Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side . . .” It's Christmas time . . . The March family has fallen on bad times after the father lost their money. The four March sisters-the nearly perfect ‘little woman' Meg, the tomboyish Jo, the shy but wise Beth, and the artist of the family Amy-are planning to brighten up their Christmas by buying presents while their father is away, fighting the Civil War. Featuring...

To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would...

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is the most famous, heart-warming and chilling festive story of them all. In these pages we meet Ebenezer Scrooge, whose name is synonymous with greed and parsimony: 'Every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart'. This attitude is soon challenged when the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley,...

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London, is one of America's best-known novels. In his Reader's Companion to this new edition, Daniel Dyer provides a wealth of annotations explaining the book's many "sourdough" expressions and geographical references in order to help the modern reader see what London saw. Dyer also identifies characters in the novel - human and canine alike - whom London had known, and he spices his annotations with Northern lore and...

One of the true classics of English literature, here are the adventures of Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and Toad. Shy Mole is cleaning his underground house until the spring weather lures him above for a cautious encounter with the worldly Water Rat. Their exploration of the Wild Wood includes lunch with Otter and hilarious adventures at Toad Hall. Grahame's idyllic world is as fresh now as when they first discovered his enchanting tales, of Ratty sculling...

An introduction to the story for younger readers. It has been sensitively abridged and retold to make it suitable for sharing with young children from 5+, whilst retaining all the key parts of the story including Heidi's friendship with Peter, her life in Frankfurt with Clara, and fascinating details about life in the mountains

"Dr. Jekyll is a kind and respected man. His friends cannot understand his companionship with the wicked, mysterious Mr. Hyde, who seems to have come from nowhere and yet has a terrible hold on the doctor. Even as Hyde commits crimes that shock all of London, no one can guess how -- or why -- the two men are so close. Only at the very end of this gripping tale is the incredible truth revealed." - back cover.

A casual wager hastens the elegant and exacting Phileas Fogg on a rollicking ride around the world with his entertaining sidekick Passepartout in tow and the dogged Detective Fix hot on their heels. By cab, rail, steamer, and ingenious means improvised en route, they cobble together a global adventure in which they overcome all manner of unanticipated and sometimes uproarious obstacles while still managing to rescue the demure princess Aouda. Full...