"Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life."

So starts Mark Twain's classic tale about a boy's life in a small town on the Mississippi, which has become an all-time favorite both in America and around the world.

Tom Sawyer's mischievous and by now famous exploits--venturing into a nighttime graveyard with his friend Huck Finn, getting lost in a bat cave, tricking his friends into whitewashing a fence--make thrilling reading for all ages. Behind the escapades, though, are darker themes, as young Tom learns some difficult lessons about the often hypocritical rules that govern adult society.

This new edition, which celebrates the centenary of Mark Twain's death, brings together the complete text with more than 70 stunning illustrations by artist Robert Ingpen, each one an enchanting evocation of a forgotten time in the American South.