One of the main tools used in Charlotte Manson’s educational approach, ‘Living books’, have always been very attractive to me. These books, unlike normal text books, are texts written in first person form by a single author with a lot of passion about the subject written.
Living books are engaging to read as well as understandable and interesting.
I have been working to make some of these books more accessible, in particular the ones that retell classic works of literature, together with the ones that help understand a particular historical period either by fictional narrations or by biographies of actual historical figures.
Some of these beautifully written books are almost 100 years old, but have lost none of their charm, and the beauty of the language is hard to find elsewhere, at least as far as children's literature is concerned.
The idea of using living books that retell a classic is really a very fruitful one: you get the benefit of a well written, engaging book paired with the introduction to works of literature that have formed the backbone of our civilization. The children grasp the main plot and the characters, and thus the ground is prepared for a later time when the classical work is to be read in its entire form.
As a secondary benefit, children are exposed to a richness of lexicon and variety of sentence structure that highly benefits their literacy, their cultural background and their vocabulary and expression.
Here are the links I have adapted to the Kindle format, with the added value of artwork from well know artist which have depicted the stories throughout the ages, thus incorporating some art study to the main literature and history line.
HISTORICAL FICTION
LITERARY CLASSICS
BIOGRAPHIES
I hope to publish many more, so I'll keep you posted.
NOTE: If you do not own a Kindle, you can read these books in your computer.
