Little Men: Everyman's Library CHILDREN'S CLASSICS

'It takes so little to make a child happy, that it is a pity in a world full of sunshine and pleasant things, that there should be any wistful faces, empty hands, or lonely little hearts.'
Jo March - now Mrs Bhaer - is married, and the couple have set up Plumfield, a boarding school for orphans. With twelve boys to care for, as well as their own two sons, the Bhaers rarely have a minute to themselves, but though they are busy, they are happy and fulfilled, guiding their young charges with wisdom and compassion. With so many lively children, though, it takes the support of the whole March family to prevent the boys' mischievous scrapes from leading to full-scale disasters.

Six generations of readers have found in the story of the March family universal truths about girls, families and growing up
The best boys - in the literary sense - that we have ever come across
Louisa May Alcott is the only author who remains both popular and literary today ... Little Women was widely read, but its sequel Little Men even more so, perhaps because it was checked out by boys, too
The novelist of children ... the Thackeray, the Trollope, of the nursery and the schoolroom