Wordsworth's Collector's Editions of Classic Children's Novels

Newly released last month is another delightful collection of hardcover classic children’s novels. These British Wordsworth collector’s editions are very affordable volumes (hence, glued bindings, so perhaps not a long-term investment). They come in attractive bright colours with matching coloured end papers, and feature embossed gold and coloured blocking to enhance their beautiful, bespoke cover illustrations.

They are compact editions (trim page size is 178 x 129mm), with a retail price of under £7. If you are looking for a lovely but also inexpensive set of classics, this one will suit nicely.

Edit: Post updated to include the September 2020 and September 2019 editions as well.

2018 releases

Little Women by Luisa May Alcott

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The domestic adventures of the four March sisters living in a small New England community. Based on the author’s own experiences.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The magical Peter Pan comes to the nursery of the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael. He teaches them to fly, then takes them through the sky to Never-Never Land, where they find Red Indians, Wolves, Mermaids and Pirates.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: As spoilt Mary Lennox finds the way into a secret garden and begins to tend to it, a dramatic change comes over her and her life.

❦ Also check out my page on the most beautiful editions of The Secret Garden...

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The classic tale of Alice’s adventures with the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit. This edition comes with an introduction and notes by Michael Irwin, Professor of English Literature, University of Kent at Canterbury.

❦ Also check out my page on collecting Alice in Wonderland...

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: Ebenezer Scrooge, whose name is synonymous with greed and parsimony, is challenged when the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley, returns from the grave to haunt him on Christmas Eve. Scrooge is then visited in turn by three spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: Rat, Mole, Badger and the preposterous Mr Toad (with his road-hogging new motor-car) have odd adventures on and by the river, and at the imposing residence of Toad Hall.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The story of Mowgli, the human foundling adopted by a family of wolves, the enmity between him and the tiger Shere Khan, and the friendship between the man-cub and Bagheera, the black panther, and Baloo, the sleepy brown bear, who instructs Mowgli in the Laws of the Jungle.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan who maintains an optimistic spirit and a wildly creative imagination despite her early deprivations. She erupts into the lives of ageing brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, and transforms the whole rural community of Avonlea.

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The lives of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis are shattered when their father goes away with two strangers one evening. They have to move from their comfortable London home to live in a simple country cottage. However, they soon come to love the railway that runs near their cottage.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: In the meeting of the narrator who has ditched his plane in the Sahara desert, and the little prince, who has dropped there through time and space from his tiny asteroid, comes an intersection of two worlds, the one governed by the laws of nature, and the other determined only by the limits of imagination.

This edition translated by Irene Testot-Ferry.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: The gentle thoroughbred, Black Beauty, is raised with care and is treated well until a vicious groom injures him. The damaged horse experiences cruelty and neglect until he finally canters towards a happy ending.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Published: Wordsworth Classics (UK) | 2018

Where to buy: Amazon | Book Depository | Amazon AU

About the book: Young Jim Hawkins is hired by an old sea dog but, despite all precautions, the old man is served with the black spot which means death. Among the dead man’s belongings Jim discovers a map showing the location of the buried treasure of the notorious pirate Captain Flint. He sets sail to find the treasure; but amongst the hired hands is the one-legged Long John Silver who has designs on the treasure for himself.