I tend to avoid abridged versions of classics (the exception is Shakespeare!) because there are so many great books to read at each reading “level” that I will just wait until that child is ready to read the real thing. And if it’s hard for them to get into the real thing, I have found that starting it as a read-aloud is enough to get them into it. My daughter was not loving Robinson Crusoe, but when I read it aloud to her for a few chapters, she grew interested in it.
I agree, I have found myself wondering why we want our 8 year olds to read Sherlock Holmes, for example, which was never intended for children. And as you say there is so much fantastic stuff for children of all ages - why rush? I too use your tactic of easing them into a challenging book with a read aloud. I have started several read alouds that the children then stole from me so they could read them themselves!
I have mixed feelings about abridged versions after I tried reading a really terrible version of Anne of Green Gables as a child, not realising it wasn't the original. I could have gone through life avoiding LM Montgomery! Luckily a friend recommended the series a few years later and I was outraged to discover her book was quite different.
I think there are cases where abridged versions can be useful but I'd always check the quality of the writing after that experience.
I dislike abridged classics. There's a tendency to believe you've read the book and understood it when at best you have a shallow understanding of the shell of the plot. It is better to wait until a child is at an appropriate reading level to appreciate and understand it. There are plenty of books for them to absorb until they are.
I am a fan of abridged classics. I am too impatient for my kids to meet these beloved characters! I like the idea of planting these stories and characters as seeds in their imaginations when they are young and seeing them grow into the real thing when they are old enough. It's akin to reacquainting with an old friend... I know you, haven't we met before?
I do only choose abridged versions though with beautiful illustrations and well written text. Books that are a delight as they are. An abridged classic that has been turned into an early reader is a travesty!
I can’t tell, because it’s just text on a screen, if you mean “How good are Usborne books?!”, because you love them too, or if you are literally asking me how good Usborne books are. If it’s the latter, I think they’re great. I take Usborne as a sign that a book is almost certainly a good one. The fiction is usually well-told, and the non-fiction is filled with facts at an appropriate level. Can you get them in Australia? (And if you meant the former, then high five for Usborne! 😂)
I read a few abridged classics as a child (Little Women, some fun Shakespeare cartoon/graphic art books, and a few others) and I think they can help. As a teacher, I found that when kids had a basic pre-knowledge of plot/characters reading often went better/could do deeper, and that was the case for me when I finally picked up the “real deal.” I wanted to read the real thing/prove I could, and having the basic idea of plot/charactee in the back of my head helped me navigate the difficulties that I, as a younger reader, could have with the difference in language/social custom/general milieu being so different in books written before, say, 1900ish. I also think you can make it fun/exciting for kids to try the real version when they’re older (get a new extra pretty copy, associated treat) so that there’s something special about being older/more capable of tackling the real version. Outside of detective novels, classic books are meant to be read and read again, one of the reasons they are classic is that you don’t come to the end of what they have to say after one reading, including an abridged first reading
Thank you for this very wise and thoughtful comment. I like the idea that an abridged version can make the real thing more accessible, and I especially like your point that the real thing can be made a special event in itself when the time comes. And, of course, these books are so good we should all be reading them and rereading them!
I think reading unabridged texts when the person is ready is the best, BUT I devoured the Children’s Illustrated Classics series when I was younger and it certainly didn’t negatively impact my later reading of the real thing. I think knowing the plot often did help me follow the more complex original text, although I did feel a little betrayed by Robinson Crusoe. There’s just so much moralizing in the original 😅 (which might explain why RC was almost immediately abridged and most readers through the 18th century probably read one of those versions instead of the original lol)
Haha! This made me laugh. It also made me realise that I don’t think I’ve ever read Robinson Crusoe! Judging by your comment maybe I should try one of the ‘new and improved’ ones!
I remember reading an abridged version of Jane Eyre when I was 10, I remember feeling a bit dissatisfied with it but I think I would have struggled with the full version at that age (I later did it for GCSE). What was useful though was giving me an idea of a Brontë book as we lived not far from Haworth and I’d visited the house and village, felt like it gave me a bit of context.
Do you remember if your reading of it at GCSE was either improved or otherwise by having read an abridged version first? In a way, children forget so much over the years that it’s hard to imagine they’d be put off by having read a simplified version 5 or 6 years earlier.
I couldn’t say for certain but it was useful to have a basic understanding of the story. There was so much missed out in the abridged version that I didn’t feel bored or anything by the full version. It definitely didn’t take anything away from it.
Absolutely. I have actually come to many classics somewhat late, and I love them all the more for it. I didn’t read any Dickens at all until I was 30, although with Dickens I *wish* I had started earlier. There are so many and they’re so long, and I could have read so many in my teens and twenties!
We read Homer in more kid friendly versions, many versions. We have read Robin Hood, The Secret Garden, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oscar Wilde, basically I am really open to doing it if the story is well told and we can have great conversations in the midst of the reading. I have a 6yo, by the way. I have also been reading myself and then excitedly sharing what happens as I go. The Count of Monte Cristo was fascinating, and she kept asking me about it over the days.
As I read many books in Spanish, and it is a second language for me, I will myself often expose myself to a simplified version before the intense literary one in order to aid my contextual skills for all of the great erudite language, and the fact that I often read after bedtime, where I might conceivably read a sentence ten times even in English before understanding.
I will be interested in any recommendations.
I also think that we adults can bridge the gap with the extra unknown language and lengthier digressive writing styles by how we read, and we can "abridge" on the spot as we go in reading aloud.
You are definitely not alone in reading a sentence multiple times before your truly get it! I do a lot of my reading between 10 and 11pm, when my brain is definitely not at its best!
Your comment reminded me that The Well Trained Mind recommends junior versions of great works so that the children find the real thing less daunting when they get to it. We immersed ourselves in Greek literature last year without reading a single original word. I definitely wouldn’t want to wait until they were old enough for the originals before diving in!
We also share excerpts of so much adult reading in the environment, and little miss part of everything that happens will often interject herself in ways more and less meaningful.
Oh I'm so glad you guys are enjoying Polar Bear Explorers! I'm mildly obsessed. After you finish My Side of the Mountain I really recommend Journey to the River Sea. We've adored every minute of it!
In the absence of the 2 Polar Bear Explorers books he hasn’t read yet, my son has just started right back at the beginning all over again. I suspect this will keep him going for months. I’ve been wondering about Journey to the River Sea for ages and now I know it has the JFP seal of approval it will go to the top of the list! Thank you!
We now have it from the library, but it is currently in the phase where the children refuse to read it simply because I have suggested it. Books tend to spend weeks if not months in this literary purgatory.
I tend to avoid abridged versions of classics (the exception is Shakespeare!) because there are so many great books to read at each reading “level” that I will just wait until that child is ready to read the real thing. And if it’s hard for them to get into the real thing, I have found that starting it as a read-aloud is enough to get them into it. My daughter was not loving Robinson Crusoe, but when I read it aloud to her for a few chapters, she grew interested in it.
I agree, I have found myself wondering why we want our 8 year olds to read Sherlock Holmes, for example, which was never intended for children. And as you say there is so much fantastic stuff for children of all ages - why rush? I too use your tactic of easing them into a challenging book with a read aloud. I have started several read alouds that the children then stole from me so they could read them themselves!
I have mixed feelings about abridged versions after I tried reading a really terrible version of Anne of Green Gables as a child, not realising it wasn't the original. I could have gone through life avoiding LM Montgomery! Luckily a friend recommended the series a few years later and I was outraged to discover her book was quite different.
I think there are cases where abridged versions can be useful but I'd always check the quality of the writing after that experience.
That’s a really good point, it definitely has to be a good book on its own merits, not just a trashy retelling of a good book.
I dislike abridged classics. There's a tendency to believe you've read the book and understood it when at best you have a shallow understanding of the shell of the plot. It is better to wait until a child is at an appropriate reading level to appreciate and understand it. There are plenty of books for them to absorb until they are.
Yes, I am leaning towards this point of view. So many good books for all ages, why rush?
I am a fan of abridged classics. I am too impatient for my kids to meet these beloved characters! I like the idea of planting these stories and characters as seeds in their imaginations when they are young and seeing them grow into the real thing when they are old enough. It's akin to reacquainting with an old friend... I know you, haven't we met before?
I do only choose abridged versions though with beautiful illustrations and well written text. Books that are a delight as they are. An abridged classic that has been turned into an early reader is a travesty!
On a side note, how good are Usbourne books?
I can’t tell, because it’s just text on a screen, if you mean “How good are Usborne books?!”, because you love them too, or if you are literally asking me how good Usborne books are. If it’s the latter, I think they’re great. I take Usborne as a sign that a book is almost certainly a good one. The fiction is usually well-told, and the non-fiction is filled with facts at an appropriate level. Can you get them in Australia? (And if you meant the former, then high five for Usborne! 😂)
Haha I meant the former 🙌
Agree with everything you said, I'm a big fan too!
I read a few abridged classics as a child (Little Women, some fun Shakespeare cartoon/graphic art books, and a few others) and I think they can help. As a teacher, I found that when kids had a basic pre-knowledge of plot/characters reading often went better/could do deeper, and that was the case for me when I finally picked up the “real deal.” I wanted to read the real thing/prove I could, and having the basic idea of plot/charactee in the back of my head helped me navigate the difficulties that I, as a younger reader, could have with the difference in language/social custom/general milieu being so different in books written before, say, 1900ish. I also think you can make it fun/exciting for kids to try the real version when they’re older (get a new extra pretty copy, associated treat) so that there’s something special about being older/more capable of tackling the real version. Outside of detective novels, classic books are meant to be read and read again, one of the reasons they are classic is that you don’t come to the end of what they have to say after one reading, including an abridged first reading
Thank you for this very wise and thoughtful comment. I like the idea that an abridged version can make the real thing more accessible, and I especially like your point that the real thing can be made a special event in itself when the time comes. And, of course, these books are so good we should all be reading them and rereading them!
We also have loved both the Rosemary Sutcliffe and the Padraic Colum versions of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Both excellent and highly recommend!
We loved Black Ships Before Troy!
I think reading unabridged texts when the person is ready is the best, BUT I devoured the Children’s Illustrated Classics series when I was younger and it certainly didn’t negatively impact my later reading of the real thing. I think knowing the plot often did help me follow the more complex original text, although I did feel a little betrayed by Robinson Crusoe. There’s just so much moralizing in the original 😅 (which might explain why RC was almost immediately abridged and most readers through the 18th century probably read one of those versions instead of the original lol)
Haha! This made me laugh. It also made me realise that I don’t think I’ve ever read Robinson Crusoe! Judging by your comment maybe I should try one of the ‘new and improved’ ones!
I remember reading an abridged version of Jane Eyre when I was 10, I remember feeling a bit dissatisfied with it but I think I would have struggled with the full version at that age (I later did it for GCSE). What was useful though was giving me an idea of a Brontë book as we lived not far from Haworth and I’d visited the house and village, felt like it gave me a bit of context.
Do you remember if your reading of it at GCSE was either improved or otherwise by having read an abridged version first? In a way, children forget so much over the years that it’s hard to imagine they’d be put off by having read a simplified version 5 or 6 years earlier.
I couldn’t say for certain but it was useful to have a basic understanding of the story. There was so much missed out in the abridged version that I didn’t feel bored or anything by the full version. It definitely didn’t take anything away from it.
Regarding abridged classics—some books are worth the wait❤️📚
Absolutely. I have actually come to many classics somewhat late, and I love them all the more for it. I didn’t read any Dickens at all until I was 30, although with Dickens I *wish* I had started earlier. There are so many and they’re so long, and I could have read so many in my teens and twenties!
We read Homer in more kid friendly versions, many versions. We have read Robin Hood, The Secret Garden, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oscar Wilde, basically I am really open to doing it if the story is well told and we can have great conversations in the midst of the reading. I have a 6yo, by the way. I have also been reading myself and then excitedly sharing what happens as I go. The Count of Monte Cristo was fascinating, and she kept asking me about it over the days.
As I read many books in Spanish, and it is a second language for me, I will myself often expose myself to a simplified version before the intense literary one in order to aid my contextual skills for all of the great erudite language, and the fact that I often read after bedtime, where I might conceivably read a sentence ten times even in English before understanding.
I will be interested in any recommendations.
I also think that we adults can bridge the gap with the extra unknown language and lengthier digressive writing styles by how we read, and we can "abridge" on the spot as we go in reading aloud.
You are definitely not alone in reading a sentence multiple times before your truly get it! I do a lot of my reading between 10 and 11pm, when my brain is definitely not at its best!
Your comment reminded me that The Well Trained Mind recommends junior versions of great works so that the children find the real thing less daunting when they get to it. We immersed ourselves in Greek literature last year without reading a single original word. I definitely wouldn’t want to wait until they were old enough for the originals before diving in!
We also share excerpts of so much adult reading in the environment, and little miss part of everything that happens will often interject herself in ways more and less meaningful.
Also, we have done great reading the original Collodi Pinnocho, albeit translated into Spanish. Great story for 6yo.
My two loved an Usborne version of Pinocchio!
I love my side of the mountain, still reread it as an adult.
My daughter is riveted. She wants to go to the Catskills and make herself a deerskin suit.
Who wouldn’t? I grew up in California so the Catskills were impossibly romantically far away. A short drive now ha.
Also: I love My Side of the Mountain!
Oh I'm so glad you guys are enjoying Polar Bear Explorers! I'm mildly obsessed. After you finish My Side of the Mountain I really recommend Journey to the River Sea. We've adored every minute of it!
In the absence of the 2 Polar Bear Explorers books he hasn’t read yet, my son has just started right back at the beginning all over again. I suspect this will keep him going for months. I’ve been wondering about Journey to the River Sea for ages and now I know it has the JFP seal of approval it will go to the top of the list! Thank you!
A second vote for Journey to the River Sea (I'm generally an Eva Ibbotson fan).
We now have it from the library, but it is currently in the phase where the children refuse to read it simply because I have suggested it. Books tend to spend weeks if not months in this literary purgatory.