Johnny Gruelle’s “Raggedy Ann Stories” introduced the world to one of the most beloved of all children’s characters, Raggedy Ann. Gruelle, born in Illinois in 1880, and was a children’s author, political cartoonist, and illustrator. He had an artistic upbringing and was taught to draw by his father, the famed Hoosier painter Richard Gruelle. As an adult, Gruelle was inspired to create his most famous character, Raggedy Ann, by his daughter Marcella and the fun she had playing with dolls. Gruelle...
When Emily Inglethorp, the elderly matriarch of Styles Court, an Essex country manor, is found poisoned with strychnine, a guest of the manor, Arthur Hastings calls upon his friend, famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, to solve the mystery that surrounds her death. Chief amongst the suspects is Emily’s husband Alfred Inglethorp, a much younger man whom she has recently married and has the most to gain from her death. Another potential suspect is her eldest stepson John Cavendish, who stands...
First published in “Cornhill Magazine” in 1878, “Daisy Miller” is Henry James’ novella which concerns the courtship of its titular character, the beautiful young American girl Daisy Miller. While travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy is taken by the delightfulness of the continent, which unlike her brother, she finds superior to their hometown of Schenectady, New York. Her brother introduces her to Frederick Winterbourne, whom she agrees to visit the Château de Chillon with, drawing the...
“The Sign of the Four” is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s follow-up novel to his immensely successful “A Study in Scarlet”, where we first meet two of the most famous literary detectives of all time, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. “The Sign of the Four”, first published in 1890, introduces the reader to Miss Mary Morstan, Dr. Watson’s future wife, and centers around the mysterious disappearance of Mary’s father, Captain Morstan. Set in 1888, Mary’s father has been missing for the past ten years and...
An important work of Spain’s Golden Age of literature as well as the first known picaresque novel, “Lazarillo de Tormes” portrays the clever ploys of a young Salamancan boy determined to outsmart his long string of masters. This Spanish novella was first published in 1554, during the Spanish Inquisition, by an author who wished to remain anonymous due to the work’s heretical content. Young Lazarillo is an improbable hero of his time, for he comes from a poor and multiracial family who...
“Ragged Dick is a well-told story of street-life in New York, that will, we should judge, be well received by the boy-readers, for whom it is intended. The Hero is a boot-black, who, by sharpness, industry, and honesty, makes his way in the world, and is, perhaps, somewhat more immaculate in character and manners than could naturally have been expected from his origin and training. We find in this, as in many books for boys, a certain monotony in the inculcation of the principle that honesty is...
Perhaps one of the most influential works ever written, «The Metamorphoses» is an epic and narrative poem by the Roman writer Ovid. Finished in 8 AD, this work, organized into fifteen books, combines a stunning arrangement of mythological tales that are masterfully connected by a theme of transformation, most often through love. Beginning with the world's creation, the poet utilizes unparalleled wit to describe the history of the world, incorporating the most commonly known Greek and Roman...
Philosophic action and adventure continues in this new saga starring TidalWave’s Norse hero and written by Day Prize-nominee Chris Studabaker. Suzanne Bancroft is going to die, and the end of the world will be her fault. A relentless demi-god has declared he will murder Suzanne and her death will begin a chain of events culminating in Ragnarok. Worse yet – her murderer can see her fate. While still trying to understand her new role as the Valkyrie, Suzanne must seek the true nature of fate and...
Thornton W. Burgess was an important and influential American conservationist and a prolific author of charming and witty children’s stories. For over 50 years, Burgess published numerous popular books on the flora and fauna of the natural world and wrote a regular newspaper column called “Bedtime Stories”. Often affectionately referred to as the “Bedtime Story-Man”, Burgess celebrated his love for the natural world through humorous and educational stories for children in both his books and in...
Thornton W. Burgess was an important and influential American conservationist and a prolific author of entertaining children’s stories. For over 50 years, Burgess published numerous popular books on the flora and fauna of the natural world and wrote a regular newspaper column called “Bedtime Stories”. Often affectionately referred to as the “Bedtime Story-Man”, Burgess celebrated his love for the natural world through humorous and educational stories for children in both his books and in his...