"The white-haired storyteller spins his legendary saga around a crackling fire ... a world of kings and princes on noble steeds, of evil forces wielding dark powers, and of a mystical snow-white dove, all who come to life in the land of Withershins. At the center of this world is Jotham, a simple, lonely orphan whose greatest desire is to find a father. As he journeys on his quest, he faces dangers and enemies far beyond his own strength and understanding. Travel with Jotham as he undertakes the perilous road to Dominus, the land where he hopes to fulfill his dreams."--Back cover

Twelve-year-old Cecily Lockwood and her older brother, Jem, leave their father behind in war-torn London and travel with their socialite mother to the country estate of Uncle Peregrine. Arriving at the village, Cecily discovers other children being evacuated, most of them alone and frightened, waiting to be chosen by strangers to board with them. Cecily wants one for herself, to bring home to the manor with them. After her mother surprisingly agrees, Cecily chooses a girl named May. Although May comes from a poorer background, she is clever and unwilling to be controlled by Cecily, who wonders if perhaps she has made a poor choice. In the meantime, fourteen-year-old Jem is straining to do something for the war effort and is at odds with his mother, while their uncle plays host, shaded by his own dark mystery. The discovery of the ruins of Snow Castle by May and Cecily prompts Uncle Peregrine to tell a story, a true tale of royalty and betrayal and of sons and mothers and murderous uncles, one that reaches across the centuries and into their present life. May and Cecily also discover two strange boys at the ruins, brothers whose story comes to life as the days pass. Part historical fiction, part ghost story and part coming-of-age, The Children of the King is a spellbinding story, written by an internationally renowned author.

When the king comes to adopt some children, they are all too busy trying to impress him with their talents, except for one little girl who offers only her kind heart.

In a pioneering study of childhood in colonial Spanish America, Bianca Premo examines the lives of youths in the homes, schools, and institutions of the capital city of Lima, Peru. Situating these young lives within the framework of law and intellectual history from 1650 to 1820, Premo brings to light the colonial politics of childhood and challenges readers to view patriarchy as a system of power based on age, caste, and social class as much as gender. Although Spanish laws endowed elite men with an authority over children that mirrored and reinforced the monarch's legitimacy as a colonial "Father King," Premo finds that, in practice, Lima's young often grew up in the care of adults--such as women and slaves--who were subject to the patriarchal authority of others. During the Bourbon Reforms, city inhabitants of all castes and classes began to practice a "new politics of the child," challenging men and masters by employing Enlightenment principles of childhood. Thus the social transformations and political dislocations of the late eighteenth century occurred not only in elite circles and royal palaces, Premo concludes, but also in the humble households of a colonial city.

As stirring as "Schindler's List", this classic biography focuses on the first advocate of children's rights--the man known as the savior of hundreds of orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto. A "New York Times" Notable Book. photos.

A king who rained for forty years? A coat of arms? Boars coming to dinner? No wonder a little girl is confused by the things her parents say. With his hilarious wordplay and zany illustrations, Fred Gwynne keeps children of all ages in stitches!