The Golden Scarecrow (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

“Hugh Seymour” is the protagonist among a slew of characters appearing in this partly autobiographical 1915 collection of sketches. Meet Enery, Bim Rochester, Young John Scarlet, and other children living around a quiet old square in London. Hugh lives as a paying guest in various houses, noticing his lack of significance—and even more—that children seem to have no significance at all in the world of adulthood.