#43
Childhood’s End
Without warning, giant silver ships from deep space appear in the skies above every major city on Earth. Manned by the Overlords, in fifty years, they eliminate ignorance, disease, and poverty. Then this golden age ends--and then the age of Mankind begins....
More info →Redwall
Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well…until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming—Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde—Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice—a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back…and become a legend himself.
Perfect for fans of T. A. Barron’s Merlin saga, John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series.
More info →The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
With nearly 1,500 Broadway performances, six Tony Awards, more than three million albums sold, and five Academy Awards, The Sound of Music, based on the lives of Maria, the baron, and their singing children, is as familiar to most of us as our own family history. But much about the real-life woman and her family was left untold.
Here, Baroness Maria Augusta Trapp tells in her own beautiful, simple words the extraordinary story of her romance with the baron, their escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, and their life in America.
Now with photographs from the original edition.
More info →Jules Verne (Leather-Bound Classics)
Legendary science fiction and adventure author Jules Verne is remembered for his fascinating stories of travel and excitement. With countless adaptations available, the titles of his works are familiar. But no joy can compare to reading the originals...and reading them in a deluxe classic edition is even better! This elegant book features four classic Verne novels:
- The African exploration of Five Weeks in a Balloon.
- The story of Captain Nemo and his submarine in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
- Around the World in Eighty Days, the famous story of an incredible expedition.
- And the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth, which takes readers into our world’s geological past.
With a genuine leather cover, printed endpapers, and a ribbon bookmark, as well as an introduction by an expert on Verne’s life and writing, this is an excellent introduction to the work of this well-loved author. Expand your home library—and your imagination—with Jules Verne!
More info →Sarah, Plain and Tall
Set in the late nineteenth century and told from young Anna's point of view, Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of how Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton comes from Maine to the prairie to answer Papa's advertisement for a wife and mother. Before Sarah arrives, Anna and her younger brother Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she sing? Will she stay?
This children's literature classic is perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books, historical fiction, and timeless stories using rich and beautiful language. Sarah, Plain and Tall gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love.
This anniversary edition includes author Patricia MacLachlan's Newbery speech, a discussion guide, and a reading list. This modern classic is a strong choice for independent reading.
Read the rest of the Sarah books by Patricia MacLachlan: Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect than the Moon, and Grandfather’s Dance.
More info →The War of the Worlds
Written by the four-time nominee of the Nobel Prize in Literature, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells is known as one of the earliest stories to depict conflict between the human race and an extraterrestrial race. H. G. Wells, praised as the father of science fiction, was an influential social critic who focused on the future. During his lifetime, he wrote dozens of novels and short stories that examined how different society would be in his progressive future vision of the world. While his science fiction imagined things such as alien invasions and time travel, he also predicted nuclear weapons, space travel, and even the internet through his works.
The War of the Worlds is a first-person narrative of an unnamed protagonist from Surrey who lives through the invasion of southern England being by Martians. A canister drops from the sky in a sudden explosion and lands near the narrator’s home, opening to reveal an alien who has grey skin with large eyes and tentacles. As more and more of these canisters drop, a human delegation forms and approaches the Martians while waving white flags of peace, but the Martians vaporize the humans immediately. As the British military arrives, the humans of southern England engage in a war to try and stop the Martians from assembling their unknown machinery, but the military cannot match the might of the Martians and their technology.
The War of the Worlds has been praised for its prediction of technology, its cultural criticism of Victorian England, and its influence on science fiction that led to later works on alien invasions. The popularity of The War of the Worlds garnered wildly different interpretations in aspects such as evolution, religion, and even colonialism and imperialism. Despite its heapings of social criticism, it remains a thrilling and enjoyable read for those who wish to read one of the stories that birthed the genre of science fiction.
This edition contains the original illustrations from the book as first published in 1898.
More info →Caddie Woodlawn
An illustrated edition of the Newberry Medal–winning Caddie Woodlawn, which has been captivating young readers since 1935.
Caddie Woodlawn is a real adventurer. She'd rather hunt than sew and plow than bake, and tries to beat her brother's dares every chance she gets. Caddie is friends with Indians, who scare most of the neighbors—neighbors who, like her mother and sisters, don't understand her at all.
Caddie is brave, and her story is special because it's based on the life and memories of Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother, the real Caddie Woodlawn. Her spirit and sense of fun have made this book a classic that readers have taken to their hearts for more than seventy years.
More info →The Jane Austen Collection: Deluxe 6-Volume Box Set Edition (Arcturus Collector’s Classics)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is one of the literary giants of all time, and Jane Austen lovers will adore the modern design of this deluxe boxed gift set containing six of her most popular and iconic novels: Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Emma, complete and unabridged.
Each hardcover classic is bound in high-quality cloth, with embossed covers. The neon-pastel color scheme and contemporary designs (with matching color endsheets) make this Jane Austen Collection an instant collectible perfect for both long-time Austen fans, or for young adult readers who are just beginning to discover the genius of the famed English novelist.
All six editions fit handsomely into a matching hardcover slip-case, perfect for display in a treasured spot on the bookshelf of any "Janite" as the lovers of Austen are often called.
With movies out every year based on her stories, and her novels still in print more than 200 years later, this deluxe collection honors Jane Austen's literary greatness and makes an excellent gift for the Jane Austen reader.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Collector's Classics series are high-quality, clothbound box-sets of classic works of literature. With elegant embossed cover-designs and colored endpapers, these editions make wonderful gifts or collectibles to treasure forever.
More info →Misty of Chincoteague
Marguerite Henry’s beloved story of a wild horse’s gentle colt—winner of a Newbery Honor!
On the island of Chincoteague, off the coasts of Virginia and Maryland, lives a centuries-old band of wild ponies. Among them is the most mysterious of all, Phantom, a rarely-seen mare that eludes all efforts to capture her—that is, until a young boy and girl lay eyes on her and determine that they can’t live without her.
The frenzied roundup that follows on the next Pony Penning Day does indeed bring Phantom into their lives, in a way they never would have suspected. Phantom would forever be a creature of the wild. But her gentle, loyal colt Misty is another story altogether...
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