Griselda, forced to move in with her aunts Grizzel and Tabitha, finds life so miserable that she throws a book at the cuckoo clock, which breaks. In return for persuading the cuckoo that she is sorry, the cuckoo takes her off to magical worlds. A classic fantasy tale originally published in 1877, the Wildside Press edition is a facsimile reprint complete with the original illustrations.
Mrs. Molesworth has been called "the Jane Austen of the nursery" with good reason.
Mary Louisa Molesworth, née Stewart (1839 - 1921) was an English writer of children's stories who wrote for children under the name of Mrs Molesworth. Her first novels, for adult readers, Lover and Husband (1869) to Cicely (1874), appeared under the pseudonym of Ennis Graham. Her name occasionally appears in print as M. L. S. Molesworth. She is best known as a writer of books for the young, such as Tell Me a Story (1875), Carrots (1876), The Cuckoo Clock (1877), The Tapestry Room (1879) and A Christmas Child (1880). She has been called "the Jane Austen of the nursery," while The Carved Lions (1895) "is probably her masterpiece." --Wikipedia