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They had their tea party in that rundown, ramshackle, and downright creepy house. There were Bab and Betty and most of a dozen of their worn-down dolls, and no matter how worn-down or creepy this place might seem to you and I, for these girls and their dolls, it was the most wonderful place for a party any of them could imagine. Then that monstrous dog had stolen all the food, and by the time they chased it down, it'd eaten the last crumbs! They followed the dog back into the decrepit barn and that was how they met its master, a circus run-away, Ben Brown. Ben turned out to be a horse master.

Under the Lilacs, a children's novel by Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1878. The story tells the tale of two girls, Bab and Betty Moss, Miss Celia, a circus runaway, Ben Brown, and his dog Sancho. Any profits made from the sale of this book will go towards supporting the Freeriver Community project, a wonderful project that aims to support community and encourage well-being. To learn more about the Freeriver Community project please visit the website- www.freerivercommunity.com

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist best known as author of the novel 'Little Women.' In the mid-1860s, Alcott wrote passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories. She also produced wholesome stories for children, and after their positive reception, she did not generally return to creating works for adults. Alcott continued to write until her death.

Under the Lilacs is a children's novel by Louisa May Alcott. This is the story of two runaways -- Ben Brown and his dog, Sancho -- who have escaped from a hard life in the circus to search for Ben's lost father. Tired and hungry, the pair are taken in by young Bab and Betty Moss and their mother, as well as by the Mosses' neighbors, Miss Celia and her brother, Thorny. Thanks to their kindness, Ben soon has a job, a family, and a chance to go to school. But can life with Miss Celia and his other new friends ever compare to the excitement of the circus? And will Ben stay out of mischief long enough to find out? Bab and Betty, two little girls, are having a tea party with their dolls when an unknown dog appears and steals their cake. The girls find the dog, Sancho, along with his owner Ben Brown, a run-away from the circus who is hiding in their play barn. They discover that Ben is a horse master and when he is taken in by the Moss', they get him a job on a neighboring farm. It is there that he can work with horses and drive cows. Ben eventually finds out that his father, who he loved dearly, was dead. A neighbor, Miss Celia, helps him through his grief and he moves in with her and her brother Thornton who is fourteen. He has a job, and a family, and an opportunity for education. Ben has a wonderful life now, but his life in the circus was full of adventure and excitement which is a struggle for Ben. Many adventures and summer-happenings go on in Celia's house, as Ben slowly finds his place among his friends. Sancho gets lost, Ben is accused of stealing, Miss Celia gets hurt and Ben takes a wild ride on her horse, Lita. They have an archery competition, where Ben emerges as the winner. Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist best known as author of the novel 'Little Women.' In the mid-1860s, Alcott wrote passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories. She also produced wholesome stories for children, and after their positive reception, she did not generally return to creating works for adults. Alcott continued to write until her death.

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Under the Lilacs, a children's novel by Louisa May Alcott, was first published in 1878. It is a whimsical tale, different from the oft-serious tone found in the more popular Little Women series. The story features two sister, Bab and Betty Moss, who when playing one day discover a circus runaway, Ben Brown, and his dog Sancho. The girls set Ben up with a job herding cattle, where he gets to ride a horse, his favorite pastime. The girls and Ben have summer adventures, in the process discovering more about life and themselves. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT (1832-1888), one of the most well-known American novelists of the 19th century, was born on November 29, 1832 to transcendentalist educator Amos Bronson Alcott and his wife, Abigail May Alcott. She was the second of four sisters (like Jo, her literary corollary), and grew up in a family that encouraged and sympathized with her abolitionist and feminist leanings. As a child she received instruction from noted literary figures such as Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, all family friends. In addition to the Little Women series, which included four novels, she wrote 28 other works, three under the pen name A.M Barnard. Though Alcott had chronic health problems in her later years, most likely attributed to an autoimmune disease, she continued to write until her death at 55 in 1888.

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist best known as author of the novel Little Women. In the mid-1860s, Alcott wrote passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories. She also produced wholesome stories for children, and after their positive reception, she did not generally return to creating works for adults. Alcott continued to write until her death.

"Ma says she is going over the house in a day or two, now it is warm and dry after the storm, and we may go with her. You know she wouldn't take us in the fall, cause we had whooping-cough, and it was damp there. Now we shall see all the nice things; won't it be fun?" observed Bab, after a pause. "Yes, indeed! Ma says there's lots of books in one room, and I can look at 'em while she goes round. May be I'll have time to read some, and then I can tell you," answered Betty, who dearly loved stories, and seldom got any new ones. "I'd rather see the old spinning-wheel up garret, and the big pictures, and the queer clothes in the blue chest. It makes me mad to have them all shut up there, when we might have such fun with them. I'd just like to bang that old door down!" And Bab twisted round to give it a thump with her boots. "You needn't laugh; you know you'd like it as much as me," she added, twisting back again, rather ashamed of her impatience. "I didn't laugh." "You did! Don't you suppose I know what laughing is?" "I guess I know I didn't." "You did laugh! How darst you tell such a fib?" "If you say that again I'll take Belinda and go right home; then what will you do?" "I'll eat up the cake." "No, you won't! It's mine, Ma said so; and you are only company, so you'd bet-ter behave or I won't have any party at all, so now." This awful threat calmed Bab's anger at once, and she hastened to introduce a safer subject. "Never mind; don't let's fight before the children. Do you know, Ma says she will let us play in the coach-house next time it rains, and keep the key if we want to." "Oh, goody! that's because we told her how we found the little window under the woodbine, and didn't try to go in, though we might have just as easy as not," cried Betty, appeased at once, for, after a ten years' acquaintance, she had grown used to Bab's peppery temper. "I suppose the coach will be all dust and rats and spiders, but I don't care. You and the dolls can be the passengers, and I shall sit up in front drive." "You always do. I shall like riding better than being horse all the time, with that old wooden bit in my mouth, and you jerking my arms off," said poor Betty, who was tired of being horse continually. "I guess we'd better go and get the water now," suggested Bab, feeling that it was not safe to encourage her sister in such complaints.