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Children's classics Part 2

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The Wind in the Willows 
by Kenneth Grahame
 
 

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This classic adventure story, set in early twentieth-century Britain, features the lovable characters Rat, Toad, Mole, and Badger.
If you ever feel like falling into a beautiful comic-book story � in the same way one falls back into a warm field of grass � reach for Michel Plessix's lush adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows. The artwork is an aquarelle, with thin, precise, detailed lines.
It's no wonder he received numerous awards for his previous effort, Julien Boisvert, a contemporary take on the Tintin character type. In Wind in the Willows, Plessix breathes life into Mole, Rat, and Toad (of Toad Hall) as they picnic on the riverbank, indulge in Toad's latest fad, and get lost in Wild Wood.

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The Jungle Book
by Rudyard Kipling
 

Book Description
Amazon.com
No child should be allowed to grow up without reading The Jungle Books.
Published in 1894 and 1895, the stories crackle with as much life and intensity as ever. Rudyard Kipling pours fuel on childhood fantasies with his tales of Mowgli, lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves. Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies among the Jungle-People � cobras, panthers, bears, and tigers � hone this man-cub's strength and cleverness and whet every reader's imagination.
Mowgli's story is interspersed with other tales of the jungle, such as �Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,� lending depth and diversity to our understanding of Kipling's India. In much the same way Mowgli is carried away by the Bandar-log monkeys, young readers will be caught up by the stories, swinging from page to page, breathless, thrilled, and terrified.
(Ages 9 to 12)

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6 � With over 20 editions in print, what would justify publishing, or purchasing, another Jungle Book ? The answer is clearly Alexander's splendid and technically ravishing watercolor illustrations. Their stylized borders and overall background patterns recall � without slavishly imitating � Indian textiles and Indian book illustrations. The stunningly vibrant hues (especially the hot pinks, oranges, and electric blues) allude to the traditional colors of India but appeal to contemporary tastes for high-voltage tints.
The details are evocative but spare (their scale makes the human figures unintelligible at a distance, but the many animal portraits maintain their effect across a room). With the recent reappearance of the Disney version in video and cartoon knockoffs, this edition's fine graphic vision is doubly welcome. In these numerous vignettes per double-page depictions, India is again the rich and exotic country of Kipling's romantic creation.
� Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
by Roger Lancelyn Green

Book Description
Retold out of the old romances, this collection of Arthurian tales endeavors to make each adventure � �The Quest for the Round Table, � �The First Quest of Sir Lancelot, � �How the Holy Grail Came to Camelot, � and so forth � part of a fixed pattern that effectively presents the whole story, as it does in Le Morte D'Arthur, but in a way less intimidating to young readers.
(All Ages)

Card catalog description
A retelling of the story of the boy fated to be the �true-born King of Britain,� covering his glorious reign and his tragic, yet triumphant, passing.

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The Canterbury Tales
 by Geoffrey Chaucer, Geraldine McCaughrean
 

Book Description
Geraldine McCaughrean masterfully retells The Canterbury Tales for children in a lively and humorous style that captures the original flair of Chaucer himself. She introduces us to the characters who told these tales: the shy, battle-hardened Knight, the Summoner whose breath smells of onions, the angry Miller with his red beard, and the Widow of Bath who likes a happy ending.
The stories and the characters are vividly brought to life by Victor Ambrus, with pictures of wild chases, exciting battles, and the April countryside though which the pilgrims travel.
� This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Card catalog description
An ilustrated retelling of Geoffrey Chaucer's famous work in which a group of pilgrims in fourteenth-century England tell each other stories as they travel on a pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury.
� This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Pollyanna
by Marion Dane Bauer (Foreword), Eleanor H. Porter
 

Editorial Reviews
From AudioFile
It would have been easy to gush through this five hanky classic, but Hannah Gordon presents a realistic, yet warm and human, interpretation of each of the various dour and happy characters. Her narrative style reminds me of the late Elizabeth Montgomery of BEWITCHED as she describes the effect a glad orphan girl has on her maiden aunt's vinegary universe. The book is full of tears and laughter, and Gordon evokes them with small catches in her voice, trembling hesitations and sudden babbles of enthusiasm. She doesn't hit a false note anywhere, a master at her craft.
D.W. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner.
(c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine � This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Midwest Book Review
The unabridged classic story of an orphaned girl who lives with a strict maiden aunt receives fine narration by Hannah Gordon, whose accented British voice provides the perfect backdrop for a strong story of courage and discovery. Kids who balk at classic presentations will love this more exciting audio version.
� This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition
 

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Complete Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set
by L. M. Montgomery
 



Synopsis
Amazon.com
When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables, Prince Edward Island, send for a boy orphan to help them out at the farm, they are in no way prepared for the error that will change their lives.
The mistake takes the shape of Anne Shirley, a redheaded 11-year-old girl who can talk anyone under the table. Fortunately, her sunny nature and quirky imagination quickly win over her reluctant foster parents. Anne's feisty spirit soon draws many friends � and much trouble � her way. Not a day goes by without some melodramatic new episode in the tragicomedy of her life. Early on, Anne declares her eternal antipathy for Gilbert Blythe, a classmate who commits the ultimate sin of mocking her hair color. Later, she accidentally dyes that same cursed hair green. Another time, in her haste to impress a new neighbor, she bakes a cake with liniment instead of vanilla.
Lucy Maud Montgomery's series of books about Anne have remained classics since the early 20th century.
Her portrayal of this feminine yet independent spirit has given generations of girls a strong female role model, while offering a taste of another, milder time in history.
This lovely boxed gift collection comprises Anne of Green Gables, Anne of the Island, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, and Rilla of Ingleside.
(Ages 9 to 12)
� Emilie Coulter .

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The Railway Children
by E. Nesbit, Dinah Dryhurst (Illustrator)
 

Book Description
Set in nineteenth-century England, The Railway Children is the story of how a family, whose father has mysteriously disappeared, deals with the profound changes that take place when they move away from London to settle in a country cottage near the railway.
First published in 1906, this tearjerker is one of the greatest children's stories of all time. This edition of Edith Nesbit's classic is beautifully illustrated in color by well-known artist Dinah Dryhurst.
Complete and unabridged, it is an ideal and inexpensive way to begin building a classics library.

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