Family Classics

Penguin presents Happy Families: The Audio Collection by Allan Ahlberg, read by Alexander Armstrong. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Listen to the story of Mrs Wobble the Waitress, Mr Biff the Boxer, Miss Dirt the Dustman's Daughter and many more in the first ever audio collection of Allan Ahlberg's beloved Happy Families. Features 11 classic tales brought to life with music and dazzling sound effects.

Mrs. Pepper, a widow, and her five children lived in a plain little brown house, where she struggled to feed and clothe her lively brood. The family had little in the way of luxury and hardly any of the things that many of us today take for granted, but they had such fun and good times together, and loved one another so dearly that, when a very rich little boy discovered the warmth and happiness that flooded the little brown house, he felt himself lucky to be in it.

A huge storm hurls a ship against the rocks with the force of a hurricane. A father, mother and their four sons, abandoned by their now drowned crew, must carve out a new life for themselves on an uncharted island. Join them as they learn how to survive while battling the forces of nature.

Can young Hans Brinker win the silver skates that are the only hope of saving his family from ruin? Hans and his little sister Gretel live in Holland, a colorful and exciting country of windmills and great canals. Unfortunately, the Brinkers are very poor and their father is ill, and Hans wonders whether they'll survive the long, harsh winter. Then he finds out about an ice skating race, and the prize - a pair of shiny silver skates - that might help his family survive.

Hollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. When Hollis is sent to Josie, she'll do everything in her power to make sure they stay together.

The most acclaimed Scottish novel of all time, Sunset Song is a powerful portrait of a land and people in turmoil, seen through the life and struggles of its heroine, Chris Guthrie. In the years up to and beyond the First World War, Chris' resilience, like the land itself, endures despite everything and is portrayed with a lyrical intensity that echoes through the years and still resonates today.

This collection includes the remastered Online Stage productions of Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys as well as Comic Tragedies by Jo & Meg. Little Women is the story of four sisters growing up against the background of the American Civil War. Alcott wrote the book at the urging of the publisher, Thomas Niles, who was seeking a story about girls that would have popular appeal.

Meet the Stevens family as they prepare to embark on their yearly holiday to the coast of England. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens first made the trip to Bognor Regis on their honeymoon, and the tradition has continued ever since. They stay in the same guesthouse and follow the same carefully honed schedule - now accompanied by their three children, 20-year-old Mary, 17-year-old Dick, and little brother Ernie.

A masterpiece of American fiction and a best seller upon its publication in 1935, BUtterfield 8 lays bare with brash honesty the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. One Sunday morning, Gloria wakes up in a stranger's apartment with nothing but a torn evening dress, stockings, and panties. When she steals a fur coat from the wardrobe to wear home, she unleashes a series of events that can only end in tragedy.

This exquisite, resonant novel by PEN/Faulkner winner James Salter is a brilliant portrait of a marriage by a contemporary American master. It is the story of Nedra and Viri, whose favored life is centered around dinners, ingenious games with their children, enviable friends, and near-perfect days passed skating on a frozen river or sunning on the beach.

Ramona's life changes the moment Howie Kemp's mysterious uncle arrives from Saudi Arabia. Howie and his sister, Willa Jean, talk only about Uncle Hobart. Ramona's mother makes secret phone calls and stops eating dessert, and Aunt Bea is hiding something, too. Whatever surprises are in store, Ramona is determined to be happy and helpful. Whether she's pleasant or pesty, brave or blunderful, she's always wonderful Ramona - forever!

If you haven't met a Moomin yet, you're in for the most magical fun! The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Tove Jansson's endearing classic, Finn Family Moomintroll, read with warmth (and some lively character voices) by the comedian Hugh Dennis.Moomintroll is cheerful and chubby and lives in the magical Moominvalley with his mother, Moominmamma, his father, Moominpappa and all of their friends. Throughout the winter the Moomins hibernate, but before they go to sleep they fill their tummies full of pineneedles. In spring they wake up, ready for their fun-filled summer adventures. This is the story in which Moomintroll finds a big hat - a magical Hobgoblin hat, no less…

The Bennet family is in danger of losing Longbourn. Mary and Mrs. Bennet fear they must soon make way for the Collins family. When that will be and where they shall go preys constantly upon those ladies’ minds. With the shocking death of her husband last September, Mrs. Bennet’s worst fears have been realised. The looming prospect of losing her home is almost too much to bear: her spirits are low, she goes nowhere and receives no one. Not even the arrival of two new grandchildren can improve her mood, one of whom claims rather dubious parentage. Only her hatred of Mr. Collins has the ...

Set on the Mississippi Delta in 1923, this story captures the mind and manners of the Fairchilds, a large aristocratic family, self-contained and elusive as the wind. The vagaries of the Fairchilds are keenly observed, and sometimes harshly judged, by nine-year-old Laura McRaven, a Fairchild cousin who takes The Yellow Dog train to the Delta for Dabney Fairchild’s wedding.

Tag med den tapre og modige pige, Mulan, på et spændende eventyr! Sammen med en gammelklog drage, en lykkefårekylling og en lurvet gruppe soldater prøver Mulan at bringe sin familie ære - på sin egen måde! "Den blomst, der blomstrer i modgang, er den mest sjældne og smukke af dem alle." - Kejseren Bliv fortryllet af DISNEYS fantastiske verden.

Sara Stanley is only 14, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. In the charming town of Carlisle, children and grown-ups alike flock from miles around to hear her spellbinding tales. And when Bev King and his younger brother Felix arrive for the summer, they, too, are captivated by the "Story Girl"....

Jules Verne achieved a triumph when his imagination, fired by Rudolph Wyss’ The Swiss Family Robinson was impelled to carry the story a step farther in The Castaways of the Flag. An island was ever his spiritual home; and no one was ever happier upon one. The Castaways of the Flag is a satisfactory sequel to The Swiss Family Robinson because it is the production of Jules Verne, an original genius, set in motion by Rudolph Wyss. Wherever The Swiss Family Robinson is heard, The Castaways of the Flag should also be heard.

Joe Chapin led a storybook life. A successful small-town lawyer with a beautiful wife, two over-achieving children, and aspirations to be president, he seemed to have it all. But as his daughter looks back on his life, a different man emerges: one in conflict with his ambitious and shrewish wife, terrified that the misdeeds of his children will dash his political dreams, and in love with a model half his age.

Ever since Paddington started working in the garden, it's been a bit quieter in the Brown household. But with Paddington around, things never stay quiet for long. From a paw-sticking toffee disaster to a slight scorching of Father Christmas' beard, Paddington brings a splash of adventure to every day.

The first thing every listener will want to know is whether Anne Shirley appears in these stories of Avonlea and Spencervale. She certainly does. As a matter of fact, page one starts off in this manner: "Anne Shirley was curled up on the window seat of Theodora Dix's sitting room one Saturday evening, looking dreamily afar at some fair starland beyond the hills of sunset. Anne was visiting for a fortnight of her vacation."