud to the girls. Then Mrs. Teachum, who runs the school, explains the lesson to be taken from each reading.
Also known as "The Children's Homer," this is Irish writer Padraic Colum's retelling of the events of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey for young people. Colum's rich, evocative prose narrates the travails of Odysseus, King of Ithaca: his experiences fighting the Trojan War, and his ten years' journey home to his faithful wife Penelope and his son Telemachus.
In this third installment from the “Ragged Dick” series by Horatio Algers, Jr., the reader is reacquainted with some old friends and meets young Mark Manton. Mark is a match boy plagued by bad luck and an even worse guardian. But, with new friends, hard work, and smart choices, Mark may just find his luck taking a turn for the better.
A young boy named Ben runs away to make a life of his own in the big city. He learns very quickly that this will be a lot harder than his imagination prepared him for. Summary by Tori Faulder
Join Margaret, a little girl who really wants to learn how to properly cook and bake everything from seafood to cake, as she sets out to make all the recipes she can find from her family, friends and the rest of the world around her. A fun and informative cookbook with a light narrative!
Join Betsey Bobbitt, a girl with an undeniable sweet tooth, as she discovers new recipes for candy and sweets to make with the reader. An entertaining cookbook with a narrative!
These re-tellings of well known stories originally written by Charles Dickens are all focused on the children in them. Their humor and pathos are kept intact and make for captivating reading.
"How should a seven year old child react when forced to be separated from a mother who meant everything to her? How should she react when she learns that the aunt with whom she was sent to live doesn't really care about her? Will she be able to make real friendships with people outside her family? Would she be able to take her belief in God as a comfort? If you want to find answers to all these questions, read the enjoyable novel "The Wide, Wide World". There, you will see how the amazing Ellen Montgomery reacts to all those things, and many, many more".Summary by Stav Nisser.
A headstrong female detective strives to clear a good man's name in this children's mystery by Oz author L. Frank Baum. Summary by Miriam Esther Goldman
Sequel to The Girls of Friendly Terrace (or Peggy Raymond's Success). As the summer opens the girls fan themselves on the porch, wishing for a get away. As it happens, opportunity knocks, leading them into a country vacation along with a few more members to the party.
Penny Parker is a teen-aged sleuth and amateur reporter with an uncanny knack for uncovering and solving unusual, sometimes bizarre mysteries. The only daughter of widower Anthony Parker, publisher of the "Riverview Star," Penny has been raised to be self-sufficient, outspoken, innovative, and extraordinarily tenacious. Her cheerful, chatty manner belies a shrewd and keenly observant mind. Penny was the creation of Mildred A. Wirt, who was also the author of the original Nancy Drew series (under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene). Wirt became frustrated when she was pushed to "tone down" Nancy Drew and make her less independent and daring. With Penny Parker, Wirt had a freer hand and received full credit. Wirt once said, " 'I always thought Penny Parker was a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is." In HOOFBEATS ON THE TURNPIKE, Penny is drawn to a remote hill community by a tantalizing tale of a headless horseman who ranges the countryside at night. While investigating the bizarre tale, Penny and her best friend Louise Siddell encounter a quirky array of hill folk, including a feisty "granny woman" who is at war with a wealthy landowner. The headless horseman seems to be targeting the landowner, who has ignored repeated warnings that the dam he owns is unsafe. The tale takes an unusually serious turn when the dam breaks, flooding the community. Trapped by the flood, Penny heroically does what she can to help the community and to get the story out to the world.
Truly the boys and girls of to-day ought to be thankful that they are alive. There never was such a golden age for childhood and youth as the present. To say nothing of the rich opportunities for mental and spiritual development, what a multitude of things have been provided for the innocent pleasure, the wholesome recreation of the young people of to-day; inventions that remind one of the magic of the “Arabian Nights”; tools of sport so perfect that one cannot imagine how they could be bettered; fascinating games, all unknown in the days gone by; books and papers upon which science, art and literary skill have lavished modern resources—all these and many other wonderful things have fallen to the lot of the favored boys and girls of to-day.And now enterprising publishers of our grand country are going to put the boys and girls of America—and especially the colored boys and girls of America—under obligation to them, because they have decided to add to the list of good books for children and youths already on the market. I use the word “good” advisedly; for from the day that I was engaged to write this book I have had in mind constantly the thought of making it such a book as would tell for good. It is an old saying that “evil communications corrupt good manners,” but evil reading does more than this: for evil reading corrupts good morals.I have endeavored to put into this book of stories for children only such things as might be freely admitted into the best homes of the land, and I have written with the hope that many young minds may be elevated by means of these stories and many hearts filled with high and holy aspirations. Our nation has a right to expect that our boys and girls shall turn out to be good men and good women, and this book is meant to help in this process.
Harper's Young People, first published in 1879, was an illustrated weekly publication containing delightful serialized stories, short stories, fiction and nonfiction, anecdotes, jokes, artwork, craft projects, and more for children. This eleventh issue of the serial was published on January 13, 1880. Published by Harper & Brothers, known today for their other publications Harper's Bazaar and Harper's Magazine.
Following the adventures of a girls school as they form their adventure club.
In her Junior year at high school, Marjorie faces a new foe. Rowena Farnham is clever and calculating and her antics threaten Sanford High's beloved basketball.
Meet Lotus Blossom, our little Japanese Cousin and her little brother Toyo. Join them in their everyday life and learn about Japanese customs and culture.
Phyllis is a lonely little rich girl who comes with her millionaire father and invalid mother to live in Byrdsville, Tennessee. There she meets and befriends the remainder of the Byrd family, now fallen on hard times, but determined to restore their fortunes via the inventing genius of the elder brother. But assorted disasters befall them, and everyone is very uncomfortable until, at last, everything is sorted out and the happy ending occurs.
This is the first issue of a wonderful weekly magazine aimed at young women. They each contain a novella following the adventures of Marion Marlowe, "Only a Farmer's Daughter" who went from "Farm to Fortune" and all written by the prolific :Lurana Sheldon using various pen names, usually Grace Shirley. The story is quite entertaining and well written. The chapters are short and easy to read and suited to those just getting their feet wet in LibriVox. Besides the main novella, each issue contains an Advice Column, where she responds to anguished letters from young ladies with a myriad of personal problems. She does not shy at shooting straight from the hip in her answers whether to moral, ethical, family or just social etiquette questions. An intersting insight into life in the 1900's and what was considered appropriate for girls and women.
She had not been brought up in America at all. She had been born in France, in a beautiful château, and she had been born heiress to a great fortune, but, nevertheless, just now she felt as if she was very poor, indeed. And yet her home was in one of the most splendid houses in New York. She had a lovely suite of apartments of her own, though she was only eleven years old. She had had her own carriage and a saddle horse, a train of masters, and governesses, and servants, and was regarded by all the children of the neighborhood as a sort of grand and mysterious little princess, whose incomings and outgoings were to be watched with the greatest interest....
"Little Saint Elizabeth and Other Stories" is a collection of 4 lovely stories by F. H. Burnett.
Harper's Young People upon its first publication in 1879 was an illustrated weekly publication containing delightful serialized stories, short stories, fiction and nonfiction, anecdotes, jokes, artwork, craft projects, and more for children. This tenth issue of the serial was published on January 6, 1880. Published by Harper & Brothers, known today for their other publications Harper's Bazaar and Harper's Magazine.
Harper's Young People upon its first publication in 1879 was an illustrated weekly publication containing delightful serialized stories, short stories, fiction and nonfiction, anecdotes, jokes, artwork, craft projects, and more for children. This eighth issue of the serial was published on December 23, 1879 and contained expanded content and improvements to the printed format. Published by Harper & Brothers, known today for their other publications Harper's Bazaar and Harper's Magazine.
Harper's Young People was an illustrated weekly publication for children containing delightful serialized stories, short stories, fiction and nonfiction, poetry, craft projects and more. This 12th issue of the serial, published on January 20, 1880, features stories of narrow escapes and rescues, new friendships, enchanted timepieces, arctic wildlife, archaeological discoveries, an astronomy lesson, and a picturesque sail down the Nile river. This serial was published by Harper & Brothers, known today for their other publications Harper's Bazaar and Harper's Magazine.
Harper's Young People upon its first publication in 1879 was an illustrated weekly publication containing delightful serialized stories, short stories, fiction and nonfiction, anecdotes, jokes, artwork, craft projects, and more for children. This ninth issue of the serial was published on December 30, 1879. Published by Harper & Brothers, known today for their other publications Harper's Bazaar and Harper's Magazine.
Diggeldy Dan (rhymes with Wiggildy Wan) is a most ingenious fellow who lives in a circus called Spangleland. He looks like a clown because he perhaps is a clown but a very special clown who invites the Pretty Lady with the Blue Blue Eyes (a very special person herself) to meet with the animals of the circus. Many things happen that are just too amazing to talk about because you won't believe them but if you read this book you will perhaps learn that fun is inside all of us. The writing is adult, not childlike, and easy to understand.