Free summaries
Children & Young Adult Reading — page 34
2,158 public-domain children & young adult reading books, summarised. Page 34 of 45.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 1027, September 2, 1899
Various
A sprawling Victorian periodical mirrors the domestic anxieties, romantic trials, and spirited independence of late-nineteenth-century girlhood through serial fiction and practical advice.
The Gray Goose's Story
Amy Prentice
A barnyard goose recounts the gossip, rivalries, and cautionary tales of the farm to a patient human listener.
A Walk and a Drive
Thomas Miller
Early morning sunshine awakens a curious little girl in the hills of southern France, launching her into a world of farm milk, singing robins, and carriage rides by the sea.
Ben Holt's good name
Charlotte Grace O'Brien
A poor boy’s choice between a found trinket and his own conscience sets him on a path where integrity proves more valuable than gold.
Boys of the Central: A High-School Story
I. T. (Ida Treadwell) Thurston
A fractured high-school classroom finds redemption through the difficult, quiet work of self-governance and moral courage.
Brother and Sister
Josephine Lawrence
When six-year-old Brother and his older sister Betty navigate the minor crises of suburban childhood—from lost collar buttons to a puppy's mid-movie escape—they discover that kindness and plain speaking can untangle the thorniest neighborhood misunderstandings.
Children of the Wild
Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir
By the quiet shores of Silverwater Lake, a city-born child listens intently as his uncle recounts the dramatic, often perilous lives of the wild's creatures.
Frankie's dog Tony
Madeline Leslie
A loyal dog and a young boy learn the virtues of obedience and truthfulness, discovering that kindness and discipline are the essential bonds that keep a family, and a soul, in good order.
Fun and Frolic
Unknown
An idyllic collection of nineteenth-century rhymes and cautionary tales captures the gentle moral universe, domestic quietude, and innocent mischief of Victorian childhood.
Jack of Both Sides: The Story of a School War
Florence Coombe
This story follows a group of schoolboys as their rigid social divisions—the boarders versus the day-boys—spiral into a chaotic and increasingly dangerous feud. It captures the petty rivalries and shifting allegiances of life at Brincliffe School with both humor and gravity.
Little Songs
Eliza Lee Cabot Follen
From morning's first bird song to evening's quiet lullaby, a collection of gentle rhymes captures the simple joys, playful mischief, and cozy domestic rhythms of childhood.
More Mittens
Aunt Fanny
A collection of moral tales and domestic sketches, this volume offers a window into the nineteenth-century ideal of childhood, blending playful imagination with earnest lessons on character, obedience, and virtue.
Our Little Korean Cousin
H. Lee M. (Henry Lee Mitchell) Pike
This portrait of a young boy’s life in early 20th-century Korea offers a window into a culture undergoing rapid transition, bridging the gap between ancient custom and the modern world. It is a gentle, observational study designed to foster curiosity about a distant land.
The Brass Bound Box
Evelyn Raymond
The quiet village of Marsden harbors a long-lost secret, binding an impoverished gentlewoman’s estate to a mysterious brass-bound box that promises to restore her family’s shattered fortunes.
The Children on the Top Floor
Nina Rhoades
A fragile, crippled boy in a top-floor flat dreams of green parks while his brave sister and a generous neighbor quietly conspire to bring the wide world back into his life.
The Irish Twins
Lucy Fitch Perkins
An old Irish grandmother, her adventurous seven-year-old twin grandchildren, and a pig named Diddy make a journey from a thatched cottage in rural Ireland to a new life in America.
The Jay Bird Who Went Tame
John Breck
A wounded jay and a curious raccoon bridge the divide between the wild woods and a quiet farm, finding friendship in the most unlikely of places.
The Song of Sixpence: Picture Book
Walter Crane
This collection gathers classic nursery rhymes and a timeless fairy tale into a single, beautifully curated volume. It captures the whimsical, often dark, and rhythmic heart of childhood storytelling.
Three Little Cousins
Amy Ella Blanchard
A quiet summer on the Maine coast becomes an unexpected meeting ground for three young girls from vastly different worlds, as family ties, shared misadventures, and small daily grace notes build an enduring lifelong bond.
What We Saw in Egypt
Anonymous
This mid-nineteenth-century travelogue offers a Victorian window into the wonders of Egypt, framed by the awe of a family experiencing the ancient world through the lens of their Christian faith.
Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog
Anonymous
HOOK A young boy’s forced departure from his impoverished home leads him to find comfort in a loyal companion, until a sudden, tragic illness demands the ultimate test of his family's faith.
Away to school: 'Ólta'góó
Cecil S. King
The transition from reservation life to an off-reservation boarding school is a monumental shift for a young person, marked by new routines, languages, and cultural expectations. This book provides a structured, bilingual window into that experience.
Don't Think About It
William W. Stuart
A young boy discovers a hungering, supernatural entity hiding in his bedroom closet. When the adults around him refuse to acknowledge the danger, he is forced to take lethal, decisive action to survive.
Harper's Round Table, August 6, 1895
Various
This collection captures the vibrant, restless energy of late-Victorian youth, blending historical chronicles, practical instruction, and whimsical humor into a portrait of a vanished era’s reading life.
Harper's Round Table, May 28, 1895
Various
A varied panorama of late nineteenth-century youth culture, combining historical accounts, outdoor adventures, home management, and lively humor into a single mosaic.
Janet Hardy in Radio City
Ruthe S. Wheeler
Two teenage performers navigate grueling film shoots, wild mountain fires, and corporate sabotage as their Hollywood talents earn them a shot at national radio stardom.
Rollo in Society: A Guide for Youth
George S. (George Shepard) Chappell
A pious country boy encounters the dizzying, decadent nightlife of 1920s Manhattan in this sharp, affectionate satire of jazz-age urban sophistication.
![Cover of Rollo's Philosophy [Fire]](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/rollo-s-philosophy-fire-jacob-abbott.webp)
Rollo's Philosophy [Fire]
Jacob Abbott
This is a gentle, pedagogical exploration of the physical world, presented as a series of deliberate conversations between a curious boy and his patient mentors.
The Fairy and the Witch
A. D. Nelson
This short allegorical sketch for Hallowe’en dramatizes the struggle between darkness and light, ultimately advocating for mercy and the triumph of goodness through the agency of children.
The Flower Basket: A Fairy Tale
Unknown
The allure of magic often masks a deeper, more demanding truth: that lasting contentment is a product of internal character rather than external fortune. This narrative serves as a gentle, moralizing mirror for the young.
The tale of old Mr. Crow
Arthur Scott Bailey
A self-proclaimed outlaw and neighborhood nuisance, a boisterous crow spends his summers outwitting a frustrated farmer, only to find himself challenged by a clever newcomer who threatens his long-held status.
Third Base Thatcher
Everett Scott
A high-stakes baseball hero finds his integrity tested both on the diamond and in the classroom, proving that character matters more than the final score.
A Pair of Them
Evelyn Raymond
A resilient girl born into poverty and physical disability finds a transformative friendship that bridges the vast social divide between her dingy alleyway and a wealthy child’s world.
Harper's Round Table, May 14, 1895
Various
This 1895 periodical captures a vanished world of Victorian youth, offering a vivid time capsule of late 19th-century intellectual curiosity, moral instruction, and daily pastimes.
Harper's Young People, April 11, 1882: An Illustrated Weekly
Various
This vintage weekly collection captures the wonder of nineteenth-century childhood, blending tales of high-seas adventure and circus dreams with the gentle, moralizing instruction typical of the Victorian era.
Sandman's Goodnight Stories
Abbie Phillips Walker
The sandman’s gentle promise of rest is kept through these brief, whimsical tales that turn the ordinary furniture and garden life of a home into a bustling, secret world of wonder.
The Inventor. Introducing the Wishing Box. A Christmas Play
Elsie Duncan Yale
The magic of Christmas finds a playful, if peculiar, outlet in a remote farmhouse where a mysterious traveler arrives with a device capable of granting any heart’s desire.
Uncle Wiggily on the farm
Howard Roger Garis
A kind-hearted, elderly rabbit gentleman finds himself in a series of whimsical mishaps that test his patience and his wits. This collection of stories follows a beloved bunny’s gentle adventures, proving that even the most well-meaning plans often lead to unexpected, humorous outcomes.
Wenonah's Stories for Children
Clara Louise Burnham
An imaginative summer vacation leads two siblings into a world where everyday acts of kindness serve as keys to unlocking hidden, magical realms.
Charlie Newcomer
Wilbur B. Stover
For a young boy in 1890s Maryland, the path to heaven is not a distant goal but a present, daily practice. This portrait of a child’s brief life offers a poignant, firsthand look at the intersection of faith and growing up.
Dreamikins
Amy Le Feuvre
A small, green door in a park wall becomes the threshold to an extraordinary friendship between two sisters and an imaginative, spirited girl who believes in angels. This story captures the fleeting, golden innocence of childhood against the backdrop of the First World War.
History of Beasts
Unknown
A simple, moralizing survey of the animal kingdom guides young readers through creaturely habits to uncover profound lessons about obedience, divine providence, and Christian virtue.
Jacquette, a Sorority Girl
Grace Ethelwyn Cody
A young girl enters the social hierarchy of a bustling western city’s high school, only to find that the price of belonging to a prestigious sorority is the loss of her own independence.
Jingles
Winifred Sackville Stoner
This collection of rhythmic, observational verses captures the world as seen through the eyes of a young, exceptionally precocious child. It offers a rare glimpse into the preoccupations and moral logic of a girl who, by her own account, was reading and writing while most peers were still learning their ABCs.
Little Frankie at School
Madeline Leslie
A young boy’s earnest devotion to his school and his teacher reveals the power of kindness to bridge the gap between social classes.
Little Journey to Puerto Rico: For Intermediate and Upper Grades
Marian Minnie George
HOOK This guide invites readers to navigate the geography and culture of a Caribbean island through the lens of early twentieth-century American curiosity.
Mamma's Stories about Birds
Mary Elizabeth Southwell Dudley Leathley
A feathered guide for the young naturalist, this collection of sketches celebrates the variety, intelligence, and peculiar habits of birds through a lens of Victorian wonder and moral instruction.
The Nursery, September 1881, Vol. XXX: A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers
Various
This collection captures the Victorian spirit of childhood, offering a gentle, instructive, and whimsical window into the domestic and natural worlds as viewed by the youngest readers of the late nineteenth century.