Dick and Dolly

Wells, Carolyn, 1862-1942Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 295K words
Chapters: 30

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Dick and Dolly by Carolyn Wells. Author: Wells, Carolyn, 1862-1942. Language: English. Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres. Release Date: Sep 29, 2016

Editor's review

Dick and Dolly is a children's book by Carolyn Wells (1862–1942), in the juvenile literature category, offered here as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. It centers on the everyday lives of children in plain, lively prose, with the warmth and childlike charm typical of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century Anglophone children's fiction, which makes it an accessible introduction to the children's literature of that period. Its value lies less in intricate plotting than in its child's-eye view of small events in family life, friendship, and growing up; it reads lightly while offering a window into the narrative habits and language of early children's books. As a public-domain eBook it is easy to obtain, making it a light option for reading in the original English and a useful supplement for shared parent-child reading or classroom teaching. Read it as a period sample, noting its diction, manners, and views of childhood, rather than judging it by the standards of modern children's fiction for dramatic tension.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Newcomers to English-language children's literature
Primary and secondary English teachers seeking light English reading material
Researchers interested in early Anglophone children's books
Parents who want to read short English texts with their children

Not a good fit for

Readers who want strong plots and suspenseful conflict
Readers looking for contemporary children's coming-of-age stories
Beginners with weak English who dislike looking up words

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to gauge the language level, then decide between intensive and extensive reading.
Jot down unfamiliar old-fashioned expressions and manners, and look them up together afterward.
For shared reading, assign roles and read dialogue aloud to keep children engaged.
Keep the era of composition in mind, note differences between the book's views of childhood and today's, and take notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for English beginners?

Not really for complete beginners. Although it is children's literature, it was written long ago and contains old-fashioned expressions and cultural background that can stump beginners. It suits readers with some English reading ability who are willing to look up words and use notes; start with the short chapters.

Is this a print book or an eBook?

According to the information provided, the book is released by Project Gutenberg as a free eBook, published on September 29, 2016. Readers can access the electronic text through that platform; the specific formats and access methods are as described on the platform's page.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this book?

Not necessarily. The author, Carolyn Wells, was an American writer who lived from 1862 to 1942, and this book is children's literature. Some sense of the period helps with the details of daily life and language habits, but it is not required for basic reading; read the text first and fill in background later.

Comments

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About the author

Wells, Carolyn, 1862-1942 Author

Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American author. Public information on her life and education is limited, yet the 58 works held in this collection attest to the breadth of her output. Her subjects range widely: detective novels such as A Chain of Evidence, The Room with the Tassels, The Luminous Face, and The Vanishing of Betty Varian, which rely on carefully planted clues and mounting mystery, sit alongside parodic and light-hearted pieces like The Re-echo Club and The Lover's Baedeker and Guide to Arcady, while Rubáiyát of a Motor Car shows her knack for blending humor with popular themes. She was skilled at building suspense and layering twists, writing with wit and briskness, and combining popular entertainment with literary playfulness—earning her a place in the early twentieth-century Anglophone popular literary scene.