Just in time for the major motion picture Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr.—soaring into theaters on January 17, 2020! Journey into the world of Doctor Dolittle, the kind and eccentric naturalist who can speak with animals. Working with original author Hugh Lofting’s son, these books have been fully updated for the modern reader, all while retaining the full charm of the originals. Rediscover the children’s literature classic with three novels from the beloved series! Here are the good Doctor’s three exciting tales of world travel, beginning with his greatest adventure. In The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, the Doctor and his young assistant, Tommy Stubbins, travel in search of the brilliant naturalist Long Arrow, culminating in a meeting with the most fabled creature of all, the Great Glass Sea Snail! The Story of Doctor Dolittle details how the Doctor came to learn the languages of animals, and how he was called to Africa where he meets the rarest of all beasts, the marvelous two-headed pushmi-pullyu! And in another African adventure, Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office, the Doctor establishes the only postal service in the world where birds deliver the mail!

This book examines animal welfare themes in fiction, and considers how authors of the last two centuries undermine dominative attitudes toward the nonhuman. Appearing alongside the emerging humane movements of the nineteenth century and beyond is a kind of storytelling sympathetic to protectionist efforts well-described as a literature of protest. Compassion-inclined tales like the Dolittle adventures by Hugh Lofting educate readers on a wide range of ethical questions, empathize with the vulnerable, and envision peaceful coexistence with other species. Memorable characters like Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe, Ivan the gorilla and Louis the trumpeter swan, Hazel and Cheeta, Mr. Bultitude and Doctor Rat do not merely amuse. They are voices from the margins who speak with moral urgency to those with ears to hear. This broad survey of ethical themes in animal fiction highlights the unique contributions creative writers make toward animal welfare efforts.

The Bible and theology are contested spaces, battlegrounds where participants guard entrenched beliefs against perceived threats. But literature, observes novelist Salman Rushdie, opens the universe. It expands what we perceive and understand, and ultimately what we are. Writers make our world feel larger and more inclusive. When other forces push in the direction of narrowness, bigotry, tribalism, cultism, and war, fiction encourages understanding, sympathy, and identification with others. Reading the Margins invites readers to immerse themselves in imaginary worlds, and to pursue visions of justice and compassion. Whether stories about poverty, empire, war, or the environment, the writers considered raise moral questions and often, in the process--even unwittingly--deepen our understanding of biblical calls for kindness and mercy. Reading the Margins offers a kind of commentary on biblical ethics. Using Matthew's Beatitudes and sheep and goats parable as an organizing principle, Gilmour argues there is much to learn about Jesus's "peacemakers" and call to feed the hungry from aspirational fiction and poetry.

Climb aboard the Nautilus with Captain Nemo and embark on an undersea journey around the world in this Jules Verne classic with an arresting new look! When word about sightings of a sea monster spread, three men embark on a journey to find the creature. But when they get thrown overboard, they soon find themselves in the belly of the beast—the underwater vessel named the Nautilus, manned by Captain Nemo. Having discovered his secret submarine, the sailors are taken as Nemo’s captives. The trio’s expedition shifts to an entirely new adventure beneath the vast ocean with giant sea creatures, sunken treasure, and even the lost world of Atlantis. Though the voyage is wondrous, they are still Captain Nemo’s prisoners and seek freedom from their mysterious kidnapper.

A stolen hot air balloon lands an unlikely crew on a mysterious island far from everything they know in this action-packed Jules Verne classic—now with an arresting new look! Five prisoners of war steal a hot air balloon and escape capture in Virginia during the American Civil War. They fly for several thousand miles before a storm forces them to crash land on an unknown island in the Pacific. There, the marooned men must work together to pool all their knowledge and skill if they wish to survive. But the island has its secrets, and the castaways discover it’s not as deserted as they thought. A mysterious figure has been watching them. Does it bring salvation or even more danger?

With a gorgeously redesigned cover and the original black and white interior illustrations by Ernest Shepard, this beautiful edition of the beloved classic poetry collection When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne is sure to delight new and old fans alike! Before there was Winnie-the-Pooh, there was Mr. Edward Bear, a rotund teddy bear who was proud of his stature. Meet him and many other lovable characters in this verse collection that launched A. A. Milne’s career as a children’s author and led to the creation of his novels about Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin. Full of whimsy, humor, and imagination, these children’s poems tell of visits to the zoo and Buckingham Palace, the romance between Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue, the shenanigans of peculiar characters, quiet afternoons in nature, and more.

The second story in the ever-popular "Anne of Green Gables" series. Now Anne is half past sixteen and she's ready to begin a new life teaching in her old school. She's as feisty as ever and is fiercely determined to inspire young hearts with her own ambitions. But some of her pupils are as boisterous and high-spirited as Anne, and so life in her Avonlea classroom becomes a lesson in discovery and adventure.

A wealthy man and his valet race against time to circumnavigate the world in eighty days in one of Jules Verne’s best known tales—now with an arresting new look! Phileas Fogg has always been a quiet, orderly, and predictable English gentleman who reads the newspaper, visits the Reform Club, and dines at exactly the same time each day. But this routine is abandoned when he wagers his fortune in an outlandish bet that he can travel around the entire world in eighty days. Fogg sets off immediately to prove his point, accompanied by his new valet, Passepartout, whose job is turning out to be quite different from the tranquil position he expected. As the pair travels by boat, train, carriage, and elephant from one country to the next, Fogg’s meticulous planning maps out their route. But not even he can anticipate every delay and danger along the way. And unbeknownst to him, the trip is being shadowed by Detective Fix, who is convinced Fogg is a bank robber running from justice. With the clock counting down, the only thing that’s certain is that this trip will end in either glory or ruin.

With a gorgeously redesigned cover and the original black and white interior illustrations by Ernest Shepard, this beautiful edition of the beloved classic poetry collection featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne is sure to delight new and old fans alike! Originally published after the novel Winnie-the-Pooh and the verse collection When We Were Very Young, A. A. Milne wrote this classic book of children’s poems about and for his son Christopher Robin when he turned six. With appearances from the beloved Winnie-the-Pooh throughout, these sweet and funny poems tell of playful adventures, the joys and pains of growing up, memorable animal friends, and more.