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The story told in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic novel, A Little Princess , was first written as a serialized novella, Sara Crewe, or What Happened at Miss Minchin’s , and published in St. Nicholas Magazine , in 1888. It tells the story of Sara Crewe, an intelligent, wealthy, young girl at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Sara’s fortunes change when her father dies, and she goes from being a show pupil and parlor boarder at the school to a drudge, but eventually she finds happiness and a home again. (Summary by Treesh)...

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Children

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Following in the vein of my Coffee-Break collections, this is a collection of short (all under 15 minutes) stories for kids. Focus is on fables and fairy tales published before 1923. (Summary by BellonaTimes)...

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Fairy tales, Children

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A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. ( Summary by Wikipedia )...

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Children, Fiction, Literature

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Wopsy is the story of a very young Guardian Angel, sent to watch over a pagan baby in Africa. Wopsy desperately wants his baby's soul to become white and clean in baptism, but what is a small guardian angel to do when there is no missionary priest in the village? The author was a member of the missionary order of priests known as the White Fathers (So named because of the white habits they wore). He wrote the Wopsy series of books in order to encourage missionary vocations in young children. (Summary by Maria Therese)...

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Children, Religion

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Uncle Remus' stories feature a trickster hero called Br'er Rabbit (Brother Rabbit), who uses his wits to slide out of trouble and gain the advantage over the slower witted other animals, many of whom are trying to eat him. Br'er Rabbit stories were mostly collected directly from the afro-american oral story-telling tradition and are said to be a direct interpretation of Yoruba tales of Hare. This book contains 11 unique stories and was the last one published before the author's death. (Introduction by Phil Chenevert)...

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Animals, Children, Fairy tales, Fantasy, Fiction, Teen/Young adult

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Since this series of books is intended for all young people from one to one hundred, it opens with about eighty of the old MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES. Nothing better was ever invented to tell to little folks who are young enough for lullabies. Their rhythm, their humor, and thei pith will always cause us to prize them as the Babies' Classics. Editors: Hamilton Wright Mabie, Edward Everett Hale, William Byron Forbush.(Gutenberg Text)...

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Children, Fairy tales

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The author was raised as an American Indian and describes what it was like to be an Indian boy (the first 7 chapters) and an Indian Girl (the last 7 chapters). This is very different from the slanted way the white man tried to picture them as 'savages' and 'brutes.'Quote: Dear Children:—You will like to know that the man who wrote these true stories is himself one of the people he describes so pleasantly and so lovingly for you. He hopes that when you have finished this book, the Indians will seem to you very real and very friendly. He is not willing that all your knowledge of the race that formerly possessed this continent should come from the lips of strangers and enemies, or that you should think of them as blood-thirsty and treacherous, as savage and unclean. (Summary by author's preface)...

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Children, Historical Fiction, Teen/Young adult

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The classic story of how Rat, Mole, and the other river-bankers saved Toad from his excesses. This book has it all: excitement, sentiment, destruction of private property (plenty of that), paganism, and a happy ending. The prose is beautiful and occasionally requires the use of a dictionary - I had to look up “asperities.” Written as a children’s story, The Wind in the Willows is enjoyed by many grown-ups who relish Grahame’s ability to evoke the long summer days of childhood. (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)...

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Animals, Children, Adventure, Comedy

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These articles, pamphlets, and stories relating to the Girls Scouts of America touch on the history, activities, ideals, and traditions of this remarkable girls' organization. Though some of the articles appear redundant, they were selected to represent a contemporary view spanning five years of the organization's early popularity (1917-1921). Of significance are the detailed descriptions of Girl Scout involvement in war work during what is now known as World War I. Girl Scouts were prepared through their training for merit badges to be independent, resourceful, reliable, and helpful. They were able to make their own clothes, grow and cook their own food, care for the sick, and start a small business--skills that prepared young women for their future roles as homemakers, workers, and citizens.A version of the story The Brownies is still part of the Brownie Girl Scout literature into the 21st century. http://books.google.com/books?id=lZNHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA709#v=onepage&q&f=false The Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Education edited by Foster Watson (1921) provides the following explanation under the entry for Girl Guides: The 'Brownies' a...

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Children, Philosophy

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This book describes the adventures of ten Kumaras, i.e., young men, (all of whom are either princes or sons of royal ministers), as narrated by the men themselves. These narratives are replete with accounts of demigods, ghosts, gamblers, intrigues with voluptious women, astonishing coincidences, cockfights, anthropophagy, sorcery, robberies, murders and wars....

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Ancient Texts, Children, Fairy tales, Myths/Legends

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The Little Wizard Stories of Oz are six short stories written by L. Frank Baum in 1913. By all accounts, Baum intended to finish the Oz series with The Emerald City of Oz, published in 1910. Following that, he attempted to write non-Oz books, publishing The Sea Fairies in 1911 and Sky Island in 1912. But, (as Baum himself laments in the prefaces of many of his Oz books,) his little tyrants were only interested in hearing more Oz stories. So in 1913, he returned to writing about Oz, putting out both The Little Wizard Stories and The Patchwork Girl of Oz that year. According to http://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/faq06.html this comprehensive Oz FAQ site , The Little Wizard Stories were geared toward younger children and were originally published separately, similar in style to today's Little Golden Books. The next year, they were published together as one volume. Each Little Wizard Story revolves around the adventures of two famous Oz characters, and their humorous adventures in and around the land of Oz. (Summary by Maddie)...

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Children

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The novel tells of the troubles of a wealthy young girl, Sara Crewe, who is sent to an oppressive London boarding school during her father’s campaign in India. Thanks to Capt. Crewe’s money, Sara is treated as a little princess until, one day, word comes of her father’s tragic death. Miss Minchin, the school’s greedy headmistress, wastes no time in putting the now-penniless Sara to work for her room and board. It is only through the friendship of two other girls, her own resolute nature, and some astonishing luck that Sara eventually finds her way back to happiness. (Summary from wikipedia.org)...

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Children

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Pollyanna tells the story of Pollyanna Whittier, a young girl who goes to live with her wealthy Aunt Polly after her father's death. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers around what she calls The Glad Game: she always tries to find something to be glad about in every situation, and to always do without delay whatever she thinks is right. With this philosophy, and her own sunny personality, she brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited New England town that she transforms it into a pleasant, healthy place to live. Eventually, however, even Pollyanna's robust optimism is put to the test when she loses the use of her legs in an accident. (written by Mary Anderson)...

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Children

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.This is Part 1: Stories of Explorers and Pioneers, from Leif Ericson to Sir Walter Raleigh. Read along and view the original illustrations at http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=marshall&book=country&story=_contents mainlesson.com . (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, History, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.This is Part 4: Stories of the Middle and Southern Colonies, from chapter 35 (The Founding of Maryland) to chapter 44 (The Founding of Georgia). Read along and view the original illustrations at mainlesson.com.The recording of Part 1 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ The recording of Part 2 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ The recording of Part 3 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, History, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

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The Just So Stories for Little Children are among Kipling's best known and loved works. This recording aims to be the first complete audio book of this title with nothing left out.The Nobel prize-winning author's enjoyment in playing with the sounds and meanings of words is very evident throughout, and adds to adults' enjoyment of these stories for children. This playfulness is also dramatically present in the plotting. For both reasons these stories been loved by generations of children and adults alike. Because the writing plays with sound and meaning the Just So Stories are best enjoyed when read aloud.As we all are, Kipling was a child of his time and social setting, so for example in How the Leopard Got his Spots he uses what one recent reviewer called the N word to refer to the Ethiopian. Each listener will need to examine critically both Kipling's attitudes and their own.This recording of the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling includes Kipling's descriptions of the pictures he drew for the book. http://www.archive.org/download/JustSoStoriesForLittleChildrenByRudyardKiplingIllustrationsByThe/PictureFile.pdf These pictures can ...

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Children, Fiction, Teen/Young adult

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.This is Part 6: Stories of the Struggle for Liberty, from chapter 51 (The Boston Tea-Party) to chapter 63 (A Turning Point in the World's History). Read along and view the original illustrations at http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=marshall&book=country&story=_contents http://mainlesson.com/ .Part 1: /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ Part 2: /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ Part 3: /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ Part 4: /this-country-of-ours-part-4-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-4-by-h-e-marshall/ Part 5: /this-country-of-ours-part-5-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-5-by-h-e-marshall/ (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, History, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

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When Cora Kimball got her new auto for her birthday she had no idea what adventures would start for her and her brother Jack. Where did Ed’s money and bonds disappear? Were they misplaced or were they stolen and lost forever. Did the conceited Sid Wilcox have something to do with the missing money, with the help of Ida Giles? And what did the obnoxious Lem Gildy have to do with it all? Join Cora and her friends in this mystery and adventure of The Motor Girls. (Summary by Lucy Burgoyne)...

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Children, Fiction

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Channing's best known work, A History of the United States, is regarded as one of the most complete and accurate accounts of American history and received the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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History, Children

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. This is Part 2: Stories of Virginia, from chapter 13 (Captain John Smith) to chapter 21 (The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe). Read along and view the original illustrations at mainlesson.com. The recording of Part 1 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, History, Teen/Young adult, Short stories

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James Otis wrote a series of books depicting life in the new colonies, written from a child's point of view. Ruth of Boston is the story of 12 year old Ruth, coming from London to live in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It gives accounts of what a girl's daily life might have been like during the beginnings of this colony. (Summary by Laura Caldwell)...

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Children, Historical Fiction

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I first read this little book when I was in the fifth grade, and now more than fifty years later, I still find it fascinating. Ernest Thompson Seton was a man with a concern for nature her creatures and an excellent story teller. I could almost feel Wahb, the great grizzly’s pain and frustration as he tried to avoid contact with humans and just be left alone to carry out his bear business. Listening to this audio book will be an hour and a half well spent.Summary by Mike Vendetti, Narrator....

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Adventure, Children, Animals, Nature

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“THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia. (Summary by D. Leeson)...

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Children, Adventure, Travel

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Polly Milton, a 14-year-old country girl, visits her friend Fanny Shaw and her wealthy family in the city for the first time. Poor Polly is overwhelmed by the splendor at the Shaws' and their urbanized, fashionable lifestyles, fancy clothes and some other habits she considers weird and, mostly, unlikable. However, Polly's warmth, support and kindness eventually win her the hearts of all the family members. Six years later, Polly comes back to the city to become a music teacher. (Summary from wikipedia)...

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Children, Teen/Young adult, Fiction

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If you have read any accounts of adventure in Africa, you will know that travelers never mention animals of any kind that are gifted with the faculty of speech, or gazelles that are overseers for native princes, or hares that eat flesh. No, indeed; only the native-born know of these; and, judging by the immense and rapid strides civilization is making in those parts, it will not be long before such wonderful specimens of zoölogy will be as extinct as the ichthyosaurus, dinornis, and other poor creatures who never dreamed of the awful names that would be applied to them when they were too long dead to show their resentment. As to the truth of these tales, I can only say that they were told to me, in Zanzibar, by negroes whose ancestors told them to them, who had received them from their ancestors, and so back; so that the praise for their accuracy, or the blame for their falsity, lies with the first ancestor who set them going. You may think uncivilized negroes are pretty ignorant people, but the white man who is supposed to have first told the story of “The House that Jack Built” was a mighty poor genius compared with the unknown or...

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Animals, Children, Myths/Legends

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Teenagers Peggy Prescott and her brother Roy share a love of aviation that they inherited from their late father. Mr. Prescott had always dreamed of building an aeroplane that would be free of the defects of planes already invented. Peggy and Roy manage to build a plane starting with the framework their father had begun. Peggy christens it ‘The Golden Buttefly’ and she and Roy are determined to enter it in a young aviator’s contest for a prize of $5000. The Prescotts need the money desperately to save the home they share with their aunt which is about to be taken from them by the rather nasty banker, Mr. Harding. Peggy and Roy along with their best friends, Jess and Jimsy Bancroft – also sister and brother, experience many adventures – many of them while flying the Golden Butterfly. A kidnapping, missing jewels and contact with some desperate characters are just some of what the Prescotts encounter in their Long Island village of Sandy Bay. There’s never a dull moment for these two as they pursue their dream of flying. (Summary by Lee Ann Howlett.)...

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Children, Science

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The stories, first published in 1902, are fantastic accounts of how various natural phenomena came about. The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated with woodcuts by Kipling himself. Read along online and see the illustrations at http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=kipling&book=just&story=_contents mainlesson.com . Each story is accompanied by a poem, in a somewhat ballad style. Many of the stories are addressed to Best Beloved (they were first written for Kipling's eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died during an outbreak of influenza in 1899), and throughout they use a comically elevated style inspired by the formal speech of India, full of long and improbable-sounding words, some of them made up. As a result, it is a delight to read them aloud, and easy to memorise passages from them. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Children, Animals, Humor, Nature, Short stories

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.This is Part 5: Stories of the French in America, from chapter 45 (How the Mississippi was Discovered) to chapter 50 (The Rebellion of Pontiac). Read along and view the original illustrations at http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=marshall&book=country&story=_contents http://mainlesson.com/ .Part 1: /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ Part 2: /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ Part 3: /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-3-by-h-e-marshall/ Part 4: /this-country-of-ours-part-4-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-4-by-h-e-marshall/ (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, History, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

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Another fine history book for children! Published in 1917, Marshall's book of stories from the history of the United States begins with accounts of exploration and settlement, and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.This is Part 3: Stories of New England, from chapter 22 (The Story of the Pilgrim Fathers) to chapter 34 (The Witches of Salem). Read along and view the original illustrations at mainlesson.com.The recording of Part 1 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-1-by-he-marshall/ The recording of Part 2 of this book can be found at /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ /this-country-of-ours-part-2-by-h-e-marshall/ (Summary by Kara)...

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Children, Short stories, History, Teen/Young adult

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In this volume are presented examples of men who shed lustre upon ordinary pursuits, either by the superior manner in which they exercised them or by the noble use they made of the leisure which success in them usually gives. Such men are the nobility of republics. Most of these chapters were published originally in The Ledger of New York, and a few of them in The Youths' Companion of Boston, the largest two circulations in the country. I have occasionally had reason to think that they were of some service to young readers, and I may add that they represent more labor and research than would be naturally supposed from their brevity. Perhaps in this new form they may reach and influence the minds of future leaders in the great and growing realm of business. I should pity any young man who could read the briefest account of what has been done in manufacturing towns by such men as John Smedley and Robert Owen without forming a secret resolve to do something similar if ever he should win the opportunity. (Summary by Preface)...

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Children, History, Biography

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David Balfour, a lad of seventeen and newly orphaned, is directed to go and live with his rich uncle, the master of the estate of Shaws in the lowlands of Scotland near Edinburgh. His uncle, Ebenezer (as close a miser as Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge), is shocked to suddenly have his young relative descend on him and tries to rid himself of David with an arranged accident. Failing that, he pays the captain of a brig to kidnap David and sell him into slavery in Carolina. A collision in the fog brings onboard the brig a survivor, Alan Breck Stewart, who is carrying a dangerous amount of gold on his person. David warns him of a plan by the brig's captain and crew to overpower him and seize the money, and then finds himself fighting alongside Alan in a battle royale. By good fortune, Alan is handy with a sword and they have access to the firearms locker, and the pair so completely defeat the crew that barely enough hands remain to sail her. Limping to port, she is holed by rocks, and David finds himself a castaway. Being in Alan's presence continues to be a chancey business. David is talking to Colin Roy Campbell, the King's Factor who has ...

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Adventure, Children

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Margaret Sanger was an American sex educator and nurse who became one of the leading birth control activists of her time, having at one point, even served jail time for importing birth control pills, then illegal, into the United States. Woman and the New Race is her treatise on how the control of population size would not only free women from the bondage of forced motherhood, but would elevate all of society. The original fight for birth control was closely tied to the labor movement as well as the Eugenics movement, and her book provides fascinating insight to a mostly-forgotten turbulent battle recently fought in American history. (Summary by Becky)...

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Advice, Children, Economics/Political Economy, History, Politics