Best-selling Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published the first book in her charming series in 1908, making it a literary favorite for more than a hundred years. Published as a children's novel, the story of Anne Shirley, an orphan, was inspired by the author's childhood adventures on rural Prince Edward Island. It follows Anne's journey as she moves to a farm on Prince Edward Island to live with a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them with farming chores. The story follows Anne as she makes a home and comes of age on the island.

Anne of...

A classic piece of children's literature first published as a novel in 1911, Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden is a story of transformation and renewal. Unwanted by her parents, Mary Lennox, a spoiled, selfish young girl is raised in India by servants. When cholera breaks out killing her parents and most of the servants, Mary is sent to live with a mostly absent uncle in England. It seems as though no one cares for Mary, and that Mary will never care for anyone--until she steps into the secret garden, and her life begins to change. Now available from Canterbury Classics, this...

Best-selling author Alexandre Dumas--who also wrote The Three Musketeers--tells this heartbreaking yet heroic tale of Edmond Dantes who takes revenge on the men responsible for his unjust fourteen-year imprisonment, keeping him from the woman he loved and the life he was supposed to live.

- This chic and inexpensive edition comes with a heat-burnished cover, foil stamping, luxurious endpapers, and a smaller trim size that's easy to hold.
- This widely popular classic, originally written in French, tells a tale of devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty....

We all know the movie and storyline well. But have you ever read the original novel? Influenced by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, L. Frank Baum created this classic story and fantasy using the dream of young Dorothy on her journey home to demonstrate the theme of good vs. evil. Throughout her adventure, she encounters several newfound friends: a scarecrow, a tin woodman, and a cowardly lion. They traverse the land of Oz together by following the famous yellow brick road to the stunning Emerald City. Though they encounter surprises along the way, what they find in the Emerald...

The idea for the story came to the author, Mary Shelley, in a dream she had about a scientist who had created life and was horrified by what he had made. This Gothic-style romance is among the first of true science fiction novels, if not the first. A young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, after going through his own near-death experience, decides to play God and create life in the form of a grotesque creature, which turns into a nightmare. Through his experience, he learns that the gift of life is precious, not disposable. His journey and personal transformation has deeply affected...

First released in serial form in 1844, a year before Dumas' publication of The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers was an instant success, largely due to Dumas' transformation of the historical fiction genre. In The Three Musketeers, contrary to popular practice at the time, history acted as a backdrop for the story rather than the primary element, making it a fun and accessible read. The story follows young d'Artagnan and his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis as they defend honor amidst the power struggles of 17th-century France. Still popular with readers today, this...

"Call me Ishmael" is the iconic opening line of Herman Melville's classic American novel, Moby-Dick. Ishmael is a seaman aboard the whaling vessel, Pequod, under the vengeful captain, Ahab. Maniacally seeking retribution from the great white sperm whale called Moby-Dick -- the whale responsible for the captain's missing leg -- Ahab leads the crew on a quest to kill the infamous beast. A fictional work based on actual events, Moby-Dick is a classic that has been enjoyed for generations and is now available as part of the Word Cloud Classic series, making it a...

A book so iconic that its title is synonymous with split personalities, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson was first released in 1886. The story of a virtuous Dr. Jekyll who mistakenly creates an alter ego of unadulterated evil serves as an examination of the duality of human nature and the battle between good and evil. Full of mystery and fright, this story has remained popular for more than a century and has been adapted countless times -- over 132 in film alone. An instant success and popular with students of morality, this...

Perhaps the most iconic pirate story of all time, Treasure Island was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1881. The book follows young Jim Hawkins who finds himself in possession of a treasure map and embarks on a journey to unearth the pirate booty. His adventure takes him through the turbulent waters of morality, and his subsequent coming of age has captivated generations of readers. Rousing and full of adventure, Stevenson's Treasure Island is a classic to be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Now available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series, it makes a chic and...

Anna Sewell's 1877 classic Black Beauty is considered to be one of the foremost works in animal welfare literature and a leading work in the children's pony book genre. Narrated by the horse himself, the book follows his trials and tribulations as he passes from one owner to another and experiences the full spectrum of human treatment -- from the knowledgeable and kind to the ignorant and cruel. Beloved by children and animal lovers alike, Black Beauty is now available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series, making it a chic and affordable addition to any library....