When did the classic ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ first appear?


 



               It is the story about how Paddington Bear from Peru comes to live with the Brown family of Number 32, Windsor Gardens, London, and how he makes a friend in the form of Mr. Gruber, and an enemy in the form of Mr. Curry. Paddington is very friendly, extremely polite and has a strong sense of right and wrong.



               However, he also has a child-like curiosity, and is rather naive. Life among humans in England is new and fascinating to him, and he has some difficulty adjusting. As a small bear, he also has some physical difficulty coping in a world which is not designed for him, which makes him appear somewhat clumsy. As a result, Paddington often finds himself in trouble of some kind. Nevertheless, things always seem to work out well for Paddington in the end.



               ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ first appeared in 1958. From then on the character Paddington has been featured in more than twenty books written by British author Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and other artists.




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What makes ‘David Copperfield’ a much-loved book?


 



 



              ‘David Copperfield’ a novel written by Charles Dickens, was first published in 1850. Considered the most autobiographical of Dickens’ novels, it follows the life story of a man named David Copperfield, who has to fend for himself at an early age, following the death of his mother. This was Dickens’ favourite among his own novels.



               The lead character, David Copperfield, spends his early years in relative happiness with his loving widowed mother. Soon after her marriage to another man nothing remains the same. After giving birth to a baby boy, she and the child die. David Copperfield struggles hard, and later, became a proctor. How David ultimately finds fame and fortune as an author is the plot of the classic novel.



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What make ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ a great work for children?


            ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’, starts with a boy offering a cookie to a mouse. When the mouse receives the cookie, he asks for a glass of milk. To drink the milk, he asks for a straw. Once he is done eating he asks to look in the mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk moustache. When he looks in the mirror he realizes he needs a trim, so he asks  scissors.



            After cutting his hair, he sees that he has made a mess, and asks for a broom.



            Once he starts cleaning he gets carried away, and starts cleaning the entire house. After he’s done cleaning, he wants to take a nap, since he worked so hard. So the boy has to look for a small blanket, pillow, and box so that the mouse can take a nap.



            The mouse then asks for the boy to read him a book, and when he saw the pictures he got excited and asked if he could make his own drawing. So, he draws a picture of his family, and even signs it with a pen.



            Then he wants to hang it up on the refrigerator himself. Once the drawing is hanging on the fridge, he realizes that he’s thirsty. So then he asks for a glass of milk, and when he gets the milk he then wants a cookie to go along with it.



            ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ is a book written by Laura Numeroff. It was illustrated by Felicia Bond, who also illustrated the other books in the series.




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What makes ‘The Magic Pudding’ a great work?

 



 



               ‘The Magic Pudding’ is the story of Bunyip Bluegum the koala, who is pushed out of home by the size of his uncle’s whiskers. Forced to eat his meals outside, he decides to go and see the world instead.



               When he gets hungry, he meets two friends, Bill Barnacle the sailor and Sam Sawnoff the penguin, who own Albert, the magic pudding. Albert can talk, change flavour on request and also has stick-like legs. However much you ate, Albert never diminished. His only pleasure is being eaten and on his insistence, Bill and Sam invite Bunyip to join them for lunch.



               There are people out to steal magic pudding. Pudding-thieves like possum and wombat are after the magic pudding. Even the powers-that-be, the Judge, the Usher, the Mayor and the Constable, seem part of a grand plan to wrangle the pudding out of the hands of its rightful owners.



               ‘The Magic Pudding’ is written by Norman Lindsay and was first published in 1918.



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Why is ‘The Call of the Wild’ one of its kinds?


 



               This book tells the story of a St. Bernard-Scotch shepherd breed dog named Buck who is taken from a life of comfort and thrown into the wilds of Alaska and northern Canada. Since the novel deals with Buck as though he were a person with thoughts and emotions, it is known for its interesting plot.



               What happens next in the life of Buck? To know more about this, read the much loved book ‘The Call of the Wild’. It was a novel by Jack London published in 1903. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903, and was published a month later in book form. It was later adapted to movies.



               ‘The Call of the Wild’ focuses mainly on the idea of primitive life, the time before cell phones, cars, and houses.




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Why is ‘The Children of Green Knowe’ a remarkable work?


 



               Toseland, who prefers to go by Tolly than any other nickname, comes to live with his great grandmother in their ancient family home one rainy day. Tolly has a great imagination to occupy his time, and soon, he looks for ghosts from the past. All the while, he listens to stories of the three ghosts: Toby, Alexander, and Linnet, and even finds some of their belongings and makes friends with them.



               ‘The Children of Green Knowe’ is the first in a series of six children’s novels written by Lucy M. Boston. It was published in 1954.



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What makes ‘What Katy Did’ a remarkable story?


               Katy is a girl on the cusp of adolescence. She has all kinds of plans for what she wants to do when she grows up. She thinks of ways in which she can be a good person, and a credit to her family, but when it comes to implementing them in her day-to-day life, she generally just gets into trouble.



               After an accident leaves her bed-ridden, Katy is forced to rethink her ambitions and her relationship with her family. Katy finds the courage to remember her daydreams and the delightful plans she once schemed. How she achieves this is the plot of the much-loved book, ‘What Katy Did’.



               At the end of the book she becomes the heart of the home, beloved by her family for her unfailing kindness and good cheer.



               ‘What Katy Did’ is an 1872 children’s book written by Sarah Woolsey under her penname Susan Coolidge.



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Why is it said that ‘Little House in the Big Woods’ has captivated generations of readers?



 



               ‘Little House in the Big Woods’ is the first book in the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was published in 1932 and was illustrated by Helen Sewell. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story begins in 1871 as a four-year old girl living with her mother, father, older sister Mary, and baby sister Carrie.



               In the course of this story, she celebrates Christmas with her family, Aunt Eliza, Uncle Peter, and three cousins Alice, Peter, and Ella.



               She and her family go to visit her grandparents’ house after they harvest maple sap. Her parents even take her and her siblings on a trip to the town of Pepin, a few kilometres away from their house.



               At night, her father plays the fiddle for Laura’s younger siblings to send them off to sleep. He also tells them stories.



               ‘Little House in the Big Woods’ has captivated generations of readers.



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Why is ‘At the Back of the North Wind’ considered a classic?


 



            The book tells the story of a young boy named Diamond. He is a very sweet little boy who makes joy everywhere he goes. His family is very poor, and he sleeps over the stables where the horses are kept.



            One night, he is visited by North Wind, who is a beautiful woman, a breeze, or a storm, as she chooses. Diamond befriends the North Wind She lets him fly with her, taking him on several adventures. Though the North Wind does good deeds and helps people, she also does seemingly terrible things. On one of her assignments, she must sink a ship. Yet everything she does that seems bad, finally leads to something good.



            ‘At the Back of the North Wind’ is a children’s book written by George MacDonald. There is also a ‘story within a story’ in this book, which is worth reading on its own. It was serialized in the children’s magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871.



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Why is the ‘The Trumpeter of Krakow’ a one of its kind book?


 



            ‘The Trumpeter of Krakow’ is the story of a young boy’s admiration for the bravery of a long-dead youth, and of how this encourages him to remain loyal to his country, in the face of great danger.



            Forced to abandon their farm to the invading Tartars, Joseph Charnetski and his parents flee to Krakow with the only thing that they managed to salvage, a priceless family heirloom called the Great Tarnov Crystal.



            Tarnov Crystal is reputed to have magical powers and will guarantee victory to anyone who possesses it. So, the Crystal should be delivered to the king only, before it falls into the wrong hands. Destined to fulfill the task, Joseph was inspired by the young trumpeter of Krakow, who met his death when he alerted the city to an invasion by the Tartars.



            ‘The Trumpeter of Krakow’ was written by Eric P. Kelly.



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What makes ‘The Little White Horse’ a masterpiece?


 



 



             ‘The Little White Horse’ narrates the story of Maria Merry-weather.



               The events of the novel begin in 1842. After her father dies in debt, Maria Merry-weather and her governess Miss Heliotrope go to live at Moonacre Manor with Maria’s uncle Benjamin. Maria soon finds that the castle is more like home than anywhere else she has lived.



               While there, Maria learns all about her family’s history. She uncovers the identity of the dog Wrolf, and the beautiful apparition of the Little White Horse, first seen on her way to the castle.



               ‘The Little White Horse’ is a classic book written by Elizabeth Goudge. It was first published in the year 1946.



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Why is ‘Raggedy Ann’ a much-loved book?


 



 



               Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red hair and has an interesting triangle-shaped nose. She is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children.



               The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book ‘The Raggedy Ann Stories’. When a doll was marketed with the book, the concept had great success. A sequel, ‘Raggedy Andy Stories’ (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy.






What makes ‘My Father’s Dragon’ a one of a kind book?


               Elmer Elevator meets an old alley cat one night. Elmer takes the cat home. Though his mother makes him get rid of it, the cat is touched enough by his deed to return the favour.



               The cat narrates Elmer about her last travel to a strange place, known as Wild Island. The island is populated by various beasts. No man dares to go to it for fear of what horrors may be in store. There the cat meets the most fascinating, and saddest inhabitant of the place - a baby dragon!



               The baby dragon, once hurt his wing, and fell out of the sky. Thus he happened to land on the island.



               Once the animals found him, instead of aiding the dragon, they decided to hold him prisoner. Shocked by this, Elmer decides to go and rescue the dragon.



               My Father’s Dragon series is a trilogy. The first book, ‘My Father’s Dragon’ was written by Ruth Stiles Gannett.




What makes the book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ unique?



               ‘Swallows and Amazons’ is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1930 and the story is set in the Lake District in August 1929, during the last fortnight of the summer holidays.



               The Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) sail a borrowed dinghy named Swallow, and the Blackett children (Nancy and Peggy), sail a dinghy named Amazon.



               The Walkers are staying at Holly Howe (a farm near the lake) during the school holidays, and want to camp on an island in the lake; the Blacketts live in a house (Beckfoot) nearby. When the children meet, they agree to join forces against a common enemy - the Blacketts’ uncle Jim Turner.



               The children meet on the island which they call Wild Cat Island, and have a series of adventures involving sailing, camping, and exploring the island. The story includes a good deal of everyday Lake District life of the farmers and the charcoal burners working in the woods.



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Why is the ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’ a one of a kind book?


            ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’ is a 1960 American children’s novel written by Scott O’Dell. It is based on the true story of Juana Maria, left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island in the 19th century.



            This book narrates the story of a young girl stranded for years on an island, off the California coast. Her name is Karana, which is her secret name. Wonapalei is her secret name. Wonapalei is her common name (everyone in the village has a secret name). One day, a ship of Aleuts, led by a Russian named Captain Orlov, arrives and persuades the natives into letting them hunt sea otters in return for other goods. However, the Aleuts attempt to swindle the islanders and leave without paying. When they are confronted by Chief Chowig, Karana’s father, a battle breaks out, and lives are lost on both sides. Finally, the Aleuts leave the islands, leaving little payment for the otters they hunted. Karana’s father and many other men in the tribe, die after the battle.



            This action-packed book chronicles Karana’s struggles to survive as she comes face-to-face with the island’s wild animals, violent Aleutian hunters and her own fear and loneliness.



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