New History of the Life and Adventures of Tom Thumb

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.6

Word count: 8.5K words
Chapters: 1

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.New History of the Life and Adventures of Tom Thumb by Anderson and BabcockAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jan 17, 2019

Editor's review

New History of the Life and Adventures of Tom Thumb is an English public-domain children's book released by Project Gutenberg in the children's literature category, telling the life and adventures of the classic folk-story figure Tom Thumb. The appeal of such texts lies in their plain narrative rhythm and clear structure of good and evil; they are short, direct in language, and suited as light reading for understanding the English folk fairy-tale tradition. The book is also a specimen for studying the forms of early children's literature: how stories were rewritten and how illustrations and text worked together can be sensed while reading. Because it was produced early, some wording and plot handling bear the marks of old children's books, which can prompt discussion during shared parent-child reading. Overall, it is not a weighty literary classic but a public-domain read that is easy to enter and easy to set down, suitable as a supplement for extensive English reading or comparative fairy-tale reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Parents looking for short English public-domain fairy tales for children
Language learners doing extensive English reading who need low-difficulty short texts
Enthusiasts studying folk stories and the forms of early children's literature
Readers who like the Tom Thumb story and want to read an old textual version

Not a good fit for

Adult fiction readers seeking long plots and complex character development
Young children who need modern retellings or beautifully illustrated editions
Readers sensitive to the wording and values of old children's books and unwilling to weigh them critically

Reading tips

Read it aloud as a bedtime story in one or two sections at a time, keeping the pace relaxed.
English learners can first read for the gist, then close-read sections with fewer unfamiliar words.
Compare it with other versions of the Tom Thumb story to observe plot differences.
During shared reading, discuss how the wording in the old text differs from today's expressions.

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

What age is this book suitable for?

It is an English public-domain children's book, short and plain in language, but its wording bears traces of an earlier era. Parents should look through it first, then decide whether to read it together or let the child read independently; younger children are better suited to listening.

Is it the same as the common Tom Thumb story?

It is an early English textual version within the Tom Thumb folk-story tradition, and its specific plot arrangements may differ from later retellings. Readers can compare it with other versions to observe how the same story changes across texts.

Can it be used as English learning material?

Yes. It is short and relatively simple in sentence structure, suitable for extensive reading. Some vocabulary and expressions, however, belong to earlier English usage, so learners should focus on understanding the gist rather than imitating every word.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.