Subject: Children's Fantasy
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Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Note: this is a shortened 1916 edition (under half the length). For the original book, which comes with 42 illustrations by John Tenniel, try Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Source of legend and lyric, reference and conjecture, it is for most children pure pleasure in prose. While adults try to decipher Lewis... read more »
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
Journey with Alice down the rabbit hole into a world of wonder where oddities, logic and wordplay rule supreme. Encounter characters like the grinning Cheshire Cat who can vanish into thin air, the cryptic Mad Hatter who speaks in riddles and the harrowing Queen of Hearts obsessed with the phrase "Off with their... read more »
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Alice's Adventures Under Ground Lewis Carroll
Note: This work is a transcript of the 1886 facsimile edition and is without illustrations. You may be more interested in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the original publication that was extended by Lewis with the addition of over 10,000 words, and comes with illustrations by John Tenniel. read more »
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A Round Dozen Susan Coolidge
19th century fairy tales with elves and magic doors. Contains the following 12 stories; The Little White Door, Little Karen and her Baby, Helen's Thanksgiving, At Fiesole, Queen Blossom, A Small Beginning, The Secret Door, The Two Wishes, Blue and Pink, A Fortunate Misfortune, Toinette and the Elves, Jean's Money... read more »
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At the Back of the North Wind George MacDonald
The magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind -- a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair -- and whose life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country -- at the back of the north wind. It combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of... read more »
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A Visit From Saint Nicholas Clement C. Moore
Clement C. Moore wrote A Visit from Saint Nicholas, better known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, as a gift for his children. If an enthusiastic house guest had not sent the poem to a local newspaper editor, the jolly old elf who travelled by reindeer-drawn sleigh might have enlivened only one family's traditions. read more »
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Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (Book 1) Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming, best known for his James Bond novels, wrote only one children’s book—and it is a classic! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the name of the flying, floating, driving-by-itself automobile that takes the Pott family on a riotous series of adventures as they try to capture a notorious gang of robbers. This is... read more »
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Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (Book 2) Ian Fleming
The second book in Ian Fleming's children's classic, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The flying, floating, driving-by-itself automobile that takes the Pott family on a riotous series of adventures as they try to capture a notorious gang of robbers. This is a story filled with humor, adventure, and gadgetry that only a... read more »
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Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (Book 3) Ian Fleming
The final book in Iam Fleming's fantastical children's adventure about a flying, floating, self-driving automobile that takes the Pott family on a riotous series of adventures as they try to capture a notorious gang of robbers. Filled with humor, adventure, and gadgetry that only a genius like Fleming could invent... read more »
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Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary Hugh Lofting
The charming story of Pippinella, the green canary, as told by Pip herself to the Doctor. Although much of the material had been printed originally in 1924 for the Herald Tribune Syndicate, Lofting planned to complete the story in book form but never finished before he died. Lofting's wife's sister, Olga Michael... read more »
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Doctor Dolittle in the Moon Hugh Lofting
Dr. Dolittle has landed on the Moon! He meets Otho Bludge the Moon Man, a Stone Age artist who was the only human on the Moon when it broke away from the Earth. The animals of the Moon flock to Doctor Dolittle, and he discovers how to communicate with the intelligent plants there. But will the lunar flora and fauna... read more »
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Doctor Dolittle's Circus Hugh Lofting
The doctor needs money to pay off a voyage to Africa, so he joins the circus with the pushmi-pullyu as his attraction. He enlightens a circus owner who cares little for animals, fights against the practice of fox hunting and helps other creatures such as a circus seal and cart horses too old to work. read more »
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Doctor Dolittle's Garden Hugh Lofting
Doctor Dolittle's Garden is structurally the most disorganised of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle books. The first part would fit very well into Doctor Dolittle's Zoo, which this book follows. The rest of the book forms a reasonably coherent narrative. Doctor Dolittle's assistant, Tommy Stubbins, reports on Professor... read more »
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Doctor Dolittle's Post Office Hugh Lofting
When he discovers that animals from all over the world want to communicate with each other, Dr Dolittle has the wonderful idea of setting up the Swallow Mail, the fastest postal service ever. Doctor Dolittle establishes a swallow mail service for the animals when he discovers that they have their own way of writing. read more »
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Doctor Dolittle's Return Hugh Lofting
Doctor Dolittle's Return is lighter and more comic than other Dolittle books. Tommy Stubbins waits for Doctor Dolittle's return from the Moon. When the Doctor returns he is anxious to write of what he has experienced. This proves more difficult than expected. The poignancy of the doctor's lunar experiences is... read more »
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Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz L. Frank Baum
The fourth book in Baum's Oz series, Dorothy returns to lands of magic and fantasy with her cousin Zeb, kitten Eureka, and a cab-horse named Jim. They encounter vegetable people living under the world, and Dorothy is reunited with the Wizard of Oz when he floats down in his hot air balloon. They later are aided by... read more »
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Five Children and It Edith Nesbit
To Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane, and their baby brother, the house in the country promises a summer of freedom and play. But when they accidently uncover an accident Psammead--or Sand-fairy--who has the power to make wishes come true, they find themselves having the holiday of a lifetime, sharing one thrilling... read more »
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Flower Fables Louisa May Alcott
Flower Fables contains wildly imaginative stories that grew out of Alcott's experience as a storyteller to the children of her Concord, Connecticut, neighbors. Through these enticing encounters with fairies, elves, and animals, the author creates a foundation for young people based on the themes of love, kindness... read more »
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Glinda of Oz L. Frank Baum
Peace, prosperity, and happiness are the rule in the marvelous Land of Oz, but in a faraway corner of this magical domain dwell two tribes--the Flatheads and the Skeezers--who have declared war on each other. Determined to keep her subjects from fighting, the Ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma, along with her dearest... read more »
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Just So Stories Rudyard Kipling
The famous, funny, and inspiring stories of creation as readers have never heard them before. From the tale of how the leopard got his spots to the crab who played with the sea, from the ingenious invention of the alphabet to how the rhinoceros got his wrinkled skin, these stories of strange happenings in the High... read more »
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Once on a Time A. A. Milne
"This is an odd book" or so states the author in 1917 for his first introduction. A fairytale with seven league boots, a princess, an enchantment, and the Countess Belvane. As Milne wrote in a later introduction: "But, as you see, I am still finding it difficult to explain just what sort of book it is. Perhaps no... read more »
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Ozma of Oz L. Frank Baum
Blown overboard while sailing with her uncle, Dorothy finds herself in the fairy realm of Ev. She sets out with her friends to rescue the Queen of Ev and her ten children, who have been imprisoned by the cruel Nome King. But even Ozma, the wise Ruler of Oz, is no match for the clever king, and it's up to Dorothy to... read more »
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Peter Pan J. M. Barrie
Peter pan, the mischievous boy who refuses to grow up, lands in the Darling's proper middle-class home to look for his shadow. He befriends Wendy, John and Michael and teaches them to fly (with a little help from fairy dust). He and Tinker Bell whisk them off to Never-land where they encounter the Red Indians, the... read more »
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Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens J. M. Barrie
Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up, is one of the immortals of children's literature. J. M. Barrie first created Peter Pan as a baby, living in secret with the birds and fairies in the middle of London, but as the children for whom he invented the stories grew older, so too did Peter, reappearing in... read more »
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Pinocchio Carlo Collodi
The old wood-carver Geppetto decides to make a wonderful puppet which can dance & turn somersaults, but by chance he chooses an unusual piece of wood. The finished puppet can talk & misbehave like the liveliest child. But Pinocchio is brave & inquisitive as well as naughty. After some hair-raising adventures, he... read more »
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Poo-Poo and the Dragons C. S. Forester
Forester came up with the premise for the book while he was at home in the Berkeley hills, minding his two boys while his wife Kathleen was away. The younger of the two, 8 year old George, went on a hunger strike; he refused to eat. Forester made up the stories to tell during dinnertime, but would only tell them if... read more »
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Prince Caspian C. S. Lewis
The Pevensie siblings travel back to Narnia to help a prince denied his rightful throne as he gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world. Prince Caspian is the fourth book in C. S... read more »
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Rinkitink in Oz L. Frank Baum
Prince Inga of Pingaree and King Rinkitink and their companions have adventures that lead to the land of the Nomes and, eventually, Oz. When all the inhabitants of Pingaree are kidnapped by the mongrel hordes of twin island kingdoms, Prince Inga and his friend King Rinkitink decide to go to the rescue. Baum... read more »
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Sky Island L. Frank Baum
Trot is the young daughter of a California schooner captain. She is accompanied by Captain Bill -- an old sailor with a wooden leg who was her father's captain. Trot meets Button-Bright, a boy using a magic umbrella to travel from his home in Philadelphia. Trot, Button, and Captain Bill decide to travel with the... read more »
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Tanglewood Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne wrote these stories for children based on Greek myth and legend. They are incomparable retellings of themes which the Greek dramatists used in creating their immortal plays and literature. Contents: The Gorgon's Head; The Golden Touch; The Paradise of Children; The Three Golden Apples; The Miraculous... read more »