Fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett are in for a treat. Included in this bundle:
THE SECRET GARDEN
“It seemed scarcely bearable to leave such delightfulness.”
Though Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote more than forty books, none remains so popular as her miraculous and magical masterpiece, The Secret Garden. Has any story ever dared to begin by calling its heroine, “the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen” and, just a few sentences later, “as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived?” Mary Lennox is the “little pig,” sent to Misselthwaite Manor, on the Yorkshire moors, to live with her uncle after her parents die of cholera. There she discovers her sickly cousin Colin, who is equally obnoxious and imperious. Both love no one because they have never been loved. They are the book’s spiritual secret gardens, needing only the right kind of care to bloom into lovely children.
Mary also discovers a literal secret garden, hidden behind a locked gate on her uncle’s estate, neglected for the ten years since Colin’s birth and his mother’s death. Together with a local child named Dickon, Mary and Colin transform the garden into a paradise bursting with life and color. Through their newfound mutual love of nature, they nurture each other, until they are brought back to health and happiness.
This new edition includes original illustrations by Charles Robinson and links to free audio recordings of The Secret Garden.
A LITTLE PRINCESS – SPECIAL EDITION
“I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young. They’re still princesses.”
At Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, young Sara Crewe enjoys the friendship of her classmates and the staff--much to stern Miss Minchin's disdain. When Sara is unexpectedly impoverished, she is forced to become a servant under Miss Minchin's control. To escape her dreary life, Sara imagines herself a princess, and her experiences soon teach her that being a princess on the inside counts more than any outward expression of royalty.
Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named A Little Princess one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children." This new edition includes a link to a free audio recording of A Little Princess.
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY – SPECIAL EDITION
Frances Hodgson Burnett's conviction that love conquers all is memorably embodied in this classic rags-to-riches tale of an American boy who is transported from the mean streets of nineteenth-century New York to the splendor of his titled grandfather's English manor. Polly Hovarth writes that Little Lord Fauntleroy "was the Harry Potter of his time and Frances Hodgson Burnett was as celebrated for creating him as J. K. Rowling is for Potter." The fashions in the book became popular with velvet Lord Fauntleroy suits being sold, as well as other Fauntleroy merchandise such as velvet collars, playing cards, and chocolates. The Reginald Birch illustrations for the 1886 edition sparked a very romantic style of dress for boys which would endure into the early twentieth century.
This special edition of Fauntleroy includes a free audio recording link as well as an image gallery showcasing the original Birch illustrations remastered for digital readers.
*Illustrations.
*Links to free complete audio recordings of all three books.
