Catalog Search Results
Author
Description
"The Story of My Life," first appeared in installments in "Ladies' Home Journal" in 1902. This book is truly one of the great American autobiographies: an inspiring story of a courageous individual who overcame tremendous odds. Keller writes about many things: her childhood in Alabama; her relationship with her beloved teacher, Anne Sullivan; her attendance at the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York City; and meeting such eminent figures...
Author
Series
Description
In Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days", Phileas Fogg, a solitary British gentleman of the Victorian era wagers that he can circumnavigate the globe in under 80 days. With his french manservant, Passepartout, Fogg embarks on a great adventure taking him through Egypt, India, the South Pacific, San Francisco and the Great Plains of the United States. But will he succeed and collect on his bets? One of the best-loved works by the French adventure...
Author
Series
Description
Have you ever enquired why the elephant has such an enormously elongated nose? Are you confused by a cat's contrary nature? Have you ruminated on the wrinkles of a rhinocerous? Or speculated on a leopard's spots? Rudyard Kipling wondered about all these things too, and in this marvelous collection of stories he imagines how the animals became "just so." Backstory: Find out why Just So Stories is one of Philip Pullman's favourite books and discover...
Author
Series
Description
"This is the story of 17-year-old Anne Shirley that revolves around her life-- her dreams, poetic and romantic ideas and ideals-- her transition as a woman and a school teacher, with high ideals and principles, and a fertile imagination. Avonlea is a picturesque village, which comes alive with interesting characters--Anne, Marilla, Diana, Jane, Gilbert Blythe, Mrs. Lynde, Mr. Harrison, the Copp sisters, Stephen Irving, Miss Lavendar, among others....
Author
Series
Description
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set circa 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer. As Crane leaves a party, he is pursued...
Author
Description
This historical satire, played out in two very different socioeconomic worlds of 16th-century England, centers around the lives of two boys born in London on the same day: Edward, Prince of Wales and Tom Canty, a street beggar. During a chance encounter, the two realize they are identical and, as a lark, decide to exchange clothes and roles -- a situation that briefly, but drastically, alters the lives of both youngsters. The Prince, dressed in rags,...
Author
Appears on list
Description
When a Swiss couple and their four sons are shipwrecked on an uninhabited island, they adapt to their "New Switzerland" using many resourceful and imaginative methods--building a tree house, finding food such as coconuts, sugarcane, honey, and potatoes, taming animals and other forms of securing themselves against danger.
10) The jungle book
Author
Series
Description
"Set in the mystical depths of the Indian jungle, where tigers roam the land and monkeys swing from trees, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book gets reimagined like never before in this stunning new unabridged edition. Originally published in 1894, the beloved collection of stories includes such favorites as the story of the man-cub Mowgli versus the ferocious tiger Shere Khan, the brave mongoose Rikki-tikki-Tavi, and more. Filled with all-new lush illustrations...
11) Kidnapped
Author
Description
John Seelye, an expert on Robert Louis Stevenson, writes the Introduction for this repackaged edition of a classic that Stevenson considers his finest work. An orphan destined for slavery, David Balfour embarks on a spirited odyssey that includes a shipwreck, a hazardous journey across Scotland, and narrow escapes. This memorable favorite among students is the story of young David Balfour, an orphan, whose miserly old uncle cheats him out of his inheritance...
12) The time machine
Author
Description
Man can move easily enough in the three dimensions of space - why not the fourth: Time? An intriguing after-dinner conversation takes an unexpected turn when the host produces a small machine, which promptly disappears into thin air. It has been sent into the future, he says. Or maybe the past. As his skeptical guests try to fathom what they have seen, the host unveils a full-size machine, nearing completion. At a similar gathering one week later...
Author
Series
Description
Eerie illustrations enhance a blood-curdling edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most-celebrated Sherlock Holmes mystery, bringing its delicious shivers to a new generation of readers. Is it true that a hellish hound is haunting the lonely moors, hunting down the hapless Baskervilles through the generations? If anyone can put this chilling legend to rest, it's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It seems the body of the latest owner of the Baskerville...
Author
Series
Description
A celebration of Christmas, a tale of redemption and a critique on Victorian society, Dickens' atmospheric novella follows the miserly, penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge who views Christmas as 'humbug'. It is only through a series of eerie, life-changing visits from the ghost of his deceased business partner Marley and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future that he begins to see the error of his ways. With heart-rending characters, rich imagery...
15) Heidi
Author
Series
Appears on list
Description
"At the age of five, little orphan Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in the alps. Everyone in the village is afraid of him, but Heidi is fascinated by his long beard and bushy gray eyebrows. She loves her life in the mountains, playing in the sunshine and growing up amongst the goats and birds. But one terrible day, Heidi is collected by her aunt and made to live with a new family in the city. Heidi can't bear to be away from her grandfather....
16) White Fang
Author
Series
Description
Born in the wilds of the freezing cold Yukon, the wolf cub White Fang soon learns the harsh laws of nature, growing fiercer and more independent in his struggle to survive. Yet buried deep inside him are distant memories of affection and love. Can he learn to trust man again?
Author
Series
Description
Seven year old Sara Crewe learns of the tragic death of her father not long after she is left in the care of Miss Michin, headmistress of a boarding school. Now an orphan and stripped of her family fortune, Sara must survive the emotional trials of loss and the mental anguish of abuse at the hands of her new caretakers.
18) Jane Eyre
Author
Description
Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage. She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious,...
Author
Series
Appears on list
Description
"A Connecticut engineer named Hank Morgan gets knocked on the head and is transported back in time to medieval England during King Arthur's reign. He is initially captured but uses his Yankee ingenuity to eventually become boss of the realm. The book recounts his adventures and use of his "modern" technology against the royalty, knights, and church of the day. He continually makes fun of the backwards nature of the citizens and contrasts it to his...
Author
Series
Appears on list
Description
The escapades of four animal friends who live along a river in the English countryside--Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger. Since its beginnings as a series of stories told to Kenneth Grahame's young son, The Wind in the Willows has gone on to become one of the best-loved children's books of all time. The timeless story of Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger, brought to vivid life by Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, has delighted readers of all ages for more than...