Books published by publisher Akasha Classics

Read the book that gave birth to a legend. Tarzan of the Apes was Burroughs' first book about the boy raised by apes after the death of his English parents. Adopted as a baby by the she-ape Kala he learns the ways of the jungle and becomes a powerful member of his jungle. Yet it is clear that he is different from his peers and as a young boy he learns about the ways of his human ancestors through books he finds and learns to read in his deceased parent's cabin. When white men are marooned on the coast, including the beautiful Jane, he is increasingly torn between the savage and the civil. Will his love overcome his inner struggle; will he conquer the heart of Jane?

The Adventures of Pinocchio is the original tale of the wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy. In a small Italian village, an old wood-carver named Geppetto lovingly crafts a wooden puppet. But unbeknownst to him, the wood he used was extremely unusual, and when the toy is finished, it comes alive! Named Pinocchio, the puppet can do everything a living boy can do - especially when it comes to making mischief. Pinocchio longs to become a real flesh-and-blood child, but must survive many adventures and learn a few life lessons before achieving his fondest wish. This lively story is full of humor and social observation - much of which has been lost in later re-tellings. Read it yourself and discover the reasons for its enduring popularity with all ages.

This collection of tales by Howard Garis featuring the much-loved Uncle Wiggily has been enchanting children for generations. Uncle Wiggily is the uncle we all would like to have - a kindly gentleman who helps get you out of scrapes. He just happens to be a bunny rabbit, and his nieces and nephews include Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbit children; Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boys; and Alice, Lulu, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the duck children. Many more human and animal characters help Uncle Wiggily through his adventures, which Uncle Wiggily has a habit of getting into, despite being fond of home comforts. He always finds a way to set thing right in the end.

In the previous book Jane and her infant son Jack had been kidnapped by Tarzan’s enemy Nikolas Rokoff and his henchmen. Of course, Tarzan tracks down his wife and son and finally dispatches his enemies. The Son of Tarzan, first published in 1917, is the fourth book in Burroughs’ tales of the ape-man. Seeking revenge Nikolas Rokoff, sends his henchman Alexis Paulvitch after Tarzan’s son, by luring him away from London and into his clutches. Unfortunately for Paulvitch, Jack escapes with the help of the ape named Akut. They flee into the deep African jungle where two decades earlier Tarzan himself had been raised. The young Jack Clayton on his own becomes known as Korak the Killer and builds a reputation for himself in the Jungle. Korak, raised in civilization, finds his own place among the great apes like his father. Join Rice for another fantastic adventure story of action and romance.

Aesop's Fables is one of the world's most enduring books of wisdom, filled with witty stories that even the smallest child can enjoy and understand. Most involve animals who somehow manage to seem altogether human in their actions and motivations, and each is punctuated by an incisive moral at the end. From the Fox and the Grapes, to the Tortoise and the Hare and the Boy who Cried Wolf, these tales play a central part in our cultural heritage. Whether you remember these stories from childhood, are experiencing them for the first time, or are sharing them with a young reader, Aesop's Fables will always be an entertaining and worthwhile read.

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London - Akasha Classics, AkashaPublishing.Com - Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost. Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller's place, it was called. It stood back from the road, half hidden among the trees, through which glimpses could be caught of the wide cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by gravelled driveways which wound about through wide-spreading lawns and under the interlacing boughs of tall poplars. At the rear things were on even a more spacious scale than at the front. There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants' cottages, an endless and orderly array of outhouses, long grape arbors, green pastures, orchards, and berry patches. Then there was the pumping plant for the artesian well, and the big cement tank where Judge Miller's boys took their morning plunge and kept cool in the hot afternoon.

Do and Dare is the inspiring story of one boy's triumph over poverty and treachery. When Herbert Carr's widowed mother is unfairly forced out of her job as postmistress, Herbert is determined to help support the family. He is hired (at a pittance) to help the new postmaster, but is soon displaced in favor of Eben, the postmaster's irresponsible son. Help arrives in the form of George Melville, a wealthy young man who needs a companion to help improve his health. The pay is handsome, and Herbert readily accepts. Eben, however, is jealous of Herbert's good luck and tries to move in on the opportunity. Will Herbert be able to withstand Eben's dishonesty and carve out a career for himself? Horatio Alger Jr. is famous for his rags-to-riches tales which captured the imagination of 19th-century America.

The young King Richard has legitimately inherited the throne, yet he rules with self-serving arrogance, neglects his subjects and spends liberally. Tensions among the nobility mount as his favoritism and miscalculations turn many against him. When he is forced to cover his involvement in the murder of his uncle he banishes two nobles, Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. But Bolingbroke soon returns, enraged that Richard has seized property and wealth that he had rightfully inherited. Despite his tyrannical behavior, Richard is defended by many as God's chosen ruler. But, having created a rift in the nobility that will continue to fester for a hundred years, Richard has also set in motion the events that may cost him the crown. Written entirely in verse, Richard II is one of Shakespeare's finest history plays.

Political comedy at its best, Caesar and Cleopatra takes on the themes of imperialism and leadership as only George Bernard Shaw can. Set amidst the Roman conquest of Egypt, the play pits the mature statesmanship of Julius Caesar against the naïve ambition of Cleopatra. It imagines Caesar's first meeting with Clepatra and their subsequent plotting as Caesar attempts to subdue Egypt and Cleopatra tries to eliminate her brother and rival claimant for the throne. Assassination and intrigue, romance and betrayal, all are dealt with in Shaw's inimitable comic style. Caesar and Cleopatra represents a mature Shaw, who revolutionized the British theatre by combining exceptionally entertaining comedy with incisive and relevant themes.

In Shakespeare's bawdy bedroom farce, the dissolute Sir John Falstaff seeks to restore his declining fortunes by seducing the wife of a wealthy Windsor citizen. His ambitions go awry when two of his intended victims realize what Falstaff is up to and seek to lure him into a trap of their own. The Merry Wives of Windsor explores greed, envy and revenge, yet ends on a note of forgiveness. Shakespeare weaves an intricate plot, full of disguises and double-dealing, resulting in sparkling comedy. Falstaff ranks as one of Shakespeare's greatest characters, a man whose obvious flaws make him thoroughly human and all the more likeable.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is the original – and still the greatest – undersea adventure. Ships are being attacked by a strange sea monster. Professor Aronnax joins an expedition to stop the beast, but is washed overboard his ship and finds himself in a submarine helmed by the brooding and terrible Captain Nemo. Thus begins a breathtaking and dangerous underwater journey, through coral reefs and lost continents, amidst sea storms and terrible battles. Will Aronnax and his companions escape the clutches of Nemo, or will they remain trapped in a watery prison? With its prescient use of technology and exhilarating setting, this is the book which has cemented Jules Verne’s reputation as one of the world’s most imaginative storyteller.

The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle is a high-seas adventure of exploration, shipwreck, derring-do, and of course, talking animals. The animals talk because Doctor Dolittle is no ordinary doctor. He has learned the secret of animal language, and uses his talents to help out his friends in the animal world. Now nine-year-old Tommy Stubbins, the son of a shoemaker, has the opportunity to become Dolittle's assistant, and join him on his journeys. Together with their animal companions they will travel to the strange Spidermonkey Island and beyond, in search of a colleague who has gone missing. The second of Hugh Lofting's Doctor Dolittle series, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle was awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal for children's fiction.