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James Baldwin

Stories Read Aloud. Publications from the 1800s and early 1900s. Short Adventure Myths and Tales. History through Fiction. 

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TOTAL STORIES: 80 Short Adventure, Myths and Tales


  • 50 Famous Stories Retold

  • 30 More Famous Stories Retold

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    Podcast

    [BOOK INTRODUCTION] Fifty Famous Stories Retold by Baldwin, James

    CONCERNING THESE STORIES.

    There are numerous time-honored stories which have become so incorporated into the literature and thought of our race that a knowledge of them is an indispensable part of one's education. These stories are of several different classes.


    To one class belong the popular fairy tales which have delighted untold generations of children, and will continue to delight them to the end of time. To another class belong the limited number of fables that have come down to us through many channels from hoar antiquity. To a third belong the charming stories of olden times that are derived from the literatures of ancient peoples, such as the Greeks and the Hebrews. A fourth class includes the half-legendary tales of a distinctly later origin, which have for their subjects certain romantic episodes in the lives of well-known heroes and famous men, or in the history of a people.


    It is to this last class that most of the fifty stories contained in the present volume belong. As a matter of course, some of these stories are better known, and therefore more famous, than others. Some have a slight historical value; some are useful as giving point to certain great moral truths; others are products solely of the fancy, and are intended only to amuse. Some are derived from very ancient sources, and are current in the literature of many lands; some have come to us through the ballads and folk tales of the English people; a few are of quite recent origin; nearly all are the subjects of frequent allusions in poetry and prose and in the conversation of educated people. Care has been taken to exclude everything that is not strictly within the limits of probability; hence there is here no trespassing upon the domain of the fairy tale, the fable, or the myth.


    That children naturally take a deep interest in such stories, no person can deny; that the reading of them will not only give pleasure, but will help to lay the foundation for broader literary studies, can scarcely be doubted. It is believed, therefore, that the present collection will be found to possess an educative value which will commend it as a supplementary reader in the middle primary grades at school. It is also hoped that the book will prove so attractive that it will be in demand out of school as well as in.


    Acknowledgments are due to Mrs. Charles A. Lane, by whom eight or ten of the stories were suggested. ~ INTRODUCTION IN THE BOOK

    50 SHORT STORY PAGES

    Explore our collection of 50 stories from the renowned book, "Fifty Famous Stories Retold." Each story comes alive through a video reading, followed by a quiz to test your knowledge and enhance your understanding.

    INDEX

    Story List

    50 STORIES

    STORY

    Individual Page

    FEATURE STORY

    READ ALOUD

    Individual Page

    FEATURE STORY
    10 QUESTION QUIZ

    QUIZ

    Video Test

    50 STORIES
    baldy snipt

    A good book we like, we explorers. That is our best amusement, and our best time killer

    - Roald Amundsen, Explorer

    [BOOK INTRODUCTION] Thirty More Famous Stories Retold by Baldwin, James

    TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS

    It is now more than a year since you read my “ Fifty Famous Stories.”

    Those stories, as you will remember, are quite short and easy. Before you had finished your second year at school you could read every one of them without stopping to study the meaning of the words. Many thousands of children have read those fifty stories, and then they have asked for more ; and this is my excuse for the present volume.


    You are older now, and you have learned many things which you did not know when we first became acquainted. You are able to read almost everything. And so, in telling you “Thirty More Famous Stories,” I have chosen more difficult subjects and have not been so careful to select the shortest and easiest words.

    Still, you will not find this book hard to read, neither do I think it will prove to be less interesting than the earlier volume. Nearly all the stories are true, and there are not more than three or four that might not have happened.


    In every one there is something worth learning and remembering. ~ James Baldwin

    30 SHORT STORY PAGES

    Discover our collection of 30 stories from the notable book, "Thirty More Famous Stories Retold." Each story is brought to life through a video reading, followed by a quiz to test your knowledge and deepen your understanding.

    INDEX

    Story List

    30 STORIES

    STORY

    Individual Page

    FEATURE STORY

    READ ALOUD

    Individual Page

    FEATURE STORY
    QUESTION QUIZ

    QUIZ

    Video Test

    30 STORIES

    "I sat down and listened and learned. Then I realized that ideas had value and worth."

    - STANFORD

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