Stories never die; instead, they continue to live on. Here are some books are continue to be popular even after a hundred years and more.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)
Life is hard for the March sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The civil war in America is on and their father, is an army chaplain. Meg and Jo are working to help the family. Into their lives comes Laurie, the rich boy next door. Through a series of incidents and accidents, the girls learn to deal with life’s various problems and their own little vices and grow up into strong women.
Heidi by Johanna Spyri (1880)
A five-year-old orphan, Heidi, is sent to live with her aloof grandfather in the Swiss mountains. Heidi befriends Peter, the goatherd, the many goats he drives to the pasture, and his blind grandmother. Heidi loves her grandfather and life in the cabin on the mountaintop.
But soon she is taken away and sent to Frankfurt to be a companion to Clara, a rich girl who is sick and bedridden. Though Clara, her father and her grandmother are kind to Heidi, the child misses the mountains and her grandfather. Heidi gets back to her grandfather and turns his life around.
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (1883)
A poor but kindly carpenter named Gepetto carves a puppet from a piece of wood. Named Pinocchio, the puppet dreams of becoming a real boy. When Gepetto sends Pinocchio to school, he runs away.
He joins a marionette theatre, escapes, and meets a Fox and a Cat who try to steal his money. Each time Pinocchio tells a lie, his nose grows an inch longer. The puppet has many adventures — including being turned into a donkey — before he realises his dream of becoming a human.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884)
A sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the book follows Tom’s friend, Huckleberry Finn. Huck is a young boy trying to escape his abusive, drunken father. Accompanied by Jim, an escaped slave, he runs away and sails down the Mississippi river on a raft.
They have many adventures before Huck decides that he’s going to go west into Indian territory because he doesn’t want to be adopted.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle’s great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. Her uncle keeps himself locked up. And at night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors.
The gardens surrounding the large property are Mary’s only escape. Then, Mary discovers a secret garden, surrounded by walls and locked with a missing key. One day, with the help of two unexpected companions, she discovers a way in. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (1812)
A family on a ship suddenly find themselves caught in a storm. The ship’s crew evacuates without them, so William, Elizabeth, and their four sons – Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Franz – are left to survive alone.
The family find their way a tropical desert island. They manage to survive there for more than 10 years. Just when they despair of ever seeing people again, a British ship anchors near the island.
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit (1906)
Life turns upside down for Roberta, Peter and Phyllis when, one evening, two men arrive at the house and take their father away. With the family’s fortunes considerably reduced in his absence, the children and their mother are forced to live in a simple country cottage near a railway station.
The children make friends with the porter and station master. The youngsters’ days are filled with adventure and excitement, including their successful attempt to avert a train disaster; but the mysterious disappearance of their father continues to haunt them. Will their father come back to them?
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)
With the arrival of spring and fine weather outside, the good-natured Mole loses patience with spring cleaning. He gets out of his underground home and comes to the river, which he has never seen before. He meets Rat, a water vole, who takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat.
They get along well and spend many more days boating, with “Ratty” teaching Mole the ways of the river, with the two friends living together in Ratty’s riverside home. One day, Rat and Mole get off near the grand Toad Hall and pay a visit to Toad, who is rich, jovial, friendly and kind-hearted, but also arrogant and rash.
