Jane Austen is one of the most influential and best-loved novelists in English literature. Austen''s genius was her cast of characters—so timeless and real that readers today recognize them in their own families and neighborhoods. Her book''s universal themes—love and hate, hope and disappointment, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility—still tug at heartstrings today in cultures spanning the globe.

Austen wrote about daily life in England as she knew it, growing up a clergyman''s daughter among the upper class of landowners, providing readers with a window into the soul of a lively, imaginative, and industrious woman in an age when most women were often obscured. Jane Austen for Kids includes a time line, resources for further study, places to visit, and 21 enriching activities.