Books in Award Essential Classics series

Homer's epic poem telling the story of the darkest episode in the ten-year-long Trojan War, retold for younger readers The Iliad is one of the greatest works of literature ever written. It has inspired readers and listeners for millennia. The story tells of the Trojan War, fought between the Trojans, led by King Priam, and the Greeks, led by King Agamemnon. At its center is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, and his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge—even though he knows this will ensure his own untimely death. This retelling has been shortened and illustrated for younger readers.

In this retelling for younger readers, Richard Hannay is a Canadian visitor to 1930's London. After a disturbance at a music hall, he meets Annabella Smith, who is on the run from foreign agents. He takes her back to his apartment, but they are followed, and later that night Annabella is murdered. Hannay then goes on the run to break the spy ring and to prove his innocence.

The Iliad is one of the greatest works of literature ever written; it has inspired readers and listeners for millennia. The story tells of a few days -fighting in the ten year long war between the Trojans led by King Priam, and the Greeks led by King Agamemnon. Heroes from both sides fight one another - how they fight, and how they die, is what is important to them. Essential Classics is a wonderful new series that offers a quick way into a range of exciting stories. Fast-moving and accessible, each story is a shortened, dramatically illustrated version of the classic novel, which loses none of the strength and flavour of the original.

L. Frank Baum's classic tale of Dorothy, retold for a younger readers Dorothy is a young girl who lives with her aunt and uncle on a farm in Kansas. She and her dog, Toto, are picked up by a sudden tornado and whisked far away, over the rainbow, to the strange magical land of Oz. How will they ever get home? And what is at the end of the yellow brick road? Plucky Dorothy and Toto embark on a magical adventure to search for the Wizard of Oz, and along the way encounter the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion. This retelling has been shortened and illustrated for younger readers.

Charles Dickens' classic tells the story of a young boy in Victorian England who faces great adversity, all while dreaming of becoming a writer, retold for younger readersYoung David Copperfield is deeply affected when his widowed mother remarries. When his mother dies, David’s stepfather sends him to work in a London factory. He has to learn how to find how own way in a harsh world, and makes many friends along the way, both good and bad. After Wilkins Micawber, his landlord, is sent to prison, David escapes London and takes refuge in Dover with Betsey Trotwood, his aunt. This retelling has been shortened and illustrated for younger readers.

Alexandre Dumas' classic tale, published in 1844, is retold here for younger readers. This is the story of d’Artagnan, a country boy who travels to Paris to seek his fortune and, hopefully, to join the Musketeers—the bodyguards of the King of France. He meets three musketeers called Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Together they foil a dangerous plot against King Louis and his Queen, Anne—and against their own lives.

Alcott's classic American novel of the March girls lives during the Civil War, retold for younger readers The beloved story of the March girls is a classic American novel, and was first published in 1868. This is the charming story of the March girls—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and their wise and patient mother Marmee, describing the ups and downs of one eventful year in their family life spent enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in Civil War New England. This retelling has been shortened and illustrated for younger readers.

Harriet must choose between her friend Lalla and her new-found love of ice-skating! "If you pass your inter-silver, I'll tell Aunt Claudia that I don't want to work with you any more." Harriet is told that she must take up ice-skating in order to improve her health. She isn't much good at it, until she meets Lalla Moore, a young skating star. Now Harriet is getting better and better on the ice, and Lalla doesn't like it. Does Harriet want to save their friendship more than she wants to skate?

Homer's epic poem of the adventures of Odysseus' journey home after the Trojan War, retold for younger readersThe Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem that recounts the return of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, from the Trojan War. Odysseus endures many trials and hardships before he finally reaches home. Confronted by natural and supernatural threats—from the witch Circe, who turns his men into pigs, to the twin terrors of Scylla and Charybdis; from the stupefied Lotus-Eaters to the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon himself—Odysseus must test his bravery and native cunning to the full if he is to reach his homeland safely. This retelling has been shortened and illustrated for younger readers.