A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Written for Learners of English by John Escott.

What does the name ‘Agatha Christie’ mean? To many people, it means a book about a murder mystery – a ‘whodunnit’. ‘I’m reading an Agatha Christie,’ people say. ‘I’m not sure who the murderer is – I think it’s…’ But they are usually wrong, because it is not easy to guess the murderer’s name before the end of the book.

But who was Agatha Christie? What was she like? Was her life quiet and unexciting, or was it full of interest and adventure? Was there a mystery in her life, too?

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Jennifer Bassett.

There, on top of the mushroom, was a large caterpillar, smoking a pipe. After a while the Caterpillar took the pipe out of its mouth and said to Alice in a slow, sleep voice, 'Who are you?'

What strange things happen when Alice falls down the rabbit-hole and into Wonderland! She has conversations with the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, goes to the Mad Hatter's tea party, plays croquet with the King and Queen of Hearts…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Clare West.

Marilla Cuthbert and her brother Matthew want to adopt an orphan, to help on the farm at Green Gables. They ask for a boy, but they get Anne, who has red hair and freckles, and who talks and talks and talks.

They didn't want a girl, but how can they send a child back, like an unwanted parcel? So Anne stays, and begins a new life in the sleepy, quiet village of Avonlea in Canada.

But it is not so quiet after Anne comes to live there…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded readers. Written for Learners of English by John Escott.

Mr Ross lives on an island where no visitors come. He stops people from taking photographs of him. He is young and rich, but he looks sad. And there is one room in his house which is always locked.

Carol Sanders and her mother come to the island to work for Mr Ross. Carol soon decides that there is something very strange about Mr Ross. Where did he get his money from? How can a young man buy an island? So she watches, and she listens – and one night she learns what is behind the locked door.

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded readers. Written for Learners of English by Tim Vicary.

Ellen Shore’s family is an ordinary American family, and Ellen is six years old when her brother Al is born. Her parents are very pleased to have a son, but Ellen is not pleased, because now baby Al comes first.

And when they are adults, Al still comes first. He begins a rock band and makes records. Soon he is rich and famous – very rich, but he gives nothing to his sister Ellen. She has a difficult life, with three young kids and very little money. And she learns to hate her rich, famous, unkind brother…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Diane Mowat.

In the mountains of Transylvania there stands a castle. It is the home of Count Dracula – a dark, lonely place, and at night the wolves howl around the walls.

In the year 1875 Jonathan Harker comes from England to do business with the Count. But Jonathan does not feel comfortable at Castle Dracula. Strange things happen at night, and very soon, he begins to feel afraid. And he is right to be afraid, because Count Dracula is one of the U-Dead – a vampire that drinks the blood of living people…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded readers. Written for Learners of English by Reg Wright.

Richard Walton is in trouble again. He has lost his job, and he has borrowed money from his sister, Jennifer – again. And now he has disappeared. Jennifer is looking for him, and so are the police. They both have some questions that they want to ask him.

How did he lose his job? Why did he fly to Frankfurt? Who gave his girlfriend those very expensive gold ear-rings?

Only Richard can answer these questions. But nobody can find Richard.

In Sweden, nobody wants a troll to come into their garden, but how do you stop them? On a lonely road at night in Oman, Abdul's car breaks down and he takes a ride with a stranger, but perhaps it is safer to walk. In England some young people play a scary game, and in Asia, a soldier returns home – at last. Every country in the world has stories about ghosts and spirits and monsters of one kind or another. Some people believe in ghosts, and some don't – but everyone enjoys a good ghost story.

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded readers. Written for Learners of English by Tim Vicary.

All they could hear was the wind, and the waves crashing on to the rocks. All they could see was the night. They could not see the ship, broken in two. They could not see the people holding on to the dark wet rock, slowly dying of cold. And they could not hear the cries for help – only the wind.

How could they save the people on the rock? Was their wooden boat stronger than the iron ship? Were a man and his daughter stronger than the great waves that broke the ship in two?

The Forfarshire was wrecked off the north-east coast of England in 1838. This is the true story of Grace Darling – a girl who became a famous heroine on that stormy night.

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Written for Learners of English by Janet Hardy-Gould.

There were six of them – three Katherines, two Annes, and a Jane. One of them was the King’s wife for twenty-four years, another for only a year and a half. One died, two were divorced, and two were beheaded. It was a dangerous, uncertain life.

After the King’s death in 1547, his sixth wife finds a box of old letters – one from each of the first five wives. They are sad, angry, frightened letters. They tell the story of what it was like to be the wife of Henry VIII of England.

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Retold for Learners of English by Diane Mowat.

Who wants to live in a house, wear clean clothes, be good, and go to school every day? Not young Huckleberry Finn, that's for sure.

So Huck runs away, and is soon floating down the great Mississippi River on a raft. With him is Jim, a black slave who is also running away. But life is not always easy for the two friends.

And there's 300 dollars waiting for anyone who catches poor Jim…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Written for Learners of English by Anne Collins.

Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.' More than fifty years ago, the new US President, John F. Kennedy, spoke these words. Millions of Americans listened, and they were filled with hope. With Kennedy as president, surely there was a great future ahead for their country. But Kennedy would not finish his four years as president. In November 1963, the world stopped as terrible news came from Dallas, Texas…

A level 2 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. Written for Learners of English by Alex Raynham.

What does the world look like from the moon?' 'How do our bodies work?' 'Is it possible for people to fly?' 'Can I make a horse of bronze that is 8 metres tall?' 'How can we have cleaner cities?' All his life, Leonardo da Vinci asked questions. We know him as a great artist, but he was one of the great thinkers of all time, and even today, doctors and scientists are still learning from his ideas. Meet the man who made a robot lion, wrote backwards, and tried to win a war by moving a river…