Compiled by: Aideen
As we are now facing a period of unprecedented social isolation, I thought it fitting to compile my Top 5 Children’s classics which have a common theme of quarantine or illness. These may sound like bleak topics but these books are uplifting, and show the characters overcoming insurmountable obstacles. As a child I was a voracious reader and read a lot of classics. Little wonder that I ended up in my current profession!
There are a lot of common themes running through these books such as illness/quarantine (sometimes due to a tragic sudden accident), orphans also feature strongly! So here it goes – My top 5 books which are all available on your BorrowBox app to download in eBook or eAudiobook format.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The book centres around a neglected yet spoiled girl unwanted by her parents and raised primarily by servants in India. She is sent to live with her wealthy uncle, whom she has never met, after her parents are killed by a cholera epidemic. There, at his isolated moorland house, Mary discovers many secrets including a neglected garden and her cousin Colin, who is confined to bed and unable to walk. Incidentally, A Little Princess, also written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is available on BorrowBox. Another book I would highly recommend.
The Secret Garden eBook & eAudiobook on Bolinda BorrowBox
The Secret Garden in our library catalogue
Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter
You might be more familiar with the 1960 Disney adaptation of this classic novel, but the book is also well worth reading. Pollyanna is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter and is considered a classic of children’s literature. It is the story of a cheerful orphan, who comes to live with her aunt and changes the outlook of a small town. The ‘glad game’ she plays, of finding a silver lining in every cloud, transforms the sick, the lonely and the plain miserable. “Most generally there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find itâ€. This is Pollyanna’s philosophy inspired by her late father. Until one day, Pollyanna has a terrible accident and loses the use of her legs. Can the game save her?
Pollyanna eAudiobook on Bolinda BorrowBox
Pollyanna in our library catalogue
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
A classic children’s novel by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, published in two volumes 1880- 1881. The title character is a young orphan who is sent to the Swiss mountains to live with her grandfather, having previously been cared for by her Aunty Dete. Heidi’s grandfather, a recluse, is initially very resentful of the introduction of Heidi into his solitary life, but she eventually wins him over with her gentle and endearing personality. She makes many friends throughout the novel, most notably Peter the goatherd. So when Dete returns to take Heidi to Frankfurt to be a hired lady’s companion to a wealthy girl named Klara Sesemann, everyone including her grandfather is devastated. Klara, who is unable to walk, is charmed by Heidi’s simple friendliness and her descriptions of life on the Alps. However Heidi begins to pine for the Alps and is determined to return to the happiness of life with her grandfather.
Heidi eAudiobook on Bolinda BorrowBox
Heidi in our library catalogue
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
A children’s book written in 1872 by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, under her pen name Susan Coolidge. Katy is a tomboy with a wild imagination and high spirits. She is always up to mischief, but plans for the day when she will be ‘beautiful and beloved, and amiable as an angel’. An accidental fall from a swing seems to threaten her hopes for the future, but Katy struggles to overcome her difficulties with pluck, vitality and good humour. Katy by Jacqueline Wilson, inspired by this classic novel, is also available on BorrowBox.
What Katy Did eAudiobook & Jacqueline Wilson’s Katy e-Book & Audiobook on Bolinda BorrowBox
What Katy Did & Jacqueline Wilson’s Katy in our library catalogue
Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables is the classic children’s book by L M Montgomery, written in 1908, and the inspiration for the Netflix Original series Anne with an E. Set in the late 19th century, the novel recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl, who is mistakenly sent to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. They were expecting a boy to help them on their farm and get a shock when a red-haired feisty girl arrives!
Anne of Green Gables eBook & eAudiobook on Bolinda BorrowBox
Anne of Green Gables in our library catalogue
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