About the Book
This delightful collection of thirteen children's classic stories features Alice in Wonderland*, The Bell, A Christmas Carol, Cinderella*, Emily of New Moon, The Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, Little Red Riding Hood, Scourge of the Desert**, The Secret Garden, Sleeping Beauty*, Snow White*, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
*Awarded Gold (full-cast dramatization) - HEAR Now: The Audio Fiction and Arts Festival** International Radio Festival Winner
About the Author :
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was born in Landport, Portsmouth, England, the second of eight children in a family continually plagued by debt. A legacy brought release from the nightmare of debtors' prison and child labor and afforded him a few years of formal schooling. He worked as an attorney's clerk and newspaper reporter until his early writings brought him the amazing success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. He was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era, and he remains popular, responsible for some of English literature's most iconic characters.
The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), were scholars best known for their lifelong dedication to collecting and publishing ancient German folk tales. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
George Zarr is an award-winning audio dramatist currently based in Chicago. He is the producer, writer, director, and composer of the Hans Christian Andersen musical The Bell, the four-part comedy Hurry! Hurry! It's Almost Christmas, the mystery collection Dark of the Moon Inn, and the Western comedy musical serial Hoofbeats in My Heart, all four available from Blackstone Publishing.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) was a Canadian novelist and the famed author of the Anne Shirley series. She found instant literary fame upon the publication of her first book, Anne of Green Gables. She published 20 novels and 500 short stories during her lifetime and was the first woman to be named a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898) is the pseudonym of English author, mathematician, logician, and photographer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, but he is also well known for his poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky," which, like his novels, are examples of literary nonsense. A beloved children's author, he is noted for his facility at word play, logic, and fantasy. Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was an English-born author of romances and books for children. After moving to America in 1865, she established a popular reputation with the publication of That Lass o' Lowrie's in 1877. She is best known for such novels as Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.
Charles Perrault (1628-1703) was a French author and intellectual. Known as a founding writer of the fairy tale genre, he rewrote numerous folk tales, including Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Blue Beard, and Puss in Boots. His stories, which continue to enjoy worldwide acclaim, have been adapted to opera, ballet, theater, and film.
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919), born in Chittenango, New York, was a journalist, dramatist, and writer best known for his fantasies about the land of Oz, the first being The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The success of this book led to his writing thirteen sequels. He wrote about sixty books in all, mostly for children.
Megan Follows is a Canadian actress who comes from a showbiz family. She has done many commercials and has appeared theatrical productions of Romeo and Juliet, Seven Lears: The Pursuit of the Good, and others. She has won two Gemini Awards for her work.
Barbara Rosenblat is a multi-award-winning voice actor for audiobooks. On Broadway, she created the role of 'Mrs. Medlock' in 'The Secret Garden'.
Georgia Lee Schultz is an ATC Seneca Award nominee for Best Leading Actress and has played the lead in Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre's productions of Alice In Wonderland, Snow White, and Cinderella.
