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Children & Young Adult Reading — page 11
1,392 public-domain children & young adult reading books, summarised. Page 11 of 29.
Aunt Friendly's Picture Book.: Containing Thirty-six Pages of Pictures Printed in Colours by Kronheim
Unknown
A quiet charm runs through this Victorian compendium, where familiar nursery rhymes and timeless fables sit alongside vibrant color illustrations to introduce young readers to the joy of printed stories.
The Insect Folk
Margaret Warner Morley
An inviting field guide to the insect world uses conversational rambles around ponds and meadows to teach children how to observe nature closely.
The Little House in the Fairy Wood
Ethel Cook Eliot
An abused orphan escapes a harsh human household into a realm of forest spirits, where a fairy mother and child teach him how to see the magic of the wild world.
Stories about Animals: with Pictures to Match
Francis C. (Francis Channing) Woodworth
A varied assembly of quadruped anecdotes reveals how animals think, feel, and act when interacting with each other and the human world.
The White Christmas and other Merry Christmas Plays
Walter Ben Hare
A collection of festive, accessible scripts offers performers of all ages a clear path to stage-ready holiday warmth, humor, and reverence.
A Reading Book in Irish History
P. W. (Patrick Weston) Joyce
Through mythic transformations, tragic betrayals, monastic devotion, and high-stakes feuds, the foundational lore of an ancient island comes vividly alive.
Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children
W. (William) Houghton
Nature is a classroom without walls, where a curious father guides his children through the seasonal mysteries of the English countryside. Every stroll serves as an open-air laboratory for observing the wonders of the natural world.
The House in the Water: A Book of Animal Stories
Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir
In the untamed wilderness of the North, the lives of beavers, bears, and moose unfold in a harsh, beautiful dance of survival. These tales capture the raw, indifferent majesty of the wild.
Little Prudy's Captain Horace
Sophie May
A young boy struggles to reconcile his restless, mischievous spirit with the gravity of his father’s service in the Civil War. This gentle, period-specific narrative captures a family’s hope and anxiety during a nation’s upheaval.
The Stories of El Dorado
Frona Eunice Wait
The myth of a golden kingdom has long driven humanity to cross oceans and endure hardships, yet the true El Dorado remains a pursuit of the spirit rather than a destination on a map.
Hunter's Marjory
Margaret Bruce Clarke
Marjory is a lonely, imaginative girl living under the guardianship of a remote, secretive uncle in the quiet Scottish countryside. Her path to discovering her own identity and family history is marked by secrets, friendships, and eventual reconciliation.
The Golliwog News
Fay Inchfawn
An imaginative world of toys comes alive, revealing the secret, bustling society hidden within the nursery and beyond. This whimsical chronicle follows the adventures of a Golliwog, his human companions, and a colorful cast of eccentric creatures.
The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children
Jane Andrews
Nature is not merely a backdrop for human activity, but a tireless, multitasking intelligence that guards, builds, and nurtures every corner of the earth. By observing the small dramas of plants and animals, we come to understand the interconnected life of the world.
Nellie's Housekeeping: Little Sunbeams Series
Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews
A quiet, thoughtful young girl finds her purpose in the domestic sphere, learning that the most profound acts of character are often found in the small, hidden duties of daily life.
That Little Girl of Miss Eliza's: A Story for Young People
Jean K. (Jean Katherine) Baird
A quiet, isolated woman’s life is transformed when she adopts a mysterious foundling. This gentle narrative explores how the choice to love a stranger can reshape a soul and open the world to hidden beauty.
Le Petit Chose (Histoire d'un Enfant)
Alphonse Daudet
A fragile, idealistic young man navigates the harsh realities of mid-19th-century French society, seeking to restore his fallen family’s honor. This poignant narrative traces his journey from the innocence of childhood to the bitter disillusionments of adulthood.
Little Miss Peggy: Only a Nursery Story
Mrs. Molesworth
A quiet, reflective tale of a young girl’s inner world, this narrative explores the gentle threshold between childhood innocence and the realities of a wider, shifting life. It remains a poignant study of how small fancies serve as anchors when the world feels uncertain.
Mother West Wind "Why" Stories
Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess
The curious rabbit Peter and his forest companions seek the origins of their neighbors' habits, discovering that Old Mother Nature rewards industry and kindness with unique physical traits.
St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878
Various
A window into the late Victorian imagination, this collection gathers the wonder of the natural world, the thrill of industrial progress, and the simple joys of childhood into a single, vibrant monthly chronicle.
Donald and Dorothy
Mary Mapes Dodge
A pair of orphaned twins raised by their uncle navigate the quiet mysteries of their lineage and the vibrant joys of youth in this classic tale of belonging.
Harper's Young People, January 4, 1881: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
This collection of stories, puzzles, and letters offers a window into the world of American childhood in 1881, capturing the earnest curiosity and inventive play of a bygone era.
Stories of Invention, Told by Inventors and their Friends
Edward Everett Hale
Creative sparks define human progress, and this collection captures the spirit of discovery through the lives of those who turned ideas into reality. It invites readers to explore how curiosity and perseverance reshape the world.
The Cat and the Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales
Unknown
A cat becomes a "penitent" to lure mice into a trap, while in other tales, a poor boy saves a princess and a fisherman outwits royalty with cleverness.
The Curious Book of Birds
Abbie Farwell Brown
Why do the robin’s breast glow red and the kingfisher wear the color of the sky? This collection gathers the ancient, global legends that explain the world’s birds through the eyes of those who first watched them take flight.
The Firelight Fairy Book
Henry Beston
These tales are not mere diversions, but windows into a realm where the ordinary laws of the world—time, weather, and identity—bend to the whims of magic and the courage of the true-hearted.
What happened to Inger Johanne, as told by herself
Dikken Zwilgmeyer
A thirteen-year-old girl navigates the small-town scandals, family mishaps, and impulsive adventures of her youth in turn-of-the-century Norway. This episodic memoir captures the irrepressible spirit of a clever, observant, and often mischievous narrator.
Floor Games
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The home that lacks a proper floor for play falls short of happiness. When treated as a canvas for imagination, a simple expanse of cork carpet becomes the stage for entire civilizations, cities, and mountainous terrains.
Highroads of Geography: Introductory Book: Round the World with Father
Anonymous
This introductory geography text follows a father’s year-long journey around the world, inviting young readers to explore distant cultures, landscapes, and climates through his detailed, affectionate letters home.
A Little Candy Book for a Little Girl
Waterman, Amy Harlow (Lane), Mrs.
A young girl learns the art of confectionery, turning her home kitchen into a laboratory of sugar, cream, and nuts. This instructional guide celebrates the simple, timeless joy of making sweets from scratch.
A three-fold promise
Marian Isabel Hurrell
A young boy struggles to uphold his mother’s final requests while trapped under the cold, rigid authority of a stern uncle. This story follows his journey from lonely obedience to a life-changing reunion.
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for Boys
Mayne Reid
This accessible guide serves as a foundational survey of the world’s mammals, blending natural history with travelogue-style observations. It functions as a primer for young readers, stripping away dense scientific nomenclature in favor of clear, descriptive accounts of animal behavior and geography.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12
Various
This nineteenth-century periodical gathers the imagination, industry, and play of a bygone childhood into a single, vibrant collection of fiction, science, and correspondence. It serves as a time capsule, capturing the Victorian-era desire to educate, amuse, and inspire the young minds of the 1870s.
True Bear Stories
Joaquin Miller
These intimate sketches of wild bears challenge the folklore of the man-eating beast, revealing instead a creature of surprising intelligence, humor, and dignity. They offer a rare, grounded look at the life of the grizzly through the eyes of a man who lived alongside them.
Deccan Nursery Tales
C. A. (Charles Augustus) Kincaid
Faithful to the rhythms of ancient oral traditions, these tales weave together the divine and the domestic in a world where gods and humans constantly collide.
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 2
Charles Herbert Sylvester
These classic stories and poems serve as a gateway to the imagination, inviting readers to explore the wonder of timeless tales that have shaped generations of children.
Stories from the Iliad
Jean Lang
The ancient echoes of a legendary war find new life in these pages, capturing the raw intensity and tragic beauty of a conflict that defined the classical world.
The Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said
Padraic Colum
A young boy gains the extraordinary power to understand the secrets of the birds, leading him on a transformative journey through the realms of myth, magic, and destiny.
The Girl Scout's Triumph
Katherine Keene Galt
A young girl struggles to balance her desire for independence against the quiet, essential pull of duty to her family and community. This narrative captures the tensions of growing up during a period when traditional roles were beginning to shift.
The Story of a Robin
Agnes S. Underwood
The story of a bold robin and a schoolgirl learning order, this dual narrative explores the joys of independence and the virtues of a disciplined, forgiving heart.
Shenanigans at Sugar Creek
Paul Hutchens
A group of small-town boys finds their winter mischief complicated by a demanding new teacher and the troublesome antics of a rival pair of brothers.
The Brownies: Their Book
Palmer Cox
These nimble, nocturnal sprites emerge under the cover of darkness to master the inventions of the human world, finding joy in every forbidden playground. They turn the quiet of the night into a stage for endless, exuberant curiosity.
A little cook book for a little girl
Caroline French Benton
A young girl refuses to wait for adulthood to master the kitchen, turning her grandmother’s and aunts' expertise into a practical, step-by-step guide for making real food from scratch.
Divine Songs
Isaac Watts
These simple verses, designed to furnish a child’s mind with devotion and moral clarity, transform the heavy weight of theological instruction into the rhythmic ease of song.
Moni the Goat Boy, and Other Stories
Johanna Spyri
This collection offers a window into the simple, rugged beauty of the Swiss Alps, where children find their way through isolation and hardship by tethering their hearts to nature, kindness, and faith.
The Night Before Christmas and Other Popular Stories For Children
Various
A collection of vintage tales and verse captures the wonder, mischief, and moral instruction that defined the holiday season for children at the turn of the twentieth century.
The Terrible Twins
Edgar Jepson
The Terror and Erebus Dangerfield are a pair of fourteen-year-old siblings whose formidable intellects and lack of moral inhibition make them the undisputed, if unwanted, masters of their quiet English village. They view the world not as a place to live, but as a series of problems to be solved through strategic…
Young Readers Science Fiction Stories
Richard M. (Richard Mace) Elam
These tales explore the boundless frontier of the solar system, where young people face the physical perils of space travel and discover that courage is the most essential tool for survival.
Miss Prudence: A Story of Two Girls' Lives
Conklin, Nathaniel, Mrs.
A story of two sisters navigating the transition from girlhood to womanhood, this novel explores the challenge of aligning personal desires with one's faith and the quiet, often overlooked work of building a meaningful life.