Classic Starts®

February 1, 2003
Newly abridged by Timothy Meis, James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans comes to life under the paintbrush of N.C. Wyeth, with illustrations originally published in 1919. The artist offers readers a close-up view of the French and Indian War, in paintings such as British colonel Duncan's struggle against a Huron warrior or the Mohican Chingachgook similarly fighting off another Huron warrior in the clearing of a wood. Wyeth's paintings also accompany Meis's adaptation of Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe, due out in February.

February 15, 2006
Gr. 4-7. The latest title in the Classic Starts series simplifies Defoe's famous survival adventure story, one of the first novels ever written, reworking the tortuous prose into a relaxed, chatty style ("I felt awful") with short sentences that will be accessible to a grade-school audience. True to the 1719 original, the first-person narrative relates how Crusoe defies his parents, runs away to sea, has various adventures, and survives alone on a desert island until he finds a native man whom Robinson calls Friday. The big difference here is that the two men become friends, pals, and equals. There is not a racist word, nothing about Defoe's "savages." For contrast, to spark classroom discussion, pair this with Timothy Meis' retelling, discussed in Focus: "Survivor" (BKL Mr 1 03), which stays true to the prejudice in the original.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2006
These inexpensive condensed versions of classic novels are quickly paced and competently told, with occasional black-and-white illustrations adding spice. Still, one wonders why the adaptations were created in the first place. Some tales (e.g., [cf2]Gulliver's Travels[cf1]) are already suited for children; others gain their depth from complexities of material and language, which is excised here for age-appropriateness.

(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)