This collection includes first chapters and other excerpts from works at the fifth grade reading level. They were selected from the Lit2Go free audiobook collection by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology at USF. The Lit2Go Collection features more than 200 complete works including over 5…
An impoverished young man named Aladdin is recruited by a sorcerer to retrieve a lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself, and discovers that it summons a surly djinn that is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the djinn, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries princess Badroulbadour. The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin’s wife, who is unaware of the lamp’s importance. Aladdin discovers a lesser, polite djinn is summoned by a ring loaned to him by the sorcerer but forgotten during the double-cross. Assisted by the lesser djinn, Aladdin recovers his wife and the lamp.
The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat tells the story of Jerry, a young muskrat, and his adventures in escaping the Farmer and his son, and saving the Laughing Brook and his home at the Smiling Pool from drying up. The story also features Grandfather Frog, Joe Otter, Billy Mink, and Paddy the Beaver. In chapter one, The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat tells the story of Jerry, a young muskrat, and his adventures in escaping the Farmer and his son, and saving the Laughing Brook and his home at the Smiling Pool from drying up. The story also features Grandfather Frog, Joe Otter, Billy Mink, and Paddy the Beaver.
The story opens with the murder of Ronald Adair. Holmes tells Watson his account of tangling with Professor Moriarty and explains his expectation that someone will attempt to murder him. He sets up a dummy across the street, which is shot with an airgun. The killer is arrested.
The Red Badge of Courage is an impressionistic novel by Stephen Crane about the meaning of courage, as it is narrated by Henry Fleming, a recruit in the American Civil War. It is one of the most influential American war stories ever written even though the author was born after the war and had never seen battle himself. Crane met and spoke with a number of veterans as a student and he created what is widely regarded as an unusually realistic depiction of a young man in battle.
The Snow Queen is a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen and first published in 1845. The story centers on the struggle between good and evil as taken on by a little boy and girl, Gerda and Kay. In chapter one, a wicked sprite's creation spreads across the land, affecting the hearts and minds all who come in contact with it.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a work of children’s literature by the English mathematician and author, Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, written under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit-hole into a fantasy realm populated by talking playing cards and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is fraught with satirical allusions to Dodgson’s friends and to the lessons that British schoolchildren were expected to memorize. The Wonderland described in the tale plays with logic in ways that has made the story of lasting popularity with children as well as adults. The book is often referred to by the abbreviated title Alice in Wonderland. This alternate title was popularized by the numerous film and television adaptations of the story produced over the years. Some printings of this title contain both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.
The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms or Lost in the Wilds of Florida is a story of adventure following the DeVere girls on a journey through the Florida Swamps while filming a movie. In chapter one, the film troupe departs New York for Florida. A member of the cast finds himself in serious need of assistance.
A king and queen have no children. The king becomes very upset with the queen and finally she gives him a beautiful daughter.
The Go Ahead Boys and the Racing Motor-Boat is an adventure story about boys who enter a boat race.
In The Tale of Brownie Beaver, Brownie Beaver does everything he can (along with his forest friends) to protect his underwater home from humans, particularly Farmer Green. In chapter one, the author introduces the readers to Brownie Beaver and explains why his home is underwater.