Lewis Carroll's famous novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865. It tells the story of a young girl falling down a rabbit-hole into a magical world full of strange and fantastical creatures.

The book plays with logic and language in ways that makes the story enjoyable for adults as well as children, but Carroll was at first unsure if he should actually publish his work. That's why he asked his friend Georg MacDonald for advise, who already was a famous writer in those days. MacDonald read the manuscript to his children and his son Greville loved the story so much that he wished for 60.000 volumes all filled with exciting stories about Alice. This exuberant enthusiasm eventually convinced even Carroll.

From the start the book was very well received and found many avid readers - including the young Oscar Wilde and Queen Victoria of England. Even today its popularity has not waned as can be seen from Tim Burton's very successful movie adaption starring Johnny Depp.

Read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the original version now and easily improve your vocabulary with our learning games.

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Alice in the belingoo bookstore:

Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature
which was first published in 1908.
The book is one of the most famous English children's books, not least due
to the fact that its subtle humour, its linguistic mastery and the beauty of
its nature descriptions makes it very enjoyable for adults as well.

Fleeing his underground home to avoid spring cleaning, the mole ends up at a
nearby river, which he has never seen before. There he meets Ratty (a water
rat), who takes him for a ride in his rowing boat and so their friendship
begins. Ratty also introduces Mole to the solitary badger, who lives in the
Wild Woods and to the adventurous toad, who has an unhealthy obsession for
motor cars. Although the friends try to persuade toad to give up his
constant (and rather expensive) hunt for thrills and amusement by putting
him under house arrest, he escapes, steals a car and ends up in human
prison.
Only after many exciting adventures he manages to flee and return home to
Toad Hall. The only problem is that in the meantime his residence has been
invaded by the wicked weasels who certainly won't leave without a fight. But
with the help of his three friends Toad will do his utmost to reclaim his
ancestral home...

Read Wind in the Willows now and broaden your vocabulary with this wonderful
story!

In 1927 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, which among other adventures of the famous master detective contained the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the Mazarin Stone.

When Dr. Watson arrives at 221b Baker Street, he finds Holmes' young page Billy in great distress: Holmes seems to be stuck in the middle of a particularly difficult case of national importance. An invaluable Crown diamond went missing and Holmes received orders from up on high to recover this treasure. The master detective's health already seems to suffer from this strain as he behaves even more remarkable than normally - not only is he always roaming the streets of London in various disguises but he also indicated that
someone is after his blood. Watson is understandably shocked. How can he help his old friend - and what is this strange device that is hidden behind the
curtain in Holmes' sitting room?

Join Sherlock Holmes on his search for the culprit and broaden your vocabulary with words and phrases from the original English text, which we enriched for you with one-to-one translations and many interesting facts.

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The Mazarin Stone in the belingoo bookstore: