For many kids, Christmas time is the most exciting time of the year. Reading stories such as these can help making this season extra special and exciting. Or they can bring a little Christmas spirit into a different time of the year if they are read and listened to in spring or summer. In any case, children and grown-ups will find them enjoyable. - Summary by Carolin

History is dominated by war, battles, and sieges. Our history books are full of these. But history books usually don't explain sieges in such an accessible and at times entertaining way as Tudor Jenks manages in this 1909 volume. The text and explanations are directed at children, but interested adults will profit from them in the same way. - Summary by Carolin

A doll, given to a young girl for her birthday, goes through adventures and faults to get her new mother to love her. - Summary by Emma Hatton

This is a little collection of short stories, written by different authors and published in 1865. It is a Christmas book, and the stories will make you feel an old-fashioned Christmas spirit. All stories relate to a key that opens something, be it a door, a box, or a heart. - Summary by Carolin

This is the 11th in the original series of books about the Bobbseys -- two sets of twins in one family, solving mysteries and having adventures. Bert and Nan are 12, Flossie and Freddie are six. There is a father who works, a mother who stays home, a cook, a handyman, and an assortment of animals. - Summary by Nan Dodge

In this volume, Edmund Selous explains the beauty of birds to children. We meet some of the most beautiful birds in the world, and learn about their lives. We also learn what to do when our mothers decide to wear hats with stuffed birds on them! - Summary by Carolin

This book tells of the important role of the plow, starting from its humble beginnings and how the plow has changed over time. This is achieved through a series of small stories set during different time periods in history. The introduction of the book encourages us to, "learn all you can about plows, even if you live in a great city. City people would soon starve if there were no plows and plowmen at work to raise food for them. Not even the strongest locomotives or the most wonderful printing-presses are so necessary to us as plows. Learn all you can about them!" - Summary by SweetHome

Edited by Andrew Lang, this book is an anthology of interesting stories about a wide variety of diffferent animals collected from numerous sources. - Summary by Elsie Selwyn

Curlie Carson and Joe Marion are chasing a radio outlaw across the frozen Alaska territory. It should be a simple dogsled trip, especially with hints from the mysterious “whisperer.” But wolves, blizzards, reindeer rustlers, and more say otherwise. Can the boys safely cross treacherous sea ice, capture the outlaw, and rescue a stranded arctic expedition? Maybe. Maybe not. Listen and find out. - Summary by Tom Penn

Three short children's fantasy stories. The stories are light and humorous and can spark a child's imagination. Part of a six-volume set. - Summary by Gillian Hendrie

The Story of a Woolly Dog is the 12th and last book in the series of Make Believe Stories by Laura Lee Hope. All of the dolls and toys live in the toy section of a big department store, and at night, when no humans are around to hear or see them, they can talk with each other and play to their heart's content. But when morning comes, they must remain silent and still, waiting for that special little girl or boy to go home with. - Summary by Nan Dodge

Ben, after running away from home, must find a way to survive on the streets. According to the preface, the book was based on a true story told to the author by a real boy named Ben. - Summary by Elsie Selwyn

The irrepressible Uncle Wiggily falls ill and Dr. Possum prescribes "an automobile drive before every meal". thus Uncle Wiggly buys an automobile and sets out to be heals. His many adventures are filled with ducks, squirrels, crows and other excited animals so if you have always secretly wished to be one of these, this is you chance to do it. - Summary by phil chenevert

The charming story of “Gudrun” is a romance of the old heroic period, written by some unknown poet of Austria or Bavaria in the thirteenth century. Next to the "Nibelungen Lied," it is the most important of the German epic poems...The same elemental passions are depicted. The men are brave, vigorous heroes, rejoicing in battle and feats of prowess; the women are beautiful, constant, and courageous. There are many fine delineations of character in the original, as well as vigorous sketches of northern scenery...

Emily Starr never knew what it was to be lonely -- until her beloved father died. Now Emily's an orphan, and her mother's snobbish relatives are taking her to live with them at New Moon Farm. She's sure she won't be happy Emily deals with stiff, stern Aunt Elizabeth and her malicious classmates by holding her head high and using her quick wit. Things begin to change when she makes friends: with Teddy, who does marvelous drawings; with Perry, who's sailed all over the world with his father yet has never been to school; and above all, with Use, a tomboy with a blazing temper...

At 12 years old, Vinzi's only desire is to study his beloved music. But his father wants to make a farmer of him, and is displeased whenever he finds Vinzi yielding to his musical inclination. Mother and sister look on wistfully as circumstances go beyond their control, but throughout, they trust to the protection of their Father in Heaven. This is another book by Johanna Spyri, author of Heidi. Here too, against the backdrop of the beautiful Swiss alps, she intertwines love, sincerity, and the freshness of youth to present a captivating story for young and old alike. - Summary by Rosebud

Lina and Adelia Beard, co-founders of the first American girls' scouting group, originally called the Girl Scout Society, then the Girl Pioneers, and finally as the Camp Fire Girls, provide practical advice and encouragement to girls and young women who wish to explore a "free, wholesome, and adventurous outdoor life." - Summary by Christine Lehman, aka stoogeswoman

Carlisle on St. Edwards Island may appear to the outside world to be a quiet, rural farming town, but to a group of 8 teens and tweens, its forests, fields, and orchards are places of enchantment, wonder, and adventure! The Story Girl’s captivating tales toss Bev, Felix, Cecily, Felicity, Dan, Peter, Sara, and the Story Girl into mystical, magical, and spiritual worlds filled with princesses, sailors, mythological beings, and cosmological loves. The children find themselves running through ancient forests, shooting with the stars, sailing with treasure hunters, crossing rainbows with gods, spooking alongside the family ghosts, and discovering loves lost, loves found, and loves eternal...

Uncle Wiggily, the irrepressable flop eared rabbit, has more adventures and this time he goes underground through the strange world of Wonderland Alice. You are invited to hop along and see what odd and funny things happen. "Once upon a time, after Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice bunny rabbit gentleman, had some funny adventures with Baby Bunty, and when he found that his rheumatism did not hurt him so much as he hopped on his red, white and blue striped barber pole crutch, the bunny uncle wished he might have some strange and wonderful adventures...

Marguerite St. Juste was Irish on her mother's side, who was born of the Desmonds of Desmondstown in the County Kerry. Marguerite's father was a French Comte, whose grandfather had been one of the victims of the guillotine. Both her parents are dead and she is being brought up by an aunt and uncle. She wants to find out about the rest of her family and her adventures take her to Ireland and France. - Summary by Michele Eaton

Although the war has ended, Grace still faces many trials as she continues her journey to the Rhine, when she discovers Germans still plotting against the American army. - Summary by ashleighjane

The book is made up of poems compiled from the “Little Book of Western Verse,” the “Second Book of Verse,” and the files of the “Chicago Daily News,” the “Youth’s Companion,” and the “Ladies’ Home Journal” , including such favorites as The Sugar Plum Tree, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, and Little Boy Blue, by the Poet of Childhood, Eugene Field. - Summary by AnnaLisa Bodtker

A collection of 12 fantasy stories for children. Clever little tales that mothers can smile over and children enjoy. The illustrations for this book were originally Colgate ads, and who but a master such as Mr. Milne could have taken those charming pictures and made them come alive.

This is satirical look at the English educational system and society in the early twentieth century and the effect of World War I on them by following the lives of Peter Stublands and the orphaned Joan. It is a sad indictment, and Wells includes "An Apology of a Schoolmaster" to explain the constraints of the system.

Parmenter and Lee are good friends who attend Concord College. But a hazing incident tears the friendship apart, and affects the lives of both the hazers and the hazee. And the whispering tongues of classmates of falsehoods, jealousy and rumor, serve only to make matters worse. Another heart-warming tale of disgrace and redemption from Homer Greene.

Jean is a talented teenage girl devoted to her family. Living with her parents and sisters in the countryside, she is given the opportunity to go back to New York and continue her art studies. The joy for her new life in New York will get to conflicting feelings, because she also misses her loved family in the countryside.

Pinafore’s sublimely silly story is made even sillier by this 1908 story version of the 1878 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Gilbert, the author of the operetta’s lyrics, writes this version of the story with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Most adults and children will find this version vastly amusing. - Summary by David Wales

“Emily Climbs” is the second book in a series by the author of "Anne of Green Gables." Emily Byrd Starr, an orphan living with her New Moon aunts, is destined to be a writer. When she is permitted to attend high school in Shrewsbury with her pals she is overjoyed, until she is told there are two conditions: she must board with Aunt Ruth, and she must give up writing fiction while she is there. Will Emily’s lively spirit withstand Aunt Ruth’s no-nonsense rules? And how can Emily survive without her beloved stories?

This enchanting book was first published in 1913 “for all girls who love to make pretty things”. Meet Tommy Pin Cushion, Mr. Silver Thimble, Ma Chine, and many other delightful characters, along with the mysterious Needle-of-Don’t-Have-to-Try and the magic fairy lady, who truly serve to show that the best way to learn is through fun! Mary Frances, through the witty, jolly help of the Thimble People, learns easy step-to-step projects from basic stitches that gradually introduce simple patterns and projects to make a beautiful vintage wardrobe for a 16 inch doll.

“Sugar Plums” by Ella Farman Pratt is a wonderful, sometimes tragic, collection of children's poems that run the spectrum between bliss and misfortune of seemingly ordinary days to the flights of fancy of children, parents and creatures alike; in places like stately homes, humble nests, city streets, and farm fields, just to name a few. Their stories are a masterful blend of whimsy and mischief, beauty and bewilderment, simplicity and, sometimes, sorrow. The journey that this collection takes its audience on is like no other - Summary by DOLZ

These wonderful, whimsical poems from the incomparable Walter de la Mare describe the bliss of childhood, explore the marvel of a child's imagination and portray the intriguing landscapes of existences both lived and imagined by a young mind in a magical kingdom located somewhere between daydream and caprice. In these poems we experience aspects of a reality unencumbered by concern, unhindered by anxiety, and share an imagination free to wander, ponder, contemplate, envision and express itself in a marvelous mosaic of impression, inspiration and introspection...

Join Mole and Water Rat for terrifically fun romps along a river and through burrows and forests . . . visiting with Otter and Mr. Badger, and witnessing crazy adventures by Mr. Toad as he evades the authorities and meets various interesting individuals. Kenneth Grahame's classic was first published in 1908, but continues to delight young and old folks today. Cast List:Narrator: Lynette Caulkins Badger: Scott Caulkins Mole: Shelly Toad: Patrick Smith Otter: Marissa Siobhan Wayfarer/Sea Rat: J...