Kate Seredy

A lazy little girl named Tinka is happy to mend her ways after a harrowing day in the forest. Grades 4-5.

"'My cousin Kate from Budapest is coming to live with us. She's delicate and has had the measles!' shouted Jancsi to a friend as he and his father were driving to the station to meet her. Jancsi had imagined Kate as a sort of fragile, fair-haired princess, but the little girl who stepped off the train had plain black hair, a smudgy face, and skinny legs. From the moment Kate arrived, things happened. She was afraid of nothing and full of ideas. When Kate looked most angelic, you could be sure she was thinking up some mischief." Young Kate isn't at all what Jancsi and his family are expecting. She turns out to be an out-of-control little girl, sent by her father to live with her Uncle's family in the country. Kate's Uncle Marton is the "Good Master", a kind and respected man in the community. Her father has spoiled Kate since her mother died, and now he hopes his brother will be able to do something with her. At first Jancsi is repelled by her unpredictable and disrespectful behavior. But he and Kate share many adventures on his father's ranch in Hungary—riding run-away horses, going to a Country Fair, celebrating Easter and Christmas in traditional ways. Eventually he learns to appreciate her spirit, and Kate learns to love and respect the people she has met. When her father arrives at the end of the book, he hardly recognizes his polite, self-controlled daughter, and she persuades him to move to the country to teach.

First published in 1934, this young adult is the tale of Michael Karl, who learns he is the heir to a throne in a Balkan kingdom threatened by revolution. The minute he arrives home in his kingdom, he comes under siege by powerful enemies who would benefit from his death.

Life changes drastically for a Hungarian family when World War I upsets their peaceful, contented existence and the children are left in charge of the farm.

A New York City family accidentally buys a farm at auction, and the paternal grandmother persuades them to stay and make a living at farming. The two children, 12-year-old Dick and 8-year-old Janet, befriend Andy, a boy who lives on a neighboring farm with his grandparents (his parents were killed when he was a baby), and the whole family learns to love rural life and making a living from the soil.

A great children's book with an inspiring story which shows how one small thing in a person's life can have a huge impact on many people. No one had ever seen big Peter before, and no one ever saw him again, and no one ever saw him at all but small Peter who lived in dingy, squalid old Shantytown. Yet it was big Peter's gift to small Peter -- a shiny toy spade with a red handle, and a small green tree lighted with tiny candles -- that caused Shantytown people to have hope again. And with new hope the grass grew, and there were gardens, and the junk heaps were cleaned up and the sagging doors were put back on their hinges. This is a modern miracle, through which sad and beaten houses became white and neat and shining, and desolate, hopeless people found that love and hope can still move mountains. There are no saints and angels; just a tramp, an Irish cop, a small boy, and City Hall, but Shanytown becomes Peter's Landing and faith was reborn.

A moving story about a young Hungarian prince growing up during World War II. His father is seen as a collaborator with the Nazis and despised, but Prince Michael and his beloved nursemaid Nana know that he is really acting as a spy. When Michael's father tries to send him to safety, he is lost in a bombing raid, but finds a surprising future.

For generations the tribes of Huns and Magyars had moved relentlessly westward, obeying the voices of their pagan gods, which compelled them to follow the elusive white stag to their promised homeland. They swept Europe, all the while pursuing their vision of the stag. Their leader was called Attila, and the land Hungary. Here is the epic story of their tribal migration and their fierce leader - know to us even today.