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All people in the world tell nursery tales to their children, and the stories are apt to be like each other everywhere. A child who has read the Blue and Red and Yellow Fairy Books will find some old friends with new faces in the Pink Fairy Book. Courage, youth, beauty, kindness, have many trials, but they always win the battle; while witches, giants, unfriendly cruel people, are on the losing hand. So it ought to be, and so, on the whole, it is and will be; and that is all the moral of fairy tales. We cannot all be young, alas! and pretty, and strong; but nothing prevents us from being kind, and no kind man, woman, or beast or bird, ever comes to anything but good in these oldest fables of the world. (Summary of the Author's Preface by Elliott Miller)...

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Children, Fiction, Fantasy, Short stories

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Waverley is set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which sought to restore the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles Edward Stuart (or 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'). It relates the story of a young dreamer and English soldier, Edward Waverley, who was sent to Scotland in 1745. He journeys North from his aristocratic family home, Waverley-Honour, in the south of England first to the Scottish Lowlands and the home of family friend Baron Bradwardine, then into the Highlands and the heart of the 1745 Jacobite uprising and aftermath....

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Fiction, Historical Fiction

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Arthur Scott Bailey was the author of more than forty children's books. Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. (Summary Wikipedia)...

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Children, Fiction

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The story of little Otto, a gentle, peace-loving child born into the heart of turmoil and strife in the castle of a feuding robber baron in medieval Germany. (Summary by Arctura)...

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Children, Adventure, Historical Fiction

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An adventure novel about William Wallace, one of the most popular books ever written by Jane Porter. The French version was even banned by Napoleon, and the book has remained very popular with Scottish children, but is equally enjoyable for adults. (Summary by Wikipedia, revised by Kikisaulite)...

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Historical Fiction, Adventure, Romance

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What is the secret of the old boarded up house? And what is the answer to the mystery of the long lost letter that is found in it? Best friends Joyce and Cynthia - along with their dog Goliath, are determined to find out in this pre-Nancy Drew juvenile mystery for girls. Augusta Huiell Seaman was the author of over 40 historical fiction and mystery novels for older children. (Summary by Maria Therese)...

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Children, Mystery, Fiction

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Northanger Abbey follows Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Seventeen year-old Catherine spends her time visiting newly-made friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and going to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother John Thorpe (Catherine's brother James's friend from university), and by Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, because she has been reading Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, Catherine expects to be dark, ancient and full of fantastical mystery....

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Romance, Fiction, Comedy

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A Family-drama in three acts. Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality. (Summary by Kristingj)...

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Historical Fiction, Tragedy, Play, Poetry

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Hamlet is commonly regarded as one of the greatest plays ever written. Drawing on Danish chronicles and the Elizabethan vogue for revenge tragedy, Shakespeare created a play that is at once a philosophic treatise, a family drama, and a supernatural thriller. In the wake of his father's death, Prince Hamlet finds that his Uncle Claudius has swiftly taken the throne and married his mother, Queen Gertrude. The ghost of the dead king then appears and charges Claudius with 'murder most foul.' Hamlet is called to revenge his father's death: but will he be able to act before it is too late?...

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Tragedy

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Our heroine, Anne Garland, lives quietly in a rural community deep in the English countryside. However, the arrival of several regiments preparing for an expected invasion brings colour and chaos to the county. A graceful and charming young woman, Anne is pursued by three suitors: John Loveday, the trumpet-major in a British regiment, honest and loyal; his brother Robert, a merchant seaman and womaniser, and Festus Derriman, the cowardly son of the local squire. Set at the time of the Napoleonic wars, this is the author's only historical novel, and unusually for Hardy's books, some of the characters live happily ever after. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Cori Samuel.)...

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Literature, Historical Fiction

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Émile François Zola (French pronunciation: [emil zɔˈla]) (2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902) was an influential French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism. More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of twenty novels about a family under the Second Empire collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart. L'Assommoir (1877) is the seventh novel in the series. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel—a harsh and uncompromising study of alcoholism and poverty in the working-class districts of Paris—was a huge commercial success and established Zola's fame and reputation throughout France and the world. (Summary edited from Wikipedia.)...

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Tragedy, Fiction, Literature

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37 short pieces perfect for newer recorders. These one page Stories of (mostly) Wonderful Deeds were written for Little Folk to teach them about famous incidents in their history. Bonnie Prince Charlie, Nelson and Hardy, Bruce and the Spider, David Livingston, Canute, Sir Philip Sydney, and Elizabeth and Raleigh are just some of the well known people and incidents covered in short stories. (Summary by phil chenevert)...

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Children, History

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William Blake’s volume of poetry entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience is the embodiment of his belief that innocence and experience were “the two contrary states of the human soul,” and that true innocence was impossible without experience. Songs of Innocence contains poems either written from the perspective of children or written about them. Many of the poems appearing in Songs of Innocence have a counterpart in Songs of Experience, with quite a different perspective of the world. The disastrous end of the French Revolution caused Blake to lose faith in the goodness of mankind, explaining much of the despair found in Songs of Experience. Blake also believed that children lost their innocence through exploitation and from a religious community which put dogma before mercy. He did not, however, believe that children should be kept from becoming experienced entirely. In truth, he believed that children should indeed become experienced but through their own discoveries, which is reflected in a number of these poems. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Annie Coleman)...

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Poetry

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Every boy and girl—and for that matter every man and woman, too—rejoices when the winter snows have vanished and the earth once more puts on her beautiful dress of green, for then the flowers wake from their sleep and clothe the earth with beauty. Because all boys and girls love flowers, those of them who read this book will be interested in the beautiful stories they have to tell, loving them even more when they know something of their past history and some of the events with which they are associated. (Summary from book introduction)...

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Children, Fairy tales, Fiction

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Many books describe the role of men during American history. However, at the same time, women did much: comforted, fought, helped, raised children, and much more. This book is full of mini-biographies of women in many places, and many ages- each chapter telling about a different subject. (Summary by Stav Nisser)...

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Adventure, Biography

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Ah, the wonderful adventures of Marian after she meets the strange Mr. Jugg. And who are you, Mr Jugg? she inquired. I'm the King of the Bumpies, he replied. When Marian was puzzled there came a little straight line, exactly in the middle, between her two eyebrows. What are bumpies? she said. My hat! he gasped. Haven't you ever heard of bumpies? Marian shook her head. Oh dear, oh dear! he sighed. Have you ever heard of angels? Well, of course, said Marian. Everybody's heard of angels. Well then, bumpies, said Mr Jugg, are baby angels. They're called bumpies till they've learned to fly. I see, said Marian, but why are they called bumpies? Because they bump, said Mr Jugg, not knowing how. (Summary by Phil Chenevert and from the first chapter)...

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Children

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Oliver Twist is an 1838 novel by Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial. Like most of Dickens' work, the book is used to call the public's attention to various contemporary social evils, including the workhouse, child labour and the recruitment of children as criminals. The novel is full of sarcasm and dark humour, even as it treats its serious subject, revealing the hypocrisies of the time. It has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and the basis for a highly successful British musical, Oliver!. (Summary from wikipedia)...

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Historical Fiction

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The Young Visiters is a comic romance novella that parodies upper class society of late Victorian England. Social climber Alfred Salteena introduces his young lady friend Ethel to a genuine gentleman named Bernard and, to his irritation, they hit it off. But Bernard helps Alfred in his plan to become a gentleman, which, Alfred hopes, will help him win back Ethel. (Summary by Derek Jensen)...

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Humor, Historical Fiction

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Arthur Scott Bailey (1877 – 1949) was the author of more than forty children's books. Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. He made it a habit to never 'write down' to children and frequently used words beyond the average juvenile vocabulary, believing that youngsters respond to the stimulus of the unfamiliar. (Wikipedia)...

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Children, Fiction

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A biography of the famous Cleopatra of Egypt, written in a manner, equally interesting to children and to adults.

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History, Biography, Children