Wednesday, February 26, 2014

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens

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 visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
AUDIO

The Junior Classics By William Patten (Pt 2)

The purpose of The Junior Classics is to provide, in ten volumes containing about five thousand pages, a classified collection of tales, stories, and poems, both ancient and modern, suitable for boys and girls of from six to sixteen years of age. (summary from book introduction)
This collection consists of Volume 1 of The Junior Classics, and it contains many well known stories in their original forms. Among stories from other authors, you’ll find Hans Christian Anderson, Aesop, and the Grimm brothers.

AUDIO

The Junior Classics By William Patten (Pt 1)

The purpose of The Junior Classics is to provide, in ten volumes containing about five thousand pages, a classified collection of tales, stories, and poems, both ancient and modern, suitable for boys and girls of from six to sixteen years of age. (summary from book introduction)
This collection consists of Volume 1 of The Junior Classics, and it contains many well known stories in their original forms. Among stories from other authors, you’ll find Hans Christian Anderson, Aesop, and the Grimm brothers.

AUDIO

Peter Pan By J. M. Barrie

In both the play and the novel, Peter often visits the “real world” of London to listen in on bedtime stories told by Mary Darling to her children. One night, Peter is spotted, and while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim his shadow, he wakes Mary’s daughter, Wendy Darling. When Wendy succeeds in re-attaching his shadow to him, Peter takes a fancy to her and invites her to Neverland to be a mother to his gang of Lost Boys, the children who are lost in Kensington Gardens. Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along. The dangerous and magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are blown out of air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to live in while she recuperates. Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys, while Wendy plays house in mothering them, all the while invoking the jealousy of Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, and the mermaids. Peter is often oblivious, concentrating on real and make-believe adventures and on taunting the pirate Captain Hook. Later follows adventures at Mermaids’ Lagoon, the near deaths of Tinker Bell and Peter; a violent pirate/Indian massacre, and a climactic confrontation with Peter’s nemesis, the pirate Captain Hook of the pirate ship the Jolly Roger.
AUDIO

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz By L. Frank Baum

The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy Gale in the Land of Oz. As Baum says in the introduction "It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out." And it succeeds wonderfully. It is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. This is the first of thirteen more Oz books.
AUDIO

Little Women By Louisa May Alcott (Pt 3)

Little Women is the classic story of the March family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. March and their four girls–Practical, yet fashion conscious, Meg, who longs for the nice things they used to have. Rambunctious, book worm, Jo, who wants to become a writer and wishes she were born a boy. Shy and quiet, homeloving, Beth, who loves to play the piano and play with her kitties. Finally, the youngest, artistic, Amy, who longs for an aristocratic nose!
The story takes place during the American Civil War, and begins with Mr. March away from home as a chaplain to the Union army, while his wife and daughters remain at home to work and wait for his safe return. This book follows their joys and sorrows and scrapes along the path to the girl’s becoming grown up “little women”.
Many of the scrapes they get into include Laurie–their harum scarum next door neighbor, who becomes their adopted brother. The two families, the March’s and the Laurence’s strike up a lasting friendship, despite their differences in material possessions.
AUDIO

Little Women By Louisa May Alcott (Pt 2)

Little Women is the classic story of the March family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. March and their four girls–Practical, yet fashion conscious, Meg, who longs for the nice things they used to have. Rambunctious, book worm, Jo, who wants to become a writer and wishes she were born a boy. Shy and quiet, homeloving, Beth, who loves to play the piano and play with her kitties. Finally, the youngest, artistic, Amy, who longs for an aristocratic nose!
The story takes place during the American Civil War, and begins with Mr. March away from home as a chaplain to the Union army, while his wife and daughters remain at home to work and wait for his safe return. This book follows their joys and sorrows and scrapes along the path to the girl’s becoming grown up “little women”.
Many of the scrapes they get into include Laurie–their harum scarum next door neighbor, who becomes their adopted brother. The two families, the March’s and the Laurence’s strike up a lasting friendship, despite their differences in material possessions.

AUDIO