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  Five Children and It

  E. Nesbit

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  The story of three wishes being granted is an old one and often takes the form of a precautionary tale with the resultant moral being “be careful what you wish for!” Such is the fallibility of human nature that we can’t easily be trusted to use those wishes wisely. 
  The great children’s author Edith Nesbit (1858 – 1924) took this popular concept for her 1903 book “Five Children and It” and extended the wishes from three to eleven, now granted to five young siblings in Edwardian England. 
  They have no Geni of the Lamp or Fairy Godmother, but instead, an irascible Sand Fairy dug accidently out of the sand of an abandon quarry. This strange “Psammead”, with his snail’s eyes on stalks, furry squat body and aversion to water reluctantly grants the four children their, often ill thought out, wishes. 
  Nesbit writes with her usual warmth and humour, placing her protagonists into funny and sometimes frightening adventures which gradually make the children “wise beyond their years.” 
  Head Stories Audio presents "Five Children and It" by E. Nesbit. Narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.

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  The Spectacles

  SAMPI Books, Edgar Allan Poe

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  In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Spectacles", a vain young man, neglecting his need for glasses, falls in love at first sight. He later discovers that the woman he has fallen in love with is his great-grandmother, revealing a biting irony about perception and reality.

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  Grimm Fairy Tale Collection

  The Brothers Grimm

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  Step into the captivating world of The Brothers Grimm. This charming collection features more than 60 of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's most beloved and enduring stories, including Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin, Briar Rose, Rapunzel, Tom Thumb, Hansel & Gretel, The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, and more. Whether you grew up with these stories or are discovering them for the first time, the Grimm Fairy Tale Collection delivers a perfect blend of magical adventures, romantic fantasies, and grizzly cautionary tales. This series of recordings is based on the original 1823 English translation of Grimms' Fairy Tales by Edgar Taylor, with subsequent editing by Marian Edwardes.

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  The Metamorphosis

  Franz Kafka

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  Gregor, a travelling salesman, awakens one morning only to discover that he has transformed into a giant insect. His family is repulsed by him not knowing what to do. Gradually things start getting overturned because of the mishap, and Gregor's life crashes like a house of cards.
  The Metamorphosis was first published in 1915. It's Author Franz Kafka is well known for his exploration of the fantastic and isolation. He uses realism to depict bizarre situations. In The Metamorphosis, he incorporates themes like alienation and absurdity to convey narratives about isolated and anxious protagonists.
  The story does not mention the time period, but it's probably early 20th century. The whole narrative takes place in Gregor's apartment with his family and sister.

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  Treasure Island (Part 4: The...

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  Part 4: The Stockade from Treasure Island:
  "For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas.' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like Treasure Island that can keep boys and old men happy.'

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  Genesis of 'The Master of...

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. Born and educated in Edinburgh, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life, but continued to write prolifically and travel widely in defiance of his poor health. As a young man, he mixed in London literary circles, receiving encouragement from Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, Leslie Stephen and W. E. Henley, the last of whom may have provided the model for Long John Silver in Treasure Island.
  THE GENESIS OF 'THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE': I was walking one night in the verandah of a small house in which I lived, outside the hamlet of Saranac. It was winter; the night was very dark; the air extraordinary clear and cold, and sweet with the purity of forests.

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