Classic Starts®: Moby-Dick

This was a fantastic version for any 2nd grade/elementary (through about 7th grade imo), and specifically for reading aloud with my 2nd grader as we do a history&geography unit about the oceans & continents. There is plenty of action, so it was total a few hours read ... wanted to keep going! I was impressed and plan to find more by this author and/or classic starts. I did wish for a map and a pronunciation guide, neither of which are included. There are some line drawings which added nicely.

This book is a great way for those who have read and enjoyed the classic Moby Dick to share in the enjoyment with their children. We bought this to read to my 6 year old son, who was enthralled and truly loved this story. This book is a great start into teaching your children about classic literature and is a good place to start in reading longer books to your children, as the chapters are short and the worlds simplified. Now, it lacks a lot of the depth and symbolism of the classic, however, it is great for a child to start to dip their toes in.

Moby Dick is a favorite of mine, and after a recent reread I wanted to share it with my 4 year old. I got this thinking we'd read it when he was a bit older, but he picked it off the shelf and wanted me to read it to him, so we did a chapter or two a night for a few weeks. I was delighted to find that some of my favorite parts from the original are preserved (in simpler language). Editing an epic like Moby Dick down to it's essence must have been a challenge, and I was pleased that it's not *just* a dull summary of the plot like I'd expected. There's the wonderful line from the opening where Ishmael says when he's in a mood where he feels like walking up to people and knocking their hats off, is when it's time for him to go to sea. My son *loved* that line, and later parroted it back to me at random. "I want to knock people's HATS off, so put me on a ship!" Another of my favorite parts is when Ishmael and Queequeg are tied to opposite ends of a rope, and Ishmael has to keep Queequeg out of the water. It's a great character moment but not really one that drives the plot so I expected it cut--it wasn't, and I was pleased. Just a few extra notes. Some of the biology in the original Moby Dick is somewhat archaic--he calls whales "fish" for one, but this book keeps any science terms it mentions modern so it's not confusing. Also, yes, this is a book about whaling so there is some violence. I thought it was handled well, though maybe it was a bit much for a four year old. (that said, he was very interested...heh.) We will certainly revisit it when he's older, hopefully when he can read it for himself...which will hopefully lead him to want to read the full novel. Full disclaimer: that's what happened to me when I was about ten after someone handed me an abridged copy of Les Miserables, and I've never looked back. Hmmm...maybe I need to get that for my son, too....

Tackling the likes of Melville or Hawthorne to bring the language down to entry-level is no small task. The quality and the tone of this retelling is remarkably different from the original, but the plot is similar enough that a semblance of the theme emerges. While no literary masterpiece, a child that has read or been read this will at least be familiar with the story. To be clear, if you've read this, you've hardly read Moby-Dick. You'll miss a ton, and quite a bit more than less shortened Classic Starts I've read like Tom Sawyer, The Jungle Book, and The Call of the Wild. I suppose those other original authors were not as commanding in their use of English as Melville should be regarded. The story is nearly gutted of all the Christian and biblical references, allusion and innuendo. Because of this, character development is very shallow. Because Moby-Dick is a first-person narrative, it has the effect of the reader not really getting to know the protagonist narrator very well, and also of reducing his thoughts and observations of other characters to very cursory ones. In the end, it's still at least as good as the average chapter book written to be read to kindergarteners, and it retells a story that has some substance that an adult reader can enjoy (if they've read Moby Dick). I guess it's kind of like reading a children's version of a bible story -- not the full monty but worthy and if you know more, you might even find yourself inspired to augment it with a little more of the truth. My preschool aged kids enjoyed the story. They created artwork based on the story out of their own initiative, played "whale" in the community pool, and understood allusions and metaphor to princple themes in the story like the blindedness of Ahab's foolish, vengeful wrath. The only way to go wrong here is if this story somehow prevented someone from reading the original when they were later able.

My seven year old great nephew wanted to know the story of Moby Dick, this version makes it possible. The original of course is too long and the language while engaging for adults is not very suitable for youngsters. It has some illustrations also which seem to occur at just the right intervals. I highly recommend!

Enjoyed the condensed version much more than the original

My son requests these and loves them-fantastic was to introduce the classics

This was a wonderful telling of a classic piece of literature! While the core of the story remains intact, the language is familiar and easy for my middle schoolers. They're getting hooked on great stories and reading itself through the Classic Starts book series!

Livro veio em perfeitas condições e antes do prazo. Acabamento e páginas muito bons. Satisfeito!

What a great story! Simple enough for a 3rd or 4th grader to read. Was well written and told the main story. Can not wait to purchase more of these types of books!

Good read had fun a little short though. Great book series illustrations are good. Will read more from this series.

Libro de fácil lectura, es una buena versión clásica para niños

Received on time. Loving it.