Classics Library

Harriet M. Welsch has just received the best news of her 11th year—Ole Golly is coming back! Harriet can still remember how sad she was when her beloved nanny married George Waldenstein and moved away. But the circumstances of Ole Golly’s return remain unclear. Where is George Waldenstein?

The foundations of modern knowledge - philosophy, math, astronomy, geography - were laid by the Greeks, whose ideas were written on scrolls and stored in libraries across the Mediterranean and beyond. But as the vast Roman Empire disintegrated, so did appreciation of these precious texts. Christianity cast a shadow over so-called pagan thought, books were burned, and the library of Alexandria, the greatest repository of classical knowledge, was destroyed. Yet some texts did survive and The Map of Knowledge explores the role played by seven cities around the Mediterranean....

Outrageous Pippi Longstocking has no parents around and no rules to follow, so she lives according to her own daredevilish ways. She's been treating her friends Tommy and Annika to wild adventures, too—like buying and eating seventy-two pounds of candy, or sailing off to an island in the middle of a lake to see what it's like to be shipwrecked. But then Pippi's long lost father returns, and she might have to leave Villa Villekulla!

The mischievous cat returns on a snowy day when there is work to be done.

A beauty shop guy is the bestest job ever, but first Junie B. needs a little practice. And a few volunteers, like her bunny slippers, her dog, and maybe even...herself? Is this the start of a great career? Or the start of the worst hair day ever?

Middle-aged governess Guinevere Pettigrew visits her employment agency one morning and is mistakenly sent to the glitzy home of a nightclub singer. Miss Pettigrew meets the glamorous Miss Delysia LaFosse and embarks on a whirlwind adventure. These two very different women soon become friends, and Miss Pettigrew proves to be the perfect companion. Instead of having to look after unruly children, Miss Pettigrew spends her evening at a party. But what will happen when the day finally ends?

Beloved by children (and the parents lucky enough to share it with them) since it was first published in 1954, Half Magic is the uproarious tale of four siblings who discover a charm that grants exactly half of whatever they wish for--with results that are twice as predictable (and hilarious) as you might expect.

Mr. Hoppy is in love with his neighbor, Mrs. Silver; but she is in love with someone else—Alfie, her pet tortoise. With all her attention focused on Alfie, Mrs. Silver doesn’t even know Mr. Hoppy is alive. And Mr. Hoppy is too shy to even ask Mrs. Silver over for tea. Then one day Mr. Hoppy comes up with a brilliant idea to get Mrs. Silver's attention. If Mr. Hoppy's plan works, Mrs. Silver will certainly fall in love with him. After all, everyone knows the way to a woman’s heart is through her tortoise.

Penguin Classics presents Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, adapted for listening and available as a digital audiobook as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by David Threlfall, the star of the hit Channel 4 series, Shameless. The mind of man is capable of anything - because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, rage - who can tell? But truth - truth stripped of its cloak of time.

Mafatu's name means "Stout Heart," but his people call him a coward. Ever since the sea took his mother's life and spared his own, he has lived with deep fear. By the time he is twelve years old, Mafatu can bear it no longer. He must conquer his fear alone...even if it means certain death. This classic tale of a young boy's hidden strength has been a favorite of readers of all ages since 1940.

Wishing couldn't keep Anne of Green Gables from growing up. Anne's whole world was changing. Her childhood friends were beginning to get married, and Anne herself was leaving the island for four years of college. Now handsome Gilbert Blythe wants to win Anne's heart, and suddenly Anne must decide if she's ready for love...and for following her dreams if they mean leaving Green Gables behind forever.

A very dangerous man. That's Paul Kavanagh, an ex-Green Beret with nothing but time on his hands--until he gets an offer to steal a shipment of tactical nuclear weapons form the US government--and finds himself a partner, George Dattner, who has the cold eyes of a trained killer. Each of these men alone is dangerous. But anyone who tries to stop them together is guaranteed not to come out of it alive!

Jerry Renault ponders the question on the poster in his locker: Do I dare disturb the universe? Refusing to sell chocolates in the annual Trinity school fund-raiser may not seem like a radical thing to do. But when Jerry challenges a secret school society called The Vigils, his defiant act turns into an all-out war. Now the only question is: Who will survive? First published in 1974, Robert Cormier's groundbreaking novel, an unflinching portrait of corruption and cruelty, has become a modern classic.

Read by Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Kathleen Turner, and Matthew Broderick, here are the stories of the immortals of Olympus - the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece - as freshly described as if they were alive today. Mighty Zeus, with his fistful of thunderbolts; mischievous little Hermes; grey-eyed Athena, godess of wisdom; Asclepius, the first physician; Orpheus and his beloved Euridice; Helios the sun, crossing the heavens in his fiery chariot....

A modern fable in humorous verse.

Underneath the steps leading down to Eric's basement is a hidden storage place. It's dusty and old, nothing special at all. But when Eric, Julie, and Neal all huddle inside the gray room together, something unbelievable happens. A glittering light and then a rainbow-colored staircase appear. As the kids take their very first step down into the mysterious land of Droon, they know that only magic and adventure await them!

In honor of Madeleine L'Engle's 100th Birthday, fans are invited to enjoy this archival audiobook, originally recorded in 1994 and newly restored! Listen to the voice of the author, as Madeleine L'Engle reads A Wind in the Door.

When Pippi’s father, the king, sends for her, she decides to take her best friends Tommy and Annika with her to Kurrekurredutt Island. The island is fantastic and Pippi has one crazy adventure after another! Pippi is even made a princess—Princess Pippilotta. But will Pippi and her friends really want to live on the island forever, never to return to Villa Villekulla?

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power - brutally transforming their subjects' lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined.

It's the talk of the jungle when an elephant hatches an egg.