Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis were quite happy living in their ordinary red brick house in the London suburbs. But when their father is taken away, the children and their mother are forced to move to a dark, shabby cottage in the country, changing their lives more than they could ever imagine.
At first, the country seems lonely and dull. Then, one afternoon, a walk leads them to a railway tunnel where they meet Perks, the porter, make friends with the kind station master, and wave to the Green Dragon train as it goes by. Soon every day is filled with the excitement and fascination of the railway. Little do they know that the friendly old gentleman who waves back to them holds the key to the mystery of their father's disappearance.
Since its first publication in 1906, The Railway Children has been one of the most popular and beloved children's books, and it is sure to charm many generations to come.
Edith Nesbit (1858тАУ1924) lived in England and had dreamed of becoming a poet since she was fifteen years old. After her husband fell ill, it was up to her to support her small family. For the next nineteen years, she wrote novels, essays, articles, poems, and short stories; but it was not until 1899, when The Story of the Treasure Seekers was published, that she achieved great success. Her groundbreaking style of depicting realistic, believable children quickly gained a popularity that has lasted for more than a century.
Johanna Ward (a.k.a. Kate Reading) is an Audie AwardтАУwinning narrator and has received numerous Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine. She is also a theater actor in the Washington, DC, area and has been a member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company since 1987. Her work onstage has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Awards Society, among others. She and her husband live in Hyattsville, Maryland, with their two children.