"Yes, I suppose you may say I have, admitted the Bold Tin Soldier. "But though my men and I have a fine home with Arnold, still I get lonesome for you toys once in a while. I have met the Sawdust Doll, the White Rocking Horse, and the Lamb on Wheels. Now I am glad to meet you all once more. And how is my friend the Candy Rabbit?" the Captain asked, as he saw the long-eared chap standing near him." This is the story of one of the toys created at Santa's workshop in North Pole Land, who comes down to earth to live with a fortunate little boy or girl.
The seventeenth book in the popular "Motor Boys" series sees our heroes as college freshman. Written under the house pseudonym of Clarence Young.
Number 5 in the Bunny Brown series. This charming volume sees Bunny Brown, his sister Sue, their parents, Uncle Tad, and Bunker Blue (along with faithful dog Splash!) camping for the whole entire summer! There are adventures, mysteries, "marshmallow candy" roasts, and missing pies, and there is always LOTS of fun following the two siblings!
Ben Ralston regrets that he was born 40 years too late to take advantage of the California Gold Rush. Opportunities are dwindling, but for a boy with drive, they are not extinct.
Three little friends are taken to the County Fair in Uncle Billy's motorcar, but a slight delay occurs on the way. How they finally arrived at the fair ground and their amusing experiences are most entertainingly told in this short book for younger readers and listeners. Read along and see the charming illustrations at Project Gutenberg.
Said to be the first-ever gay youth novel, this 1891 story follows the adventures of 12-year-old Gerald Saxton embarking on a trip from New York, to meet his father in Nova Scotia. He is chaperoned by 17-year-old Philip Touchtone. During the trip, their steamer sinks, they are shipwrecked, and marooned on an island. In addition, a shady antagonist is stalking the two. And while all this is happening, a friendship of mutual affection develops between the boys (nothing explicit).
Edward Sylvester Ellis was a major American author during the era of inexpensive fiction of the nineteenth century (dime novels). Because he wrote under dozens of pseudonyms, as well as under his own name, it is virtually impossible to know exactly how many books he wrote, but it is believed to be in the hundreds. He specialized in boys' stories, inspirational biography, and history for both children and adults. (From FictionDB.com)This is a western, set in the Pecos River valley in the late 19th century, post Civil War era. This is the sequel to "In the Pecos Country", and the second half of the same story, begun in that book.
"All children, except one, grow up,” begins J. M. Barrie's most famous novel. Barrie then proceeds to tell the story of that one extraordinary exception, Peter Pan, who lives in the Neverland with pirates and fairies and is always having adventures. One night he appears in the nursery of the Darling children and the most marvelous adventure of all begins. Light-hearted though it seems in premise, Peter Pan is a sweet but melancholy tribute to the fleeting innocence of childhood that has endured as a beloved favorite of children and adults alike ever since its first publication.
The Wind in the Willows is a classic children's book--enjoyed by all ages!--by British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Begun as letters to his 7-year-old son Alistair and later developed into a novel, it tells the adventures of animals Mole, Rat, and Toad, who dwell, along with Badger, Otter, and other animals, in the riverbank, fields, and woodlands of the English countryside. Best friends Mole and Rat, along with Badger, are continually rescuing Toad from his scrapes. An encounter with nature god Pan lends a special magic to this tale.
In 2011, I recorded this delightful reading by my friend Sarbaga Falk. We made presents of the recordings for Sarbaga’s family and our friends and their children and grandchildren; and had it in mind to put it on LibriVox. Shortly after we recorded Wind in the Willows, Sarbaga was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, which worsened until she passed away in February 2020.
Sarbaga loved tales, jokes, and stories, and she would no doubt be tickled to listen to this wonderful tale told in her own inimitable and expressive voice. This stands as a fitting tribute to our dear friend, as she continues to delight us all.
Henry, Jess, Violet, and Benny just lost their father and are all alone. To avoid being sent to the grandfather they fear, they have no choice but to run away. What follows is a weary midnight journey and the fun of settling into an old, abandoned boxcar in the woods. When Henry's job makes them new friends, they don't realize how important that will be for their future.
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Tons of exciting things happen in this book, including the story of the little boy Tip who makes a magic sawhorse and then a Pumpkin headed man come to life, runs away from the witch Old Mombi and seeks to find the Emerald City where the Scarecrow rules in all of his magnificence. Be prepared for dangerous encounters, exciting plot twists and marvelously brave (and stupid in the case of the Pumpkin headed man) heroes. Listen and be amazed! Summary by Phil chenevert
The book follows the journey of five children who discover a mysterious creature (called by them as It) who grants them their wishes. Join in as they ask for the craziest of wishes, which are granted true for a day!
This is the wonderful story of Pinocchio, the puppet who must learn many lessons before he can become a real boy. Carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a small Italian village, he dreamed of becoming a real boy but strays from the path of goodness many times and is very willing to listen to temptation. He has also been used as a character who is prone to telling lies and fabricating stories for various reasons. The story has appeared in many adaptations in other mediums. Pinocchio has been called an icon of modern culture, and one of most reimagined characters in the pantheon of children's literature. Listen to his many adventures, scrapes, misdeeds and pranks followed by bouts of sincere repentance and remorse. But these last only until the next enticing adventure or misdeed presents itself. Of course he does finally learn his lesson and does become a real boy when finally understanding that love and duty come first before pleasure and play.
Author and editor of numerous children's books, Thornton W. Burgess was also a noted conservationist. In writing for youngsters he combined a gift for storytelling with his love of the outdoors, creating an entertaining menagerie of animals whose adventures he skillfully recounted in a series of charming fables. In them, he taught young readers about nature and encouraged them to love the "lesser folk in fur and feathers."
In this delightfully told tale, Burgess chronicles the escapades of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, who's known throughout the Green Forest as a mischief maker. Narrowly escaping the clutches of Shadow the Weasel and Redtail the Hawk, the bushy-tailed little fellow decides to leave the forest for a new home, only to learn that curiosity, carelessness, and mistrust can lead to a heap of troubles.
First published in 1915, this engaging story will charm readers of all ages — as well as young listeners.
Recorded by students of Houghton College in Houghton, NY
Characters:
Mercedes Miller: Narrator
Joe Miner: Chatterer
Hannah Messerschmidt: Reddy, Pussy, Boy, Voices
Kaitlyn McKinney: Sammy, Mom, Porky, Tommy
Robert Kuchar: Peter, Farmer, Shadow
Tom Swift Jr. and his associates at Swift Enterprises wait breathlessly for what may well be the most important scientific event in history—the arrival of the visitor from Planet X—a visitor in the form of energy. But there are factions at work determined to snatch the energy, which Tom has named Exman, from the young scientist-inventor's grasp. First, a series of unexplainable, devastating earthquakes threaten to destroy a good portion of the earth, and Tom suspects the Brungarian rebels who obviously would like to capture Exman and use the space visitor to further their own evil purposes. With the security of Enterprises and Exman at stake, Tom creates two of his greatest inventions—a Quakelizor to counteract the simulated earth tremors, and a container or "body" to house the energy from outer space. If the earthquakes cannot be stopped, the entire world will be threatened by destruction, and the Brungarian forces will conquer the earth. How Tom utilizes all his scientific knowledge to produce swift-action results and outwit the Brungarians makes one of the most exciting Tom Swift adventures to date. (original book jacket from Gutenberg text)
Due to Uncle Wiggily's rheumatism being so very bad, Dr. Possum prescribes a journey to help him move around, have a change of air, and a good long bout of traveling to get more exercise. So Uncle Wiggily packs his valise and sets forth!
Eight-year-old Davy reads Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and begins to get very sleepy. Suddenly a goblin appears in the fire and takes Davy on a "believing voyage" much like Alice's own adventures in Wonderland, where he meets many characters from fantasy and literature.
In a little town of Buckskin, population 100, or 200 depending on who did the counting, all kinds of trouble is brewing. See, there was a rivalry going on between Buckskin and a nearby town, Perry's Bend. That rivalry had turned sour, and involved the four nearby ranches. Hopalong Cassidy lives on the Bar-20, and the cows from the C 80 were mixing with his herd. There are gun fights, barroom brawls and stampedes to make live exciting out there on the Texas-New Mexico line!
Drew Rennie, served as a cavalry scout in Confederate general John Hunt Morgan's command. He had left home in 1862 after a final break with his harsh grandfather, who despised him since his birth because of his mother's runaway marriage to a Texan. During the final year of conflict Drew has the additional responsibility of looking out for his headstrong fifteen-year-old cousin Boyd, who has run away from home to join Morgan's command and has a lot to learn in the school of hard knocks the army provides. The story follows the two of them and a new friend, Anson Kirby, through campaigns in Kentucky, Tennessee and later on deeper into the South, first with Morgan and later under Forrest.
Dot and the Kangaroo, written in 1899, is a children's book by Ethel C. Pedley about a little girl named Dot who gets lost in the Australian outback and is eventually befriended by a kangaroo and several other marsupials.
This is the very first Tom Swift adventure. Tom Swift has a newly purchased motorcycle, which he is modifying with his own inventions. He volunteers to use his bike to carry his father's new turbine design plans to Albany, testing his motorcycle enhancements at the same time. Set upon by corporate spies out to steal his dad's plans, Tom must escape from them, recover the plans, and complete his trip! (Colleen McMahon)Listeners are forewarned that some elements and characters included in Tom Swift books portray certain ethnic groups in a very dated manner that modern readers, and listeners, may find offensive. It is Librivox policy to maintain the original language of texts.
This is the third book in the Dorothy Dale series, written under the house pseudonym of Margaret Penrose. "Girls have to have secrets, or they wouldn't be girls, and we have now got ours." In this, the third book in the Dorothy Dale series, written under the house pseudonym of Margaret Penrose, Dorothy proves herself to be a good friend to Tavia. Amid suspicion and worry for her chum, she undertakes the perilous task of 'rescuing' her and saving her reputation with minimal help from her cousins Nat and Ned White and without spreading her concerns, in the hope they be unfounded.
When the ghost of a Civil War soldier, killed visiting his sweetheart across enemy lines, comes back to haunt the Virginian locals at an old mine, Rick Brant and his ex-marine colleague Scotty decide to investigate.
Rick and Scotty fly off to the Caribbean, along with Drs. Briotti and Zircon, in search of pirate treasure. They soon become entangled with foreign spies and a hurricane and Steve Ames and the U.S. Navy, and it's a non-stop race to the treasure!
Tom Swift is an inventor, and these are his adventures. The locale is the little town of Shopton in upstate New York, near Lake Carlopa. While some of Tom's inventions are not well-founded in a scientific sense, others elaborated developments in the news and in popular magazines aimed at young science and invention enthusiasts. Presenting themselves as a forecast of future possibilities, they now and then hit close to the mark. Some predicted inventions that came true include "photo telephones", vertical takeoff aircraft, aerial warships, giant cannons, and "wizard" cameras. However some other devices, such as magnetic silencers for motors, have not appeared yet. -adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline
The frigate Rose of Devon rescues from a wreck in mid-ocean twelve men who show their gratitude by seizing the Rose, killing her captain and sailing toward the Caribbean where they hope to plunder Spanish towns and galleons. Mistaking an English man-of-war for a merchantman, they are captured and brought back to England for trial. Only one, an English lad, Philip Marsham, a member of the original crew of the Rose, is acquitted; and he, after adventures in the forces of King Charles, tires of Cromwell's England and sails for Barbados once more on the Rose of Devon.
The Dark Frigate has long been a favorite story for boys and in 1924 was awarded the John Newbery Medal, given annually "for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
When The Dark Frigate was first published F. F. Van deWater in The New York Tribune said: "No one, we think, has written so perfect a pirate tale since Treasure Island." (from the dustjacket of the first edition)
Charlie Brooke is always rescuing others, and sometimes even himself! His latest rescue, though, could turn out to be fatal...
Ralph Rover is happily at home from his adventure on The Coral Island and wondering if he should settle down when he receives a visit from an eccentric stranger that won't give his name. This visit starts him on a string of adventures that find him getting charged by rhinoceroses, chased by African natives, and facing down a larger-than-life gorilla on his own. Of course, this is only the start of his adventure in to the land of the gorillas.
Please note: this book has some words now considered derogatory, which are used in a generic way without any derogatory meaning. At the time the book was written, these words were normal language. I have endeavored to read them as such--words that were perfectly suitable in the context of their day.
Last summer I went down to where my uncle lives and spent vacation there and I had a peach of a time and all the things I did are told in the first story, but there are a lot of things left over and I’m going to tell these in another story. There are snakes and peach orchards and everything down there.Then comes the second story and that’s about a dandy mistake I made. Gee whiz! I’ve made better mistakes than any feller in our troop. I didn’t make it on purpose, but anyway it led to a lot of dandy adventures. That’s one good thing about mistakes, anyway. But one thing sure, if I had got into the right automobile I would have just gone about two blocks. So that shows that the wrong one may even be better than the right one. Only you bet I’m not going to tell you all about that story here.Then comes the third one and that’s the one where I started the Pollywog Patrol. It didn’t last long, but that’s all right, because pollywogs don’t last long. It wasn’t a full patrol, except we were full of dessert—three helpings. If you want plenty of dessert you’d better read that story.After that story comes the fourth one and there’s where I made the dandiest mistake I ever made. Another feller helped me make it. On account of that mistake a girl was good and sorry for the way she treated me and I bet you’d say it served her right. But anyway we’re good friends now.Then comes the fifth story and that’s the craziest one of all because that’s the story where I didn’t go to a desert island on account of the desert island coming to me.... And it just gets crazier and crazier!
The Camp Fire Girls books is a series of fiction novels written for children by various authors from 1912 into the 1930s. (Wikipedia)
Tom Swift flies his airship to the mountain tops of Colorado to seek for the secret of the Diamond Makers: criminal scientists who have figured out the formula of manufacturing a limitless fortune in diamonds. But these rogues will stop at nothing to keep their secret. Tom & friends are soon captured and left to die in a collapsing mountain.
Marian and Lilian are two sisters living in the backwoods, somewhere in America, with their father as squatters. One May morning a man shows up, wanting to take Marian away as his wife while he makes his mark with the Mormons. But, another man holds Marian's heart, and he will go on his own adventure through the American west to track her down.
Yee-Haw!! The Pony Rider Boys are on the move again! This time they are on their way to Bluewater, New Mexico, ready for whatever adventure they can find. But this time, trouble spots them on the train. Will the Pony Rider Boys be able to handle whatever comes their way?
"Unroll the world’s map, and look upon the great northern continent of America. Away to the wild west, away toward the setting sun, away beyond many a far meridian, let your eyes wander. Rest them where golden rivers rise among peaks that carry the eternal snow. Rest them there.
You are looking upon a land whose features are un-furrowed by human hands, still bearing the marks of the Almighty mould, as upon the morning of creation; a region whose every object wears the impress of God’s image. His ambient spirit lives in the silent grandeur of its mountains, and speaks in the roar of its mighty rivers: a region redolent of romance, rich in the reality of adventure.
Follow me, with the eye of your mind, through scenes of wild beauty, of savage sublimity."
So begins this early book by Mayne Reid, a book of romance, of adventure, and of the wide open spaces of the Wild West. (Adapted from the first chapter)
Tom Swift & friends decide to trial an experimental airship near the New Jersey coast, and are unexpectedly swept out to sea by hurricane winds. Unable to steer or navigate without tearing the airship apart, the hapless crew must simply let the storm take them wherever it will. Unfortunately, the storm proves too much for the craft and Tom makes a crash landing on the uninhabited and crumbling Earthquake Island.
Kari the Elephant is a 1922 work by Dhan Gopal Mukerji. The book is the first among those written in English by an Indian author in the category of children's literature. Kari the Elephant is a bildungsroman narrative that unravels the relationship shared by the protagonist boy and Kari the elephant and the adventures the boy, along with Kari and Kope, the pet monkey go through living by the edge of the forest is quite mesmerizing. Their relationship grows stronger with each adventure and their lives defy the boundaries between human and animal society. Set in a colonial Indian village, the treatment of nature and natural life along with the infiltration of capitalist mindset runs as a background to this narrative that eventually endangers this unique relationship the boy and Kari share.
Radio is an ideal boy’s hobby, but it is not limited to youth. Nevertheless it offers a wonderful scope for the unquenchable enthusiasm that always accompanies the application of youthful endeavor, and it is a fact that the majority of the wonderful inventions and improvements that have been made in radio have been produced by young men.To be appended and/or amended as this project proceeds
Billy Whiskers is in France, but he is homesick. Of course, he makes new friends and entangles himself in many adventures. He has encounters with nurses, farmers, and a terrible wharf rat. Why is he at a dog cemetery? Why is there a submarine explosion? Join our favorite goat on his adventures in France.
A plant hunter, Karl Linden, and his brother Caspar are on their way to the Himalayas to collect the plants of that region. Many adventures befell the brothers and their guides, all of which led to their being trapped in the mountains. This is a story of their escape from those mountains. (Ann Boulais)
The Young Yägers, Hans and Hendrik Von Bloom, Groot Willem and Arend Van Wyk, are again on a hunting expedition. This time, the reader will find their old acquaintances in Africa, on the banks of the Limpopo River. Here our young adventurers are looking for sport and wild animals.
So the parties separated and then Dorothy was free to leave her hiding place. She longed to tell her friends the strange story, but she knew that the finding of Tavia was the one and only thing to be thought of just then. "Are you sure that this is the direction in which the boys went?" asked Nat, with something like a sigh. Dorothy looked over the rough woodland. "No," she said, "there was a swamp, for I distinctly remember that they picked their way through tall grass, and about here the grass is actually dried up." (Extract from Chapter 26)
The continued success of the "Jataka Tales," as retold and published ten years ago, has led to this second and companion volume. Who that has read or told stories to children has not been lured on by the subtle flattery of their cry for "more"? The Jataka tales, regarded as historic in the Third Century B. C., are the oldest collection of folk-lore extant. They come down to us from that dim far-off time when our forebears told tales around the same hearth fire on the roof of the world.
Red Cross girls Nona, Mildred, and Barbara continue their nursing on the unfamiliar Russian frontier. In the course of their work, Mildred encounters a distinguished Russian general, while Barbara battles homesickness and her growing longing for Dick. At the same time, Nona renews an old acquaintance and makes several shocking discoveries. But when Nona's friend is arrested and the girls are separated on the eve of battle, it will take all their courage and judgment to see them safely through the danger
After Prince Florimel flees his home (and a particularly nasty uncle) he has a series of adventures with the mischevious but helpful Brownies, Queen Titania and her fairies, and the ill-tempered enchanter, Dragonfel. Reader's note: Although some terms in this 1918 book are not really acceptable anymore, the book’s overall message that people should not be judged by their size is still a worthy lesson today.
A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure. Life is hard for a little boy who can't even say his own name, so he has to make his own luck where he finds it, even if Aunt Amanda is always chastising him for having his hands in his pockets in this winner of the 1922 Newbery Award for children's literature. Today's parents should be aware the adventure is a tobacco-induced dream.
A story of sea-faring adventure including a shipwreck with a daring rescue, a ship fire and a close escape, pirates and enslavement, gold, danger, redemption and a desperate bid for freedom. There is excitement in every chapter in this harrowing tale of the crew and passengers of the Galatea as they voyage from England to Australia and back.
First of the famous Rover Boys books by future Hardy Boys creator Edward Stratemeyer (under the pseudonym Arthur M Winfield), this is an introduction to the fun-loving teenage Rover Brothers -- Dick, Tom & Sam. Virtual orphans, they are sent by their prudish Uncle Randolph to a military boarding school and their adventures soon begin!
"The “vulture of the sea,” borne upon broad wing, and wandering over the wide Atlantic, suddenly suspends his flight to look down upon an object that has attracted his attention.
It is a raft, with a disc not much larger than a dining-table, constructed out of two small spars of a ship,—the dolphin-striker and spritsail yard,—with two broad planks and some narrower ones lashed crosswise, and over all two or three pieces of sail-cloth carelessly spread." So begins this adventure, both on land and on sea!
This story is set in the gold fields of Oregon, where Tom Brixton, and his best friend, Fred Westly, are digging gold to try to “make their pile”. Before leaving England, the steady and God-fearing Fred had promised Tom's mother that he would do his best to take care of his friend, but in spite of all his efforts, Tom had fallen in with bad companions and taken to gambling. He was convinced that he could make his fortune quicker by attempting to increase it at the dice or card table, and all his friend's attempts to make him see his errors were unavailing. Finally, after being cheated out of all he owned, he stole the money back from the camp bully, Gashford, who had taken it from him, and had to flee for his life from the camp, before “Judge Lynch” could catch up to him. After being captured by the irate miners, and released by another friend, he managed to almost escape, but was caught again, this time near the cabin inhabited by an older prospector and his daughter, whom Tom loved with his whole heart. There was a difficulty though in his way- Betty, (otherwise known as the “Rose of Oregon”) was a devout Christian, and would never give her heart to one who wasn't. She did give him some excellent advice though, at a time when he most needed it.
After being captured the second time, and confined in the mining camp, Tom gives up all hope of escape, and even when his friends buy him off he refuses to escape. Circumstances force him to flee a second time though, and this time his two friends go with him. After various other adventures, and several very close calls with death, matters are eventually worked out, and Tom, Fred, Paddy Flinders (a hilarious Irishman) and Betty live “happily ever after”, and are also a powerful witness to the rough gold-mining population of Oregon, before going back to England.
Bunny Brown and his little sister, Sue, have been having adventures and fun, and getting into scrapes, since the early 1900s. From Chapter One: "Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were at Camp Rest-a-While with their father and their mother. They had come from their home in Bellemere to live for a while in the forest, on the shore of Lake Wanda, where they were all enjoying the life in the open air. They had journeyed to the woods in an automobile, carrying two tents which were set up under the trees. One tent was used to sleep in and the other for a dining room. There was also a place to cook..." This is Volume 6 of the Bunny Brown series.
This book contains racial prejudices that were once commonplace. They are retained, as originally written in this recording, because to do otherwise would be to deny they existed.