The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz
Frank Baum set out to write 'a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nighmares are left out'. Published in May 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had sold 100,000 copies by the following January, proving that this was exactly what his young readers wanted. The story of Dorothy, carried by a...
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll's timeless classic. On an ordinary summer's afternoon, Alice tumbles down a hole and an extraordinary adventure begins. In a strange world with even stranger characters, she meets a grinning cat and a rabbit with a pocket-watch, joins a mad tea-party and plays croquet with the Queen! Lost in this fantasy land, Alice finds herself growing more and more...
A Wonder-Book For Boys And Girls
The first major retelling of the Greek myths and legends, A WONDER-BOOK was published in 1852. The American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was a friend of the poet Longfellow and had much earlier suggested they collaborate on a story for children based on the legend of Pandora's Box, but this never materialized. Hawthorne went ahead on his own, adding five other...
The Count of Monte Cristo
A tale of love and revenge in the post-Napoleonic era. Edmond Dantes, a nineteen-year-old sailor from Marseilles, is soon to be captain of his own ship and to marry his beloved, the beautiful Mercedes. But spiteful enemies provoke his arrest on his wedding day, and he is condemned to life in prison. His sole companion is the 'crazy' priest Faria,...