A Wonder Book For Girls & Boys

A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Published September 27th by Everyman's Library first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Is this book written for children? Are there any similar books to this thst is for adults? Lists with This Book. Kako god, svi pokriveni i svi zadovoljni!

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My recent time with Hawthorne and Hawthorne scholarship has made me cautious about taking anything Hawthorne said about himself at face value, but I am inclined to agree with him when he remarked that The Wonder Book was some of his best work. I've read many re-tellings of classical myths for both children and adults, and I put Hawthorne's renditions among the very very best. His intention is not to remain faithful to the myths' ancient forms at least not in any straightforward understanding My recent time with Hawthorne and Hawthorne scholarship has made me cautious about taking anything Hawthorne said about himself at face value, but I am inclined to agree with him when he remarked that The Wonder Book was some of his best work.

His intention is not to remain faithful to the myths' ancient forms at least not in any straightforward understanding of "faithful". Instead, Hawthorne recasts the tales into new shapes and animates them with his own blithe spirit. His touch and tone are delightful. His verbal pictures are sure and vivid. As I was re-reading the book today I found myself laughing out loud at some moments, crying at others, and altogether having a wonderful time.

And the frame stories for each piece provide a pastoral and American coherence to the volume, making it a singular experience rather than an assorted collection. Jan 10, Malapata rated it it was ok Shelves: El problema es que el estilo se ha quedado bastante anticuado, y resulta bastante pesado de leer. I'm surprised no one punched me in the face. Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales was one of the first books that I had ever read on Greek mythology and nurtured my love for it.

A Wonder Book For Girls & Boys

So when I saw the book on my school 14 year old me was a git and I cannot believe I was smug enough to add "unlike my peers" in a review. So when I saw the book on my school library shelf, I couldn't help picking it up. But Hawthorne's way of storytelling is different from Lancelyn's and it was nice to read his version of the tales. There were six stories in this book: The Pegasus, the magic pitcher, Pandora, the three golden apples, Medusa and Midas.

All of them are famous Greek legends. The stories are written as though they are narrated by a character named Eustace. It's a good read but I think I like the Tanglewood Tales better 'cause it has a better collection. Jun 03, Diana Nelson added it. Fun introduction to Greek Mythology.

Apr 07, Rebecca Van Wagner rated it it was amazing Shelves: I absolutely loved this. It is witty and clever and funny.

Would love to read again. My kids 4 - 9yrs loved it--they kept begging me to read it for longer. It makes an excellent read-aloud for all ages of children, since the stories are short enough there are six in the book that take about an hour to read and reworked enough to be perfect for children. They are not Disneyfied considering that Hawthorne predates Disney by a fair bit of time but you know what I mean , but the myths are enjoyably and appropriately told as compared to dry and boring with a nice s I loved it.

A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys by Nathaniel Hawthorne

They are not Disneyfied considering that Hawthorne predates Disney by a fair bit of time but you know what I mean , but the myths are enjoyably and appropriately told as compared to dry and boring with a nice side-dish of humor. For example, in describing Athena to Perseus, Hermes known as Quicksilver here says that " She has all the arts and sciences at her fingers' ends. In short, she is so immoderately wise that many people call her wisdom personified.

But, to tell you the truth, she has hardly vivacity enough for my taste; and I think you would scarcely find her so pleasant a traveling companion as myself. She has her good points, nevertheless; and you will find the benefit of them, in your encounter with the Gorgons. There are little nuggets of wisdom in each of the tales but not overbearing at all. Apparently it continues in Tanglewood Tales.

Looking forward to it! Feb 17, Jacqueline rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was a bit hesitant in starting this book, given my rather mixed-feelings on the only other Hawthorne book I'd read The Scarlet Letter and the numerous retellings of Greek myths I've already consumed. But, boy, am I glad I made the decision to read this delightful collection anyway! Yes, I've heard the stories of Midas, Pandora, Pegasus, and others countless times. But until now, I'd never had the pleasure of hearing them told so well with such strikingly vivid imagery that makes the already I was a bit hesitant in starting this book, given my rather mixed-feelings on the only other Hawthorne book I'd read The Scarlet Letter and the numerous retellings of Greek myths I've already consumed.

But until now, I'd never had the pleasure of hearing them told so well with such strikingly vivid imagery that makes the already fantastical stories even more spellbinding than they already were. Hawthorne's rendering of the mythological characters as three-dimensional human beings is just as remarkable--especially given that in most tellings these characters are so often overshadowed by the fantastical things that happen to them.

Some purists might object to the changes, additions, or omissions Hawthorne has made to the traditional tales. Hercules' less-than-noble past is eliminated; the tale of King Midas is given a more definitive and satisfying ending But the quality of Hawthorne's prose is so strong that it should silence all but the most vehement critics. My only caveat is that I could've done without the "frame story" of a group of children "hearing" the tales from an older neighbor--although this did create some amusing meta-fictional moments, where Hawthorne references his contemporaries Herman Melville and Washington Irving.

All-in-all, a fantastic read! Greek Myths by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a collection of 6 famous stories based on the myths and legends of Greek. These stories are narrated by Eustance Bright to a group of children who are his cousins. Keeping the legendary stories short and sweet the author presents the tales of "The Gorgon's Head", the tale of Medusa; "The Golden Touch", the story of Midas touch; "The Three Golden Apples", the narrative of Hercules and Atlas; "The Miraculous Pitcher", the fable of the pitcher which is always f Greek Myths by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a collection of 6 famous stories based on the myths and legends of Greek.

Keeping the legendary stories short and sweet the author presents the tales of "The Gorgon's Head", the tale of Medusa; "The Golden Touch", the story of Midas touch; "The Three Golden Apples", the narrative of Hercules and Atlas; "The Miraculous Pitcher", the fable of the pitcher which is always full and "The Chimaera", the legend of the winged horse, Pegasus. Easy to understand and straight to the point the stories are very interesting and entertaining.

Dec 09, Lmichelleb rated it really liked it Shelves: For someone who forgets what little she was taught of Greek myths, this was a delightful reintroduction. I was completely ignorant of the stories of Perseus and the Gorgon's head, the miraculous pitcher, and Hercules' three golden apples. The rest were only vaguely familar. But I realize how much the themes of these old stories come up in more modern storytelling. I am convinced of the deep importance of reading these myths!

Hawthorne is a little too self-deprecating for me, and the introductions For someone who forgets what little she was taught of Greek myths, this was a delightful reintroduction. Hawthorne is a little too self-deprecating for me, and the introductions and conclusions tacked onto the myths seemed a bit odd, but I suppose they leant a bit of the charm to the overall magic of these great imaginings.

I look forward to Tanglewood Tales! I read this to my son as our first literary introduction to greek myths and thought the framing of the narrator was endearing to the reader.

I felt as if I were among the children being told the stories by the elder student upon the varying natural sceneries. Not having much experience outside of Disney's interpretation of greek myths, I thought this was a great beginning.

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The stories were vivid, but not too long and included several illustrations throughout. There were several tales collaborate I read this to my son as our first literary introduction to greek myths and thought the framing of the narrator was endearing to the reader.

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There were several tales collaborated within this binding, all of which spoke of some moral or code of greed, vanity, friendship, etc. Most were foreign or only slightly familiar in essence, so all the stories were read with "fresh eyes" and were very enjoyable. On another note, I have not read any of Nathaniel Hawthorne's other works yet, but am familiar with him by name. He is a classic author with an older voice that reads of older times.

Although I would guess that this edition has been edited to be slightly more modern, perhaps, it still reads with "thous" and "hithers". If that does not interest you, I would probably recommend a more current edition. Otherwise, I would recommend this children's classic to anyone with a child's sense of greek mythology.

It has a beautiful binding, as well, that is comfortable to hold and decorative on the shelf. The stories included are: Medusa 2 The Golden Touch ft. King Midas 3 The Paradise of Children ft. May 27, Olga rated it it was ok. I am definitely not the target audience for this book, due to my age and living over a century after the book was written. Rating it therefore is somewhat of a tricky task. The book includes six stories re-imagined sort of from the Greek mythology.

A third of them have a very basic moral of "wouldn't it be nice to gather all bad people together and then just get rid of them all at once" - a notion way overly simplistic for my liking, which is why I did not rate the book very high. It is not all I am definitely not the target audience for this book, due to my age and living over a century after the book was written.

It is not all bad, the author does bring some neat twists and touch-ups to the classical myths here and there. It's okay is what I would say ultimately. View all 3 comments. May 27, Janet rated it liked it Shelves: Nathaniel Hawthorne rewrote some of the most famous Greek myths, sanitizing and adapting them for American children. Somehow he manages to tell these stories without ever mentioning that a lot of the characters are gods.

Hawthorne expressed his idea to rewrite Greek myths as early as when he outlined a book to Evert Augustus Duyckinck of stories "taken out of the cold moonshine of classical mythology, and modernized, or perhaps gothicized, so that they may be felt by children of these days. His aim would be, he wrote, "substituting a tone in some degree Gothic or romantic, or any such tone as may please myself, instead of the classic coldness, which is as repellent as the touch of marble Publisher James Thomas Fields pushed for Hawthorne to complete the project quickly.

Fields had begun reissuing the author's earlier series for children titled Grandfather's Child , originally published by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody and now renamed True Stories from History and Biography , and was also planning a new edition of Twice-Told Tales. He sent the final manuscript to Fields on July 15 and wrote: Melville is referenced by name in A Wonder-Book: A later edition from was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. That novel had sold 6, copies by August , and A Wonder-Book sold 4, copies in just two months after its November publication.

“A Wonder-Book for Girls & Boys”

He joked in his journal about the purchase of "the two volumes of the Livre des Merveilles , by a certain author of my acquaintance. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Salem Is My Dwelling Place: A Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. University of Iowa Press, Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Times. Houghton Mifflin Company,

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