Opinions on Abridged Classics for Kids

[RanchGirl]

I know that as a homeschooler, a classical educator, an English teacher, I'm supposed to say something on the order of "NO, AWAAAY VILE HEEATHEN!!!"

 

But I'm not.

 

I frankly think they're a great idea. No, of course they're not getting the complex language, and of course they're not getting the complete plot. Is it the original? Oh, heck no.

 

However, think about this: A child who reads (let's say) the GIC version of Great Expectations at age 5 or 6 or whenever will walk away from that book with something pretty valuable: a holistic understanding of the plot. He'll know Pip, Estella, Joe, Mrs. Havisham, and Pip's mysterious benefactor.

 

That's not bad. Major cultural literacy points.

 

Now, let's take that same kid a little later, like 7 or 8. Maybe, having read the GIC version, he'll run into an abridged version of Great Expectations. Because he's already read the story, he knows that that convict dude in the church is actually Magwich, that Orlick is a man never to be trusted, and that it's realllllly important to pay attention to Jaggers' maidservant Molly. He won't be too thrown off by the language, the long Dickensian sentences still left in this abridged version. He'll take it in, actually, knowing the main thread of the plot.

 

Now, even later, when the kid runs into GE in high school, he's already old friends with Pip, Estella, and the rest of the homies. When he reads the real thing, he enjoys it.

 

Even if you don't progress any further than the Classics Illustrated version, you're still giving a child a basic understanding of a classic text. That's a million times more worthwhile than Junie B. Jones. Even at their most watered-down, these texts still deal with the world in an intelligent way, which is more than I can assert for many pieces of fiction meant for children.

 

In any case, that's the way it worked in our family. My DD was eager to read some fairly challenging books essentially because she'd read an easier Classics Illustrated version and really enjoyed it. It was great hearing a kid say, "Oh, wow -- Jane Eyre! I love that book!"

 

Oh, interestingly enough, I thought Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables was BETTER in its abridged version. Seriously. Nothing much happens in Ho7G.

 

:iagree: I like them as a stepping stone and for getting an idea of what the original is about. I wouldn't stop with these or use them in place of the originals, but they are great for beginning readers... working up to complex literature without getting intimidated. And my kids can see the many ways the classics are referenced in modern media, e.g. Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde was redone as a Veggie Tale and my kids recognized it, talked about the differences, the moral, etc.