‘It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.’
Sara Crewe, a green eyed and black-haired beauty, is exceptionally adored and loved by her father even more so after her mother’s death.
When her father leaves for a military service, Sara is enrolled at Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies. Although showered by gifts and dolls; Sara was simple and empathetic, she gave her best toys and dresses to the other girls simply because it would make them happy.
One day, Sara is told that her father passed away; with no money left, she was banished to live in the attic and clean the hostel. In the toughest circumstances, Sara was kind, patient and helpful.
Will Sara’s deep faith, and kindness help bring change in her circumstances?
‘People laugh at me because I use big words. But if you have big ideas you have to use big words to express them, haven’t you?’
In the picturesque Prince Edward Island, arrives a lively and imaginative young girl. Anne Shirley, an orphan, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly brother and sister who were looking to adopt an orphan boy to help them with their farm. Due to the mix up she is turned down, but her happy, charming energy wins over the old Cuthbert couple who take her in at the Green Gables and raise her in their home.
Anne’s vivid imagination often landed her in immense trouble, but her wit, innocence and positively hopeful way of looking at life saved her every time. She was notorious with boundless energy, but her ability to laugh through the toughest days of life became a lesson to be learnt by everyone in Green Gables.
Anne’s adventures make for a delightful, endearing and uplifting read.
‘If you look the right way you can see that the whole world is a garden.’
Young Mary Lenox, suddenly orphaned, is sent to live with her uncle at his estate on the wild Yorkshire Moors.
A grand house, Misselthwaite Manor seems to be full of secrets; it has almost a hundred rooms, and at night Mary can hear someone crying. Her uncle is a mystery too; he prefers solitude and keeps himself locked in his chambers.
Mary spends her days wandering around the house-until she discovers a walled garden that had been locked for years. With a newfound purpose, Mary makes it her mission to breathe life into the secret garden. As Mary works hard to bring the garden back to life, its magic begins to work on her too, opening the door to a world of happiness and hope.
The Secret Garden is an unforgettable tale of resilience, hope, and new beginnings.
‘For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and strength of the wolf is the pack.’
Little Mowgli shows up in tatters at the jungle, found by a wolf pack. Raised by a pack, he is no ordinary boy; he can climb trees like a monkey and even outrun a tiger. Adopted by the wolf-pack, he slowly grows up away from the world of men. Along the way he makes life-long friends: Baloo the brown bear and Bagheera the wise panther who help him learn the laws of the jungle.
But the jungle can be a dangerous place.
Together the trio face unforeseen dangers and find themselves caught up in exciting adventures-until Mowgli finally comes face-to-face with Shere Khan the tiger, and the Bandar-Log.
Mowgli’s world is full of joy and thrills, with fascinating creatures and the enchanting forest; a transportive and enjoyable read for everyone!
This collection offers a selection of short stories by Fatimah Busu, one of the foremost Malay women writers of the past century. A master of the short story form, Fatimah Busu is known for her bold subject matter, fresh approach to language, and idiosyncratic style. Her short stories offer an acute portrayal of the inner contradictions of Malay society, particularly the realities of women and men in rural Malaysia grappling with the forces of tradition and modernity, and the frailty of the human condition. The strong subjectivity and agency of women characters in her stories, as well as the unique perspective of children, offers a powerful counter-narrative to the literary landscape of Malay fiction dominated by male writers. Many of Fatimah Busu’s stories are set in her hometown of Kampung Pasir Pekan, Kelantan and are imbued with the vivid peculiarities of Kelantanese dialect, sensibility, and everyday life.
Translated from Malay by Pauline Fan, the ten short stories gathered here span from Fatimah Busu’s early work in the 1960s and 70s, to the height of her creative powers in the 1980s, into her mature period in the 1990s. This collection features a few of Fatimah Busu’s iconic short stories and several lesser known stories which underscore her distinctiveness of style and subject matter. Fatimah Busu’s evocative fiction blurs the boundaries of social realism, dreamscapes, apocalyptic visions, reimagined mythology, and magic realism. The stories gathered here have been translated into English for the first time.
‘For really there is nothing like wings for getting you into trouble. But, on the other hand, if you are in trouble, there is nothing like wings for getting you out of it.’
When five siblings – Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and their baby brother, the Lamb – move to London with their parents, an extreme boredom threatens to take over them. Surprisingly, they discover a sand-fairy in their gravel pit.
The fairy grants them a wish a day which wears off at the day’s end. In an hilarious adventure, all the wishes the children make go ironically wrong.
They wish first for beauty, which causes a problem as no one at home recognises them and they are simply admired but not fed. Each time they land in a difficult mess, they must find creative ways to make it better.
In this brave, creative and endearing adventure, will the children learn that desires are more likely to get them in trouble than get what they want?
‘If you are lucky enough to be different, don’t you ever change…’
Jerry, Jimmy, and Cathy are three siblings out on a big adventure. While exploring, they stumble upon a mysterious castle with a beautiful princess asleep in the garden.
The princess shows them a secret room fi lled with treasure where they discover a magical ring, telling them that castle is full of magic. But they don’t believe her. The princess keeps scaring them with the potential of the magic, until the magic ring actually turns her invisible.
The princess panics. How will she become visible again? Will she come clean with her real identity and help the children find the true magic that’s held in the castle?
‘True courage is in facing danger when you are afraid…’
One minute young Dorothy is playing with her dog Toto, the next minute she’s flying.
A powerful tornado whisks her miles and miles away, dropping her into the mystical land of Oz where nothing is as it seems. Now she must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City, to find the only person who can help her — the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
As Dorothy sets off on her strange quest, she is joined by a scarecrow who seeks a brain, a tin man who longs for a heart, and a cowardly lion who is desperate for some courage. Together with her newfound friends, Dorothy must embark on an exciting adventure, meeting a host of enchanting creatures along the way.
Will Dorothy ever get home? Or will the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys catch her first? Read The Wizard of Oz to find out.
We enter the world shaped by the blueprint of our existing family legacies, and intergenerational patterns which form our personalities, ways of being, acting and thoughts around our given stories.
Through our first experiences and relationships with parents, caregivers and our surroundings- we learn to determine our self-worth, expectations and decide what to expect and accept from others and the world. This sets the tone and template for our relationships with those around us, partners to come and how we derive purpose. In order to live with the lives we are given, we are taught to bury the overwhelming, confusing and shameful parts of ourselves.
The Glory in Us All explains through the stories of clients working with Dr. Cassandra Aasmundsen-Fry, a Clinical Psychologist, how the knowledge and life we have buried is responsible for making us feel stuck in our relationships, careers and search for fulfilment. Integrating the knowledge we have buried in relation to epigenetics, attachment , intergenerational trauma, mental health and denied needs allows us to embrace ourselves for the first time and enter into a fulfilling life with meaningful relationships, purpose and a sense of contentment.
The Glory of Us All is about unearthing and embracing the difficult parts to reconnect with ourselves and with hope.
‘I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.’
Their father is at war, no one knows when he’ll be back. The four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, with their Marmee set out to live a life which is full of gratitude, love, compassion, and family.
Jo March is rebellious and creative, Meg longs for a marriage and home of her own, Beth has the softest heart whose tunes can be heard in the angelic music she plays, and Amy dreams of a refined existence and home.
They face trials on the daily basis as women living alone in the 19th century, but with compassion, love and the spirit to find joy in the smallest chores, they make every day a celebration.
Marmee fills their lives with wisdom as underneath the joy they are all nursing a deep ache.
Little women is a heartwarming, sensitive and inspiring story of female strength, compassion and their ability to spread love.
