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    The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, Little Women
    The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, Little Women
    The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, Little Women
    Audiobook40 hours

    The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, Little Women

    Written by Anna Sewell, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett and

    Narrated by Susan Duerden, Simon Vance, Michael Page and Sandra Burr

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    This beautifully packaged set includes five classic masterpieces. Each exquisitely bound volume features charming four-color illustrations, a ribbon marker, and gorgeous design elements throughout. Housed in a keepsake slipcase with a magnetic closure, it’s a collection meant to be cherished for a lifetime.

    Readers set out with timid Mole as he explores the world, learning about courage and friendship through a series of misadventures with Rat, Toad, and Badger in The Wind in the Willows. From the River Bank, tumble down the rabbit hole with Alice to a madcap world where nonsense rules in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. From Victorian England, it’s on to a small New England town in Little Women, where Jo March and her three sisters struggle to achieve their dreams amid the shifting roles of women in the Civil War era. Sent to live with her uncle, orphan Mary Lennox uncovers the mysteries of Misselthwaite Manor in The Secret Garden. Readers then journey through the English countryside and London with a gentle, hardworking horse who experiences kindness and cruelty at the hands of different masters in Black Beauty.

    Whether encountering these cherished tales for the first or the fiftieth time, readers will find enchantment in this collection.

    Product Features:

    • Embossed slipcase with magnetic closure
    • Five hardcover volumes each featuring a ribbon marker and four-color illustration throughout
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 15, 2013
    ISBN9781469237923
    The Enchanted Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, Little Women
    Author

    Anna Sewell

    Anna Sewell was born in 1820 into a Quaker family whose respect for horses was out of step with the common view of the time, that animals should be worked until they dropped. Disabled in a fall aged 14, Anna lived all her life with her parents but became an expert carriage driver and, as editor and stern critic, helped her mother, Mary Wright Sewell, become a successful author of evangelical children's books. Anna wrote Black Beauty, her only book, in the last years of her life, as a plea for more humane treatment of horses. She died in 1878, a year after the novel was published to wide acclaim.

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    Reviews for The Enchanted Collection

    4/5

    2,891 ratings176 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The book I would take if only allowed one. My favorite from the age of 10. The characters are timeless, the lessons current and the dreams still valid. Louisa May did what had to be done to take care of her family in the story and in her own living. Great discussion book.
    • 5/5
      Unsurpassed and probably unsurpassable. "Little Women" is quite simply THE young sisters-becoming-women classic. 19th century Concord, Mass., left us the transcendentalists and "Little Women." You can have the transcendentalists--Harvard Divinity School, Walden Pond, Self-Reliance and the whole bit. I'll take "Little Women." For me, Alcott's masterpiece is the only truly "transcendent" written work of that whole time and place, aside from Hawthorne.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. Some of the ideas in the second part, Good Wives, are in my opinion outdated and frustrating (I did start to feel angry at points), but apart from that the book is so spirited and optimistic and funny and even naive in places, it's such a pleasure to read.
    • 5/5
      Summary: This story is about the March family who are all very close to each other. The parents have three daughters; Meg, Beth, and Amy which the book centers around. Throughout the story they realize how much they truly care about each other.Critical Response: This story is very accurate in the types of struggles, hardships, and joys a family would have faced during this time period.Classroom Connections: When reading this story it is a good idea to focus on how important family is. Students can share things they can do to draw closer to their family. Students can write down things they do at home with their families. Students can draw a picture of their family and include any important information about the family on the picture.
    • 5/5
      I believe I first read this as a child, but it's so much part of the American cultural heritage, it's one of those books I believed I might only thought I had read before. Who doesn't know of the the March sisters whom we first meet on Christmas Eve when they range in age from twelve to sixteen? There's the beautiful eldest daughter Meg, the tomboyish bookworm Jo, sweet Beth, and the prim and pampered Amy. Reading this novel as an adult, I found this a pleasure. I've read two main complaints in reviews. First, that the novel is unbearably moralistic and religious in tone. I didn't feel that way--and believe me I'd be sensitive to that--I'm not a believer. Yes, the March family are Christians, and take their beliefs seriously. This is a minister's household, after all. Paul Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is the girls' Christmas gift and the structure and metaphor for their growth in the first part covering a year during the American Civil War, and is alluded to throughout. But, as Jo herself puts it, I don't mind a story with a moral that makes me think, as long as it's "real, and not too preachy." I don't think it is, because the story throughout is leavened by such warmth and humor I can't find any priggishness in it. There are some things that strike me as old-fashioned, particularly when I read the story of the newly married Meg in "Domestic Experiences" or the urging of temperance, but most of the values taught, the growth in the girls, isn't just Christian but universal and timeless. Beth learns to go after what she wants and to overcome shyness. Amy that rules are made for her too and she's not everyone's spoiled pet. Jo learns it's important to reign in her temper. And Meg not to put so much store on being a fashion plate. *SPOILERS AHEAD!*The other objection I often saw was to Jo's romance with Professor Frederick Bhaer in the second part. Maybe it's just I don't think that kind of age difference is important, but I like Frederick and their relationship. He's her intellectual equal; he understands Jo, and he stretches her and accepts her in ways I doubt Laurie ever would have. Some also say how they don't care in general for how the girls are paired off and give up their dreams. Nineteenth century "domestic novel" this might be--their beloved mother herself says she'd rather see her daughters forever remain unwed than enter an unhappy marriage and when Laurie is asked if he or his wife "rules" he said they "take turns." I think real partnerships are what's stressed here, and it's not so much that dreams are given up but that they changed.I'd much rather have a young woman imbibe the values in this book than those of Meyer's vapid Twilight. All the girls here have talents, ambitions and concerns beyond attaching herself to some boy. I also loved and identified with Jo's struggles to become a writer. I had to smile at her story of how she unwisely followed the advice of all trying to please everyone and sent off her novel after it wound up "liked a picked robin" after her editing. Nor does she give up that dream for domesticality when she marries. She says in the end she "may write a good book yet...it will be all the better for such experience." *SPOILERS END*I found this a charming, fun story full of memorable scenes and lines whose appeal still endures and to me at least, doesn't seem too dated or overly sentimental.Oh, those "sensationalist" stories Jo abjures. Louisa May Alcott wrote them. I have a good friend who swears they're better than Little Women as far as she's concerned.
    • 4/5
      An endearing and heart-warming tale about growing up. A true classic that transcends time.
    • 5/5
      I have read this book many times--I first read it as an 8-year-old and just read it again a couple of years ago with my daughter. Every time I read it, I feel like I'm revisiting old friends. I had such strong feelings about this book that I found it hard to enjoy Geraldine Brooks' "March" because I felt she was sullying the reputation of a beloved friend.
    • 4/5
      I first read this book in middle school. It's still one of my favorites. The characters are so real I want to pray for them. The sequel, Little Men is even better.
    • 5/5
      I guess I'm giving it 5 stars just on sheer number of rereads. I could practically recite this.
    • 4/5
      Little Women is a story of the March family set in the nineteenth century. Mr. and Mrs. March have four loving daughters and this story starts in their teens and ends with them and their respective families. We journey through the lives of plain Meg, romantic Jo, sickly Beth and ambitious Amy.Half way through this book I felt that the appropriate name for this novel should be “Lessons for teenager girls in how to be angels in nineteenth century America”. Though the novel is a bit mushy and the characters are a bit one dimensional it makes for good reading. Simple lives are truly beautiful.
    • 5/5
      My first actual introduction to Little Women came from watching the Winona Ryder version of the film on a snowy, beautiful day in New England during my sophmore year of high school. I immediately fell in love with the movie and tracked down the book in my library. I read a few pages of it, couldn't get into it, and brought it back to school unread. And that was that (sadly this happened with a few classics that weren't required of me). I ultimately decided that I should give Little Women another shot due to my love of the film. I'm so glad I did. Okay, sure some of the views in this book (one being that a woman's worth was determined on how well she kept house) did prick my feminist nerves a little bit, but I did keep in mind that this was a wildly different time than the one I live in now. The book was a bit on the preachy side, but Little Women had such a humble and homey feel to it that I really didn't mind being preached at most of the time. Now, on to The Little Women...I was endeared by all of the characters in this book (Marmee, Hannah, etc.), but of course I was mostly endeared by the little women (and Laurie). I just loved Meg, Beth, Jo, and Amy (to some extent, at least). My favorite was definitely Jo. She was just so strong, independent, and marched to the beat of her own drum. And I adored her relationship with Laurie. When I finished the film, I remember thinking (HUGE SPOILER FOR THE END HERE) "Laurie ends up with Amy?!??!? What a rip-off!" Even while reading the book, I kept hoping that I would turn the page and Jo would end up with Laurie. On the one hand, I thought that Jo and Laurie were perfect for each other, but on the other hand, I loved that they had such a strong friendship that not even unrequited love could ruin it. However, I still don't like that Laurie ended up with Amy. Out of all the sisters, she was the one I was least endeared by. I would've loved nothing more than to drop her down a peg or two (or six). However, nothing can be done about it at this point. The fact that I'm so into whom should end up with whom just shows how attached I am to Little Women. (END OF SPOILER) So, I absolutely loved and adored Little Women. I found it to be one of those classics that's just incredibly easy to read that even those whom don't have much experience in reading classics (like me) can understand the language without much difficulty. Little Women was just an adorable and sweet book that I know I'm going to re-read this book for years to come.
    • 2/5
      I enjoyed this book up until a point where I knew what was happening. In many books, a similar situation will arise where you can start making guesses to what is going to occur. With this particular book, something else happened. It wasn't guesses, as I soon learned. It was the route of the book and I lost my desire to continue reading it. Even Jo's chapters, which I usually loved, couldn't keep me invovled. And thus, I admit, I skipped around two chapters. To honor that confession, I will also note that they were Amy's chapters.

      By the end of the book, I was waiting for find a secret chapter that ended similarly to the television show, Roseanne. I wanted to find out that this story wasn't the actual story and that the mother character changed things around because she felt that is how things worked. But, that wasn't to happen.

      So, I find it difficult to giving this book a rating. If this was before those chapters in Nice, I would surely give this an 5. Now, I sit debating a 3.

      To give a book whose chapters I have skipped a 5 makes little to no sense and a 4 seems pointless. A two, truthly, seems most exact but I cannot deny that there were things I loved before the last arc.
    • 5/5
      Why did I never read this book before? This was so enjoyable and easy to read even though it is considered a "classic". Still think that Jo should have ended up with Laurie. Oh well.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. I had three sisters so I really sympathized with the girls. While the book may seem old-fashioned and preachy to some I think you have to look at the era that Alcott was writing in while reading the book. Keeping that in mind I think you get a better understanding of the characters, especially Meg and Amy who, while they seem vain and driven by "womanly" pursuits actually had a better understanding of how women of the time could use the system to make changes in the lives of those around them - especially in the the second part. While, when I was younger I longed for Jo and Laurie to get together as an adult I know that Jo would have walked all over Laurie. I also wonder if Alcott knew that Jo couldn't have love and societal changes both - she had to choose.
    • 4/5
      I'm so glad my mother suggested this classic book to me. It took me a little while to know which daughter was which but as I read each of the characters' little traits helped me remember. Their togetherness, wisdom, and playfulness through all the hard times made me feel like I was one of the March girls.
    • 5/5
      Another book that fell apart on me after so many reads. I loved Jo for years, ached for Beth, wanted to kill Amy and Meg I didn't really ponder accept as a really great peripheral character. I cried each and every time I read the story, as if I could make Jo change her mind and marry the boy next door....I still think she should have.
    • 5/5
      Morality served pleasingly.
    • 4/5
      I first read this book fairly late in life at the age of 26. Most little girls devour this book and quickly move on but I resolved myself to finally read it. At first, I thought I'd never get through it as I thought the characters seemed a bit preachy. Eventually though, as the sisters aged, I began to fall in love with them. I believe Jo March is the eternal heroine. Every little girl fancies herself Jo March I can assure you. I would equate her to Austen's Elizabeth Bennet; independent, practical, inteligent, and high spirited.
    • 1/5
      I have tried and failed to read this book many times. I'm not sure I'll try again.
    • 1/5
      I know that I cannot exactly consider myself a "fan" of romances, but this book took me to the extremes of boredom. Not only because it is a romance completely free of conflict, but because the story is just... BORING, with completely bland characters, who have absolutely no differential elements in their personalities. The only thing that allows you to know who's who is by their age, eyes and hair color and maturity level (and I'm not exactly sure about the last one).

      And speaking of boring story, it is about four sisters. Their father is fighting in the Civil War and in order to make life less gloomy, they try all sort of stuff to make like seem less tedious. And that's where the boredom begins, because the entire book's purpose seem to be giving life lessons for little children. I'm not saying that they should spend the whole time crying over the absence of a dear family member, but their father is pretty much of an excuse for them to find all kinds of "fun stuff", like outdoor entertainment, balls (interesting thing that they were poor, but still went to every single balls in town) and housekeeping.

      When you think the story is going to improve with their lovely neighbor's apparition, the story gets even more... stupid. Laurie adds up an initial conflict with a great potential to make the plot slightly more appealing, but ends up adding even more sugar to the already sugarish story that this book has.

      Also, there is a point that the story gets so tedious that Louisa Alcott herself gets bored and starts to put some stories that don't make any sense and add NOTHING useful to the book. Like the part where they write that "newspaper". Or the picnic chapter.

      I definitely hated that book. There are so many better options other than this book.
    • 3/5
      I decided to reread this book. It was just as charming as I remembered it. The book introduces us to the Marches, a formerly prosperous family that has fallen on hard times and is now poor. The four girls are teenagers when the story begins and cover a little over a year if I remember correctly. Their father is away at war, the two oldest girls are working to help the family make ends meet. We learn their hopes, dreams, and personality. The book ends with Meg's engagement to John Brooke.Read first time: 1980
    • 1/5
      I hate this book. I hate hate hate hate hate this book. This book is INSIPID. This book makes me feel like I need a trip to the dentist after merely looking at the cover.

      I hate this book.

      I hate Jo, and her supposed tomboyishness, and the fact that she is the most flat, and dull, and stupid character I've ever come across. I hate Amy, because she's a vapid idiot who contributes nothing to the story. I hate Meg, even though I don't remember anything about her. I HATE Beth more than them all combined because she is so holy-holy, and meek, and perfect, and then she goes and dies (except in the versions where she doesn't) and everyone loves her even MORE afterwards.

      Excuse me while I retch.

      Why must this book be so vomitous? It even starts off in this fashion - let us give our dinner to the poor, because we are so wonderful! Fuck off. Just... fuck off. If there was ever such a saintly family, I hope I never meet them. My boyfriend's diabetic and we must watch his blood sugar levels...
    • 4/5
      It's been a lot of years avoiding the movie, but boy am I grateful that I read this book before seeing the movie. I quite enjoyed the flawed characters, and how realistic their girlish squabbles were. It's refreshing to read a classic where all of the main characters are made from the same perfect mold.Now, I think that I would feel differently if I would have watched the movie first. I watched it after reading the books and found the character beyond annoying. They cam across as pouty little imps. The version of the movie that I watched was the one where Katherine Hepburn plays Jo. I have been a long time fan of Katherine Hepburn, but I hated the way that she overplayed Jo's boyish ways. Blah!
    • 5/5
      While their father is away fighting in the Civil War, the March sisters (beautiful, girly-girl Meg, outspoken Jo, shy Beth, and spoiled Amy) live in a poor but loving home with their saintly mother. Laurie, the poor little rich boy who lives next door becomes like a brother to the girls. Lively and realistic, the characters are never too perfect; they each have their flaws and we love them all the more for it. Don't let the length scare you away. This one is an enduring classic for a reason. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
    • 4/5
      This is one of those books I should have read many years ago. I enjoyed this story and all of its simplicity. It was a nice look into the family dynamics of 19th century America (or at least the idealized version) and the characters were certainly memorable. While I enjoyed each chapter and learning about what happens to each of the characters in the novel, I find it a flaw that there was no real buildup in the story and no true climax. Other than that, it was well worth my time and I will certainly read the two novels that continue the story.
    • 2/5
      *contains spoilers*

      This is a "classic," one to which I was sadly introduced in a movie. Sadder still, the movie is not very good, and yet it's better than the book. Perhaps if I'd read it as a youngster, I would have gotten more instruction out of its text, for it is one big lesson in how to behave, an "Everything I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten" for the 19th Century.Here's an interesting factoid: Alcott was a lifelong opium addict, and she wrote LIttle Women in an opium haze.
    • 5/5
      A classic for all ages about four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, growing up during the Civil War and experiencing war-time poverty and the absence of their father. A wonderful read filled with love, friendship, romance, and loss. A great winter read!
    • 5/5
      Why have I just now read this book? I don't know! It was a wonderful and well written story. I couldn't get enough of the entire family. I cried. I laughed. I couldn't put it down, I had to knwo what happen. So glad I finally read it!
    • 3/5
      Before I start this review, I do want to mention that this is the first book review I've ever written. It may not be the most detailed, longest, or generally best review you've ever read, so I hope you'll give me a break.Little Women is one of the classics that I've been interested in reading for a long time and unfortunately, I feel like I probably would have enjoyed this book much more had I read it at a younger age. Perhaps instead of attempting to read Gone With The Wind at age 13, I should have read this. I couldn't get into Gone With The Wind as a young teen, but found it far more appealing when I read it as an adult. And I feel Little Women is much better suited for women younger than me (I'm only 23).At the start, I was grumbling thinking this was going to be just a book about a bunch of spoiled girls that whine about all the things they don't have. Yes, I have a bad habit of judging things early on, and probably could have realized that a book that is nothing but talk amongst spoiled girls probably wouldn't be likely to be a classic. I kept on reading and soon realized it was indeed more than that. It does seem to send the message to girls that your goal in life is to get married and be a housewife, so I feel the morals are pretty outdated. I'm indifferent on the religious aspects so I won't go into that.If I could I'd give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. Typically I think 3 stars is an ok book and 4 stars is a good book, this just sits somewhere in the middle. It never bored me and I never thought there were any dry points in the book, but I found myself not reading it because I wanted to know what happened next, but reading it because I just wanted to get done with it and move on to something else. Even though it may not seem like it, I did enjoy the book, but I didn't have a strong connection to it. Which may be because of most of the morals ot having much meaning in this day and age, or because the major plot points of the book were all spoiled for me. Likewise, it also doesn't hold much of a reread value, but I am glad to finally have this read and I wasn't disappointed.
    • 5/5
      a favorite book must have read it 5x before turning 10 and have read it another 5x since