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In 1930, Jacques Bainville tells children the history of France in forty short chapters, from Vercingetorix to the Great War. We see Clovis and the Vase of Soissons, Joan of Arc before Orléans, Henri IV and his chicken in every pot, Napoleon at Austerlitz. The book tells stories rather than dates, with sixty-nine illustrations by Job, the great illustrator of his day. It is a simple and lively way into the history of France. Written for young readers, in simple sentences, it is easy to read in the language you are learning.

One Sunday in November, Augustin Meaulnes, a daring teenager, arrives at the school in Sainte-Agathe and fascinates François, the schoolmaster's son. During an escapade, Meaulnes gets lost and comes to a mysterious estate where a strange celebration is being prepared. There he meets a young woman he will never stop searching for. A novel of adolescence, dreams and nostalgia, which keeps alive the memory of that moment when we believe anything is possible. François tells the story as a memory, and the novel is a pleasure to read in the language you are learning.

This collection retells fourteen of Shakespeare's comedies and romances in prose. We meet the exiled magician of The Tempest on his island, the fairies who sow confusion in the wood near Athens, the merchant of Venice facing his moneylender, twins who are forever being mistaken for each other and a young woman disguised as a boy. Written in 1807 by Mary Lamb for young readers, these stories full of mix-ups, disguises and happy endings are a very gentle way into Shakespeare. Short and clear, each tale can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.

The Trojans have reached the Greek ships, and fire threatens the fleet. Patroclus, Achilles' friend, is allowed to wear his armour to drive them back, but he falls at Hector's hands. Mad with grief, Achilles returns to battle, with armour forged by the god Hephaestus, and seeks out Hector beneath the walls of Troy. This second volume contains the most famous pages of the poem, those of mourning, of vengeance and of the pity an enemy can still inspire. Nearly three thousand years later, they have lost none of their force. With the translation always in front of you, you can read this great tale in the language you are learning.

This collection brings together thirteen stories by the Irish-American writer Donn Byrne. In the title story, a former Broadway dancer is tried in New York for a murder committed ten years earlier. The policeman who brought her back from the South Seas tells the court how a shipwreck changed her. The other stories travel from Ireland to the Andes, from the streets of New York to the biblical times of Delilah and the Queen of Sheba: each story opens a different world. Lively and moving, they can be read one by one, at your own pace, in the language you are learning.

This collection brings together ten stories by Edgar Allan Poe. We enter the House of Usher, an old mansion that cracks along with the family who live in it. We attend the masked ball of Prince Prospero, shut away in his abbey while the Red Death ravages the land, and we listen to a murderer swear that he is not mad. Here too is the first case of the Chevalier Dupin: with this character, Poe invented the detective story, long before Sherlock Holmes. With the translation always in front of you, each story can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.

On Christmas Eve, little Marie finds a wooden nutcracker among the presents. When her brother Fritz breaks three of the poor toy's teeth, she takes it under her protection. Left alone in the drawing room, she sees the toys come to life and do battle with an army of mice, led by a seven-headed king. We also hear the story of Princess Pirlipat, in a fantasy stranger than you might think, where you never quite know whether Marie is dreaming. With the translation always in front of you, this short tale can be read in one sitting in the language you are learning.

Ruined and determined to die, young Raphaël de Valentin walks into an antique shop, where the dealer offers him an animal skin covered in signs. This talisman grants every wish of its owner, but it shrinks with each wish, and its owner's life grows shorter with it. Rich overnight, Raphaël must choose between living long and living out his desires. Balzac blends the supernatural with a portrait of the Paris of his day. The novel left an expression still used in France: to shrink “like the peau de chagrin”. With the translation always in front of you, you can read this great novel in the language you are learning.