The original American full dramatization as broadcast on National Public Radio.Bilbo Baggins, a gentle hobbit who loves the comforts of home, reluctantly joins a company of dwarves on a journey to recover plundered gold from a fierce dragon. It's a tale of high adventure and astonishing courage—and a magical prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The original American full dramatization as broadcast on National Public Radio.War rages in the west-a titanic battle of will and strategy between the great wizard Gandalf and Sauron, the dark lord. Meanwhile, eastward in Mordor, Frodo and Sam approach the end of their improbable quest, bearing the One Ring ever closer to the Cracks of Doom-and to a final confrontation with the very essence of evil.

The original American full dramatization as broadcast on National Public Radio.The Fellowship is broken; the quest to destroy the Ring seems already shrouded in disaster. But as the evil lord Sauron readies his armies for war, Frodo and Sam continue their lonely journey toward Mordor, guided only by Gollum-a deceitful and tortured creature, helplessly in thrall to the Ring's dark power.

This epic tale sweeps across continents and time, hovers over a key area in American History, and deftly realizes the humanity of a whole cast of characters.

The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home. But they were bored and restless and, looking for something interesting to do, thought they'd give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizarre adventure of their lives. Since its original publication, Jumanji has been honored with many awards, including the Caldecott Medal and a National Book Aw...

Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by the narrator for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m." Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence. It features the work of classic poets,...

A treasure-trove of Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia found in a hundred and fifty-year-old credenza—an early book of Poe poetry, Poe's obituary, a stuffed Raven, a desiccated cat, a lock of hair, and a Tiffany gold bug broach—may turn out to be the stuff that dreams are made of at The Antiques Roadshow, but only if retired Cape Cod Police Captain Waverly Underhill and Dr. Alexander Scofield can thwart the rogue trying to make off with it all.

“The Queen is in the Counting House” is a timely tale about up-and-coming Boston Red Sox catcher Zachary Devlin who could perhaps take the team to a World Championship, but only if he can survive—literally—the annual Cape Cod exhibition game.A child’s prank goes horribly wrong, trapping a young boy in a cast iron safe in “Don't Touch That Dial!” The listener follows in real time as Captain Underhill must use his wits to defeat an enemy he can't out-think or out-maneuver—the locked ...

This just in?breaking news from the North Pole! Santa Claus can't deliver presents on Christmas Eve, and he needs backup. But not just anybody can help him?he needs the Holiday Heroes! This Christmas, it's up to the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, a witch, and a leprechaun to fill in for Santa and save Christmas. Can the Holiday Heroes deliver presents without being spotted? Will they be able to pull off Christmas in the end?

On the last page of the Caldecott-winning book Jumanji, young Danny Budwing is seen running after his brother, Walter, with a game tucked under his arm. Now twenty years later, Chris Van Allsburg is ready to reveal what happened when Danny and Walter rolled the dice. This time the name of the game is Zathura, and the battling Budwing boys are in for the ride of their lives. Soon Zathura unleashes intergalactic challenges that require the quarreling brothers to learn how to work together as...

Imagine if Billboard compiled a list of the top 100 poems, chosen not by critics or professors but by the people themselves. That's the concept behind The Classic Fifty Poems, and it works brilliantly.

In The Preservationist, Dave Maine tells the story of Noe who has been called by God to build a boat and collect two of every animal on earth to be saved from a coming deluge.