The escapades of four animal friends who live along a river in the English countryside--Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger. Since its beginnings as a series of stories told to Kenneth Grahame's young son, The Wind in the Willows has gone on to become one of the best-loved children's books of all time. The timeless story of Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger, brought to vivid life by Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, has delighted readers of all ages for more than...

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who has hung on determinedly to an optimistic spirit and a wildly creative imagination through her early deprivations. She erupts into the lives of aging brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a girl instead of the boy they had sent for. Thus begins a story of transformation for all three; indeed the whole rural community of Avonlea comes under Anne's influence in some way. We see her grow from a...

Each text is fully annotated and includes the original illustrations. The "Backgrounds" section is arranged to correspond with three clearly defined periods in Lewis Carroll's life. Letters and diary entries are interwoven within each period, emphasizing the biographical dimension of Carroll's writing. Readers gain an understanding of the author's family and education, the evolution of the Alice books, and Carroll's later years through his own words...

When a young boy is given a magic box by an old man, he finds it has many special powers which he must use to free the man from kidnappers.