X-post: Adapted classics recommendations?

[BabyBre]

I have always preferred dc read original literature whenever possible, but ds7 just finished an adapted version of Tom Sawyer with more relish and excitement than he's ever read a book! He insisted we rush out this morning and find Huckleberry Finn, and who am I to stand in the way of his reading. He's the child who doesn't gobble up books like his sister, so I want to encourage this.

I know there are several different classics series for children. We've read the Great Illustrated Classics, and he got Classic Starts this morning. Which series have you found to be the best and closest to the original versions? Does SWB have a recommendation?

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I don't know about which versions are best, but I think it's perfectly fine to let a younger child read an adapted version of a classic. I plan on letting my kids do that, and then any story they really like, we will read the original together as a read-aloud.

[MBM]

I have always preferred dc read original literature whenever possible, but ds7 just finished an adapted version of Tom Sawyer with more relish and excitement than he's ever read a book! He insisted we rush out this morning and find Huckleberry Finn, and who am I to stand in the way of his reading. He's the child who doesn't gobble up books like his sister, so I want to encourage this.

I know there are several different classics series for children. We've read the Great Illustrated Classics, and he got Classic Starts this morning. Which series have you found to be the best and closest to the original versions? Does SWB have a recommendation?

We haven't read an entire series, but I have some individual versions of classics I'd highly recommend especially for younger kids or even an older child who struggles with reading.

Beowulf / Michael Morpurgo (Michael Foreman, illustrator)
978-0--7636-3206-9

Lassie Come-Home / Rosemary Wells (Susan Jeffers, ill.)
0-8050-3794-2

Brer Rabbit / Joel Chandler Harris (Don Daily, ill.)
0-7624-1712-9

Jonathan Swift's Gulliver / Martin Jenkins (Chris Riddell, ill.)
Just so you know, there is an illustration of a partly naked woman in it.
0-7636-2409-8

Romeo and Juliet / Bruce Coville (Dennis Nolan, ill.)
9780-8037-2462-4

A Midsummer Night's Dream / Bruce Coville (Dennis Nolan, ill.)
0-8037-1784-9

Moby-Dick / Jan Needle (Patrick Benson, ill.)
Our favorite. Very well done.
978-0-7636-3018-8

Canterbury Tales for Children / Barbara Cohen (Trina Schart Hyman, ill.)
978-0688062019

Don Quixote / Martin Jenkins (Chris Riddell, ill.)
978-0-7636-4081

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Angel Dominguez, ill.
This is unabridged with beautiful illustrations.
1-885183-47-x

[LibraryLover]

We own many of the Eye Witness Classics from DK publishing. I think they are very well done, and the illustrations are nice. They do a very good job making the stories feel familiar to children when they are too young to read the originals independently. When they get to the the originals, the story already feels like an old friend. That said, that isn't always necessary. But it's an option.

[BabyBre]

We haven't read an entire series, but I have some individual versions of classics I'd highly recommend especially for younger kids or even an older child who struggles with reading.





Wow, thank you for all those titles!