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Please recommend VERY illustrated editions of these Classics


Aludlam
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I'm looking for recommendations of richly illustrated editions of these classics to use as read alouds. I prefer unabridged/very well done abridged/retold (Sutcliff, etc, etc, etc) editions. I'm currently looking for:

 

Robinson Crusoe

Pride and Prejudice

The Pied Pieper of Hamlin

A Christmas Carol

Oliver Twist

Alice in Wonderland

Tom Sawyer

20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea

Journey to the Center of the Earth

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Moby Dick

Treasure Island

Kidnapped

Pinocchio

War of the Worlds

The Jungle Book

 

And any others you would like to throw in! :001_smile:

 

Thanks!

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We read this particular version of Pinocchio, which has illustrations compiled by Cooper Edens. If I'm recalling correctly, there's a full-page illustration about every 4 pages or so, as well as smaller drawings on every other page or so. It had enough pictures to keep even my 4-year-old's attention, and I really enjoyed that the illustrations came from different versions rather than all the same. That definitely bothers some people, as the reviews indicate. So your mileage may vary. :D But I'm officially on the hunt for other classics compiled by Edens now, and he does have a bunch.

 

By the way, the book is oversized rather than typical hardcover book size, which was also nice. The chapters seem shorter when they're on larger pages. ;)

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Helen Oxenbury has a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland.

 

I'll ask you, even though I shouldn't, why you need such heavy illustrations??? I mean by the time a kid can read East of the Sun, West of the Moon, he doesn't need illustrations. And if they need illustrations, those aren't the books they need. Anything Pinkney is wonderful. Coville has gorgeous Shakespeare books. VP used to sell (don't know if they still do) Shakespeare comic books that my dd enjoyed at that age.

 

A lot of the abridged Great Illustrated Classics books have illustrations, as the name implies. I know some people are death on them, but they're really a nice bridge for a student who wants something more.

 

Also, there are nice movies for almost all those. If your goal is only exposure, the movie might do. We have a Pied Piper version with Van Johnson that is pretty fun, hehe. The A&E versions of the Jane Austen stuff are pretty tight. And someone just linked to the BBC cartoons of shakespeare that you can watch on youtube for free.

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I'll ask you, even though I shouldn't, why you need such heavy illustrations???

 

Well truthfully, we just really LIKE the pictures. But, I will be using these for breakfast/ lunch read alouds for my bunch (4yrs-9yrs). The pictures really help my ds4 and dd5 stay involved with the story, while the text (and pictures too) keep my 9 year old with us. I have lots of "traditional" picture books that I read to my littles too. This is just a way of two birds, one stone... kwim?

 

thanks for the suggestions!

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Look for the illustrator Michael Hague. He has done tons of classics and with great illustrations. Unfortunately searching on Amazon by his name tends to only bring up books he has written or edited and there are many more.

 

An example:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Willows-Kenneth-Grahame/dp/0805072373/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1297271497&sr=1-11

 

I'm also fond of Tasha Tudor, Arthur Rackham, and NC Wyeth. But sometimes they exist in current copies but sometimes you need to find used books for their illustrations.

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I'm looking for recommendations of richly illustrated editions of these classics to use as read alouds. I prefer unabridged/very well done abridged/retold (Sutcliff, etc, etc, etc) editions. I'm currently looking for:

 

Robinson Crusoe

Pride and Prejudice

The Pied Pieper of Hamlin

A Christmas Carol

Oliver Twist

Alice in Wonderland

Tom Sawyer

20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea

Journey to the Center of the Earth

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Moby Dick

Treasure Island

Kidnapped

Pinocchio

War of the Worlds

The Jungle Book

 

And any others you would like to throw in! :001_smile:

 

Thanks!

Illustrated Junior Library, Everyman's Library Children's Classics and DK Young Classics www.amazon.com :)

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The Secret Garden illus. by Inga Moore. This is a lovely one! Unfortunately, some of the other books from the same publisher and illustrator *are* abridged (and Amazon doesn't always specify). For instance, I ordered The Wind in the Willows and had to return it.

 

I saw some nicely illustrated, inexpensive hardback classics at Border's the other day, some imprint of their own. They were mostly books I already had decent copies of, but I was still tempted. :)

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We have Robin Hood, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island published by Athenuem (the cover says Scribner Storybook Classic). These are lightly abdrigded, but still use much of the original words, and they all have the gorgeous illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. My boys looooove these.

 

Robin Hood ISBN: 0-689-85467-6

Kidnapped ISBN: 0-689-86542-2

Treasure Island: 0-689-85468-4

 

There is also a Robinson Crusoe (with the Wyeth illustrations) in this series, but we have to go to the library for that one.

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i second the helen oxenbury alice. i like the dk classics, but the ones we have don't have the elaborate whimsical illustrations that i love. they look more like dk non-fiction books. dd likes them quite a bit.

 

i LOVE nice illustrations. and i'm grown. a person doesn't have to be young to appreciate illustrations. i think of elaborate illustrated books for read aloud/together. for reading alone we go for the paperback or nook version. easier to hold in bed. :)

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i LOVE nice illustrations. and i'm grown. a person doesn't have to be young to appreciate illustrations. i think of elaborate illustrated books for read aloud/together. for reading alone we go for the paperback or nook version. easier to hold in bed. :)

 

 

I agree. My 8yo is a VERY visual person. She just LIKES illustrations, you know? Sometimes she will say, "Wow, that's not how I pictured so-and-so at all." It's fun to see how different people visualize things.

 

Anyway, I'm :bigear:

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A Christmas Carol - we like P.J. Lynch, but the Ingpen has more illustrations; the annotated edition is illustrated as well, but not so lushly.

 

Alice in Wonderland -- Oxenbury (she did Alice Through the Looking Glass as well) or Ingpen for kids. I like Mervyn Peake.

 

20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea - the only illustrated edition I'm aware of of a decent translation is the Illustrated Junior Library edition, but the illustrations are sparse indeed. The original (public domain) translation of this book is so stilted it's almost unreadable.

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth -

Do not buy the translation which begins: "Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them." It bears little resemblance in style, and too frequently, in content to the original Verne.

This illustrated edition is passable, but these translations are better: Butcher, Baldick, and the 1876 Routledge translation.

 

The Jungle Book -- we quite like the Pinkney illustrated Books of Wonder edition.

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A Christmas Carol - we like P.J. Lynch, but the Ingpen has more illustrations; the annotated edition is illustrated as well, but not so lushly.

 

Alice in Wonderland -- Oxenbury (she did Alice Through the Looking Glass as well) or Ingpen for kids. I like Mervyn Peake.

 

20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea - the only illustrated edition I'm aware of of a decent translation is the Illustrated Junior Library edition, but the illustrations are sparse indeed. The original (public domain) translation of this book is so stilted it's almost unreadable.

 

Journey to the Center of the Earth -

Do not buy the translation which begins: "Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them." It bears little resemblance in style, and too frequently, in content to the original Verne.

This illustrated edition is passable, but these translations are better: Butcher, Baldick, and the 1876 Routledge translation.

 

The Jungle Book -- we quite like the Pinkney illustrated Books of Wonder edition.

 

Thanks!

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