wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 What are your thoughts on these? Do you like them? Dislike them? Why? Thanks :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 For some books (Swiss Family Robinson or Anne of Green Gables or Peter Pan, for example), they're overkill. Those books are pretty much designed for kids and don't need to be simplified. For other books, like The Count of Monte Cristo or Great Expectations or Moby Dick, the simplification helps. There's just too much depth for most kids to enjoy them at a young age; I know I never would have discovered a love of classics without them! We don't have many of them, but I'm considering getting some for DD. DS already has a love of books and reading, but DD is a little more resistant. I think a good copy of Heidi might help nudge her into that world a little more ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I know plenty of people who hate them but we like them. I agree with the previous poster that some of them are completely unnecessary. You don't need a abridged version of Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland or other classics written for children. They are not that difficult to read. We think they are a great introduction to more difficult classics and both of my children have moved on to the originals after reading the shorter versions. I suppose it depends on the child. Two other pluses. The font is LARGE and easy on the eyes, and since the books are based on classics, the plots are interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 What are your thoughts on these? Do you like them? Dislike them? Why? Thanks :001_smile: I'm glad you asked this as I have been looking at them also.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 My kids liked them when they were in 1st/2nd grade, because the type is large, there is a picture per page of text, and it made them feel they were reading "real" books - this motivated them to read. So, for beginning readers, they can serve an important purpose. I do not like them to take the place of the actual unabridged version. After 4th grade we gave them away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 We have Heidi and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from the series and dd (soon to be 14) still reads them. She's read Heidi about 10-15 times and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde several times as well. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Yes I agree not all classics need them. I am thinking along the lines of the harder books. Thanks for the input everybody!!! :001_smile: I think that just might be our easy intro to the classics for the younger kids :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 We bought a bunch, on sale, at a bookstore when our dd was VERY young. I had no idea about looking for "abridged" or "unabridged". Now I'm disappointed that we have the abridged versions and it feels quite the waste! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooln Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Ds loves them. I figure anytime he grabs a book off the shelf like that to read on his own time it's a success. I know there not the most difficult reads but for him to read it just because he wants to I'm all for it and then later on when we read the actual version he has a little background going in.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 I think it depends on the kid and the situation. These books were perfect for my son, who read them from 4-6 years old. The unabridged versions were too clunky for him and beyond his level of true comprehension, but the Magic Treehouse and Boxcar Children weren't doing it for him either. Great Illustrated Classics was great for that phase of his life; it whetted his appetite for the stories, too, rather than left him feeling like he didn't have to re-read the unabridged versions later. Now as a 10 year old he's read many of the same stories, unabridged. He didn't resist because I think he was young enough when he read the GIC that it didn't feel like the story was still so fresh in his mind that it was a waste of his time to read it again. Familiarity with the storyline helped him concentrate on other aspects of the story - things like setting, character development, and literary style. For him it worked sort of like the whole WTM four-year history cycle thing does. My daughter is 5. She can read the books, but I don't think her level of comprehension is up there yet. It probably won't be until she's 7 or so. At that point, I'd just as soon hold off on GIC and wait a few years to expose her to the unabridged versions as her first taste of those stories. To introduce GIC at 7-8 would, I think, leave her resistant to re-visit those same stories just a few years later. Her personality is also such that she's just naturally more resistant to that sort of thing. For her, familiarity is a turn off rather than a motivator. I really think it's wisest to see things as tools, and to decide on a kid-by-kid or case-by-case basis rather than ruling out something entirely. That's been my experience anyhow :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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