Family Life Classics

To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.

Eight-year-old Elsie Dinsmore is enjoying a blissful Christmas holiday season with her family and friends when a crisis arises that threatens life as she knows it. She believes that obeying a request her father has made would violate her conscience, and she must refuse him. He, in turn, believes Elsie is being willful and disobedient, and he fails to see her refusal as a matter of her deep, abiding faith in God.

Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis were quite happy living in their ordinary red-brick house located in the suburbs. But when their father was called away, the children and their mother were compelled to move to a dark, shabby cottage in the country, and their lives changed more then they ever could have imagined. At first the country seemed lonely and dull. Then one afternoon, a walk led them to a railway tunnel. There they met Perks, the porter, made friends with the kind Station Master, and waved to the Green Dragon train.

When Arkady Petrovich comes home from college, his father finds his eager, naïve son changed almost beyond recognition, for the impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the friend he has brought with him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young Bazarov shocks Arkady's father by criticizing the landowning way of life and by his outspoken determination to sweep away traditional values of contemporary Russian society.

The Aldens are visiting a small town known for its harvest festival. The town is beautiful in the fall, but rumors of the harvest moon and a werewolf are keeping people away. Can the Aldens get to the bottom of who - or what - is causing such a stir?

In this timeless tale of family life, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard find the perfect spot to raise their young in Boston's Public Garden.

Ronja, die Tochter des Räuberhauptmanns Mattis, wächst mitten im Wald auf - zwischen Räubern, Graugnomen und Wilddruden. Eines Tages trifft sie auf Birk, den Räubersohn aus der verfeindeten Sippe von Borka. Trotz aller Umstände freunden sich die Kinder an. Sehr zum Missfallen der beiden Familien... Eine märchenhafte Geschichte voller Fantasie, und ein Plädoyer gegen Vorurteile und Ungerechtigkeit.

Howards End is the story of the liberal Schlegel sisters and their struggle to come to terms with social class and their German heritage in Edwardian England. Their lives are intertwined with those of the wealthy and pragmatic Wilcox family and their country house, Howards End, as well as the lower-middle-class Basts. When Helen Schlegel and Paul Wilcox's brief romance ends badly the Schlegels hope to never see the Wilcoxes again.

When Sally's family moves to Miami Beach for the winter of 1947, she is excited and nervous at the same time. What will school be like in Florida? Will she make any friends? Will she fit in so far away from home?

Schooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series. In book six, Pat breaks her arm and misses the first weeks of term. Will Pat be upset when new girl Amanda becomes Isabel's new best friend? Expect more mischief at St Clare's!

The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet: a hardworking father, a loving mother, three fine sons, and a bright, pretty daughter. But an incident occurs on Valentine's Day, 1976 - hushed up in the rural town of Mt. Ephraim, New York and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home - that rends the fabric of their family life.

“To help mother”: that was the goal of each and every one of the five Pepper children. Yet even as “Mamsie” struggles hard to feed and educate her brood, she still manages to fill the house with joy. The adventures of this poor but loving family - Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie, and the adored youngest, Phronsie - have charmed young listeners for more than a century. Overflowing with warmth, suspense, and many delightful surprises, this classic remains as compelling as ever.

Emily Starr is now seventeen years old and a high school graduate. With her newfound freedom, she grows as a writer and waits day in and day out for the return of her friend Teddy Kent, who went on to continue his education away from the town of New Moon. As her life unfurls, Emily is faced with heartache and newfound opportunities.

Read by Geraldine McEwan. This classic story has been loved by millions of children since it was first published over 40 years ago.The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they certainly don't expect to see at the door is a big furry, stripy tiger!

Little Women is the story of a wife and her four daughters living in genteel poverty in the environs of Boston while the father is away as a chaplain in the Union Army during the Civil War.

After their home is destroyed by a fire, Rosa, her mother, and grandmother save their coins to buy a really comfortable chair for all to enjoy. A Chair for My Mother has sold more than a million copies and is an ideal choice for reading and sharing at home and in the classroom.

Durraghglass is a beautiful mansion in Southern Ireland, now crumbling in neglect. The time is the present - a present that churns with the bizarre passions of its owners' past. The Swifts - three sisters of marked eccentricity, defiantly christened April, May and Baby June, and their only brother, one-eyed Jasper - have little in common, save vivid memories of darling Mummy, and a long lost youth peculiarly prone to acts of treachery.

Emma Woodhouse is pretty, clever and rich and sees no reason why she would ever need to get married. But she loves matchmaking for her neighbours, despite the advice of her friend Mr Knightley, who warns her against meddling. Her latest success - the wedding of her governess - makes her certain that she can find the right match for anyone. Can Emma's lucky streak continue? Or will best laid plans unravel...as they always seem to do?

Caje Amis and his father are mountain folk, they live off the land and have few interactions with more sophisticated people. But at the onset of an especially harsh winter, the two take shelter with distant relatives. The adjustment to their new life is an easy one for Caje, but impossible for his father, and the elder Amis ends up abandoning his son and vanishing into the cold!

If your best friend is named Huckleberry Finn, and there's a girl in your life named Becky Thatcher, a villain named Injun Joe, and you and your friends get into all kinds of mischief and adventures, then you must be that ever-lovin' charmer from Missouri, Tom Sawyer!