No book is better for introducing children ages 6 to 9 to legendary historical figures than this collection of stories admirably retold by James Baldwin at the beginning of the last century. Selecting the best of our literary heritage, Baldwin cast it into a form that delights children of all ages. Beginning with stories of heroes from British history, including King Alfred and the Cakes, King Canute on the Seashore, and Bruce and the Spider, the book moves on to tales of other lands. From Ancient Greece come stories of The Brave Three Hundred, Alexander and Bucepahlus, and Diogenes the Wise...

Wonderful to be read together aloud, or as a component of a living books home school. These short and quickly read stories are a great introduction to classic literature. A joy to read to early readers, and an excellent tool for first to third graders to read on their own. Either way, children will delight in these short retellings of literary classics. From Bruce and the Spider to The Sword of Damocles, Julius Caesar to George Washington and his Hatchet, the stories found here will resonate throughout a lifetime. Although intended for children, adults will enjoy reading these stories aloud,...

You have heard of Homer, and of the two wonderful poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which bear his name. No one knows whether these poems were composed by Homer, or whether they are the work of many different poets. And, in fact, it matters very little about their authorship. Everybody agrees that they are the grandest poems ever sung or written or read in this world; and yet, how few persons, comparatively, have read them, or know any thing about them except at second-hand Homer commences his story, not at the beginning, but "in the midst of things;" hence, when one starts out to read the...