Books of wonder | Park County Library System

The Powell Library's last open day will be April 1. The library will be closed April 2-until the grand opening at our new location.

1) 20,000 leagues under the sea

Author

Verne, Jules, 1828-1905

Earliest Publication Date

1962

Summary

"Professor Aronnax sets off in search of a giant sea monster, only to find the monster is really a steel-plated submarine. Captured by the mysterious Captain Nemo, Aronnax witnesses the exploration of the Nautilus, the remarkable submarine Nemo has invented. But Aronnax comes to learn that Nemo is near insanity and must escape. It's an incredible journey into a mysterious world of excitement and danger!"--Page 4 of cover

2) A child's garden of verses

Author

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894

Earliest Publication Date

1902

Summary

A collection of poems evoking the world and feelings of childhood, including The land of Counterpane, My Shadow, The Swing, The Moon, and Looking Forward.

Author

Pyle, Howard, 1853-1911

Earliest Publication Date

1997

Summary

A brave young man who has been raised by a bear with unusual powers rescues a princess from a menacing dragon and fulfills a long-ago prophecy that he would marry the king's daughter.

Author

Talbott, Hudson

Earliest Publication Date

1996

Summary

The young King Arthur asks for and receives the noble sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake and promises to be deserving of it through acts of valor.

5) Great ghost stories

Earliest Publication Date

1998

Summary

A collection of ghost stories by such authors as H. G. Wells, Madeleine L'Engle, and Bram Stoker.

6) King Arthur and the Round Table

Author

Talbott, Hudson

Earliest Publication Date

1995

Summary

Retells the story of how the young Arthur became High King of all Britain and assembled his Knights of the Round Table.

Author

Talbott, Hudson

Earliest Publication Date

1999

Summary

Lancelot is welcomed into the court of King Arthur as a valiant fighter and later rescues Queen Guinevere, fights the tournament at Astolat, and pursues other adventures.

8) Otter nonsense

Author

Juster, Norton, 1929-2021

Earliest Publication Date

1982

Summary

A collection of puns based on animals, including "Lemming meringue pie, " "Crocoduel, " and "Pupsicle."

9) Oz: the hundredth anniversary celebration

Earliest Publication Date

2000

Summary

Various writers and artists express the influence that the book "The Wizard of Oz" had on them.

10) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Author

Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 1856-1923

Earliest Publication Date

1962

Summary

In early twentieth century New England, talkative, ten-year-old Rebecca goes to live with her spinster aunts, one harsh and demanding, the other soft and sentimental, and spends seven difficult but rewarding years growing up in their company.

11) Rip Van Winkle

Author

Irving, Washington, 1783-1859

Earliest Publication Date

1888

Summary

An idle man falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains only to wake up twenty years later, bewildered as to how life passed him by. Includes an analysis of the story and a biography of the author.

12) The adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Author

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910

Earliest Publication Date

1931

Summary

Fresh from his escapades with Tom Sawyer, with six thousand dollars in the bank and the Widow Douglas as his guardian, Huck Finn faces a new challenge: his father, Pap, who is so determined to get his hands on Huck's fortune that he kidnaps Huck and threatens to kill him. Escaping from Pap, Huck meets the runaway slave, Jim, who plans to head north and buy his wife and children our of slavery. Huck joins Jim on a salvaged raft, and together the two...

13) The Arabian nights: or, Tales told by Sheherezade during a thousand nights and one night

Author

Alderson, Brian

Earliest Publication Date

1995

Summary

An illustrated collection of stories from the "Arabian Nights, " including those of Sinbad, Ali Baba, and Aladdin.

14) The gift of the Magi and other short stories

Author

Henry, O., 1862-1910

Earliest Publication Date

1992

Summary

Here are sixteen of the best stories by one of America's most popular storytellers. For nearly a century, the work of O. Henry has delighted readers with its humor, irony and colorful, real-life settings. The writer's own life had more than a touch of color and irony. Born William Sidney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1862, he worked on a Texas ranch, then as a bank teller in Austin, then as a reporter for the Houston "Post." Adversity struck,...

15) The gift of the Magi and other stories

Author

Henry, O., 1862-1910

Earliest Publication Date

1987

Summary

An illustrated collection of fourteen short stories reflecting various aspects of American life at the turn of the nineteenth century.

16) The jungle book: the Mowgli stories

Author

Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936

Earliest Publication Date

1995

Summary

Selected stories from Kipling's two "Jungle Books" chronicle the adventures of Mowgli, the boy reared by a pack of wolves in an Indian jungle. Also includes "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi."

17) The other dog

Author

L'Engle, Madeleine

Earliest Publication Date

2001

Summary

The family poodle protests at first when the master and mistress bring home a new "dog" to share the household.

18) The Rainbow fairy book

Earliest Publication Date

1993

Summary

A collection of more than thirty fairy tales for young readers of all ages.

19) The scarecrow of Oz

Author

Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank), 1856-1919

Earliest Publication Date

1915

Summary

The adventures of Trot and Cap'n Bill take them to Jinxland where they help Pon, the gardener's assistant, break the spell that turned his true love's heart to ice.

20) The story of Doctor Dolittle

Author

Lofting, Hugh, 1886-1947

Earliest Publication Date

1995

Summary

The adventures of a kind-hearted doctor, who is fond of animals and understands their language, as he travels to Africa with some of his favorite pets to cure the monkeys of a terrible sickness.

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