On the Tree Top

Bates, Clara Doty, 1838-1895Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 112K words
Chapters: 12

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.On the Tree Top by Clara Doty BatesAuthor: Bates, Clara Doty, 1838-1895,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Feb 6, 2008

Editor's review

On the Tree Top is a work of children's literature by the American author Clara Doty Bates, classified as juvenile literature and made freely available by Project Gutenberg. Bates was known for poems and stories written for children, and this book continues her light, rhythm-rich style; the pieces are short and well suited to reading aloud and to shared parent-child reading. As a sample of nineteenth-century American children's reading, it lets today's readers observe how simple imagery and repeated rhythm were used to cultivate children's sense of language and imagination. The electronic edition preserves the original text; illustrations may not be complete, so reading relies more on the rhythm of the words themselves. For researchers, the book can be used to examine how natural imagery and didactic elements coexist in children's literature; for general readers, it serves as light English material for reading short pieces aloud. Note that some of its educational ideas differ from contemporary views of childhood, which adults may wish to explain when guiding young readers.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Parents and teachers looking for English read-aloud material for children
Readers studying nineteenth-century American children's literature
Learners who need short English verse for language practice
Adult readers who enjoy light, old-fashioned nursery-rhyme style texts

Not a good fit for

Young readers looking for long plotted novels
Buyers expecting modern children's picture books
Readers put off by an old-fashioned didactic tone

Reading tips

Read aloud first, focusing on reading mainly to feel the rhythm, then go through the meaning sentence by sentence.
For shared reading, choose one or two pieces at a time; afterwards have the child retell them or draw a picture.
Keep track of recurring natural images and see how the author uses them to convey lessons.
Compare with contemporary children's books and discuss how language and ideas in children's reading have changed.

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?

In terms of text difficulty, it suits upper-primary children who already have basic English reading ability, or younger children listening as an adult reads aloud. It also depends on the child's English level and attention span; try reading one piece first and see how they respond before deciding whether to continue.

Does the electronic edition have illustrations?

The Project Gutenberg edition is mainly text; original illustrations may not be included, and the layout differs from a printed picture book. For reading with pictures, look for an illustrated edition; as for the text alone, the rhythm and imagery already give it a certain visual quality.

Is there anything in the book unsuitable for children?

As a nineteenth-century children's book, it is generally aimed at children, but some of its didactic tone and gender-role assumptions are distant from contemporary views of childhood. When reading together, adults can use this as a chance to discuss with the child "why people wrote this way in the past," turning the difference into a way into understanding history rather than simply skipping it.

Comments

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About the author

Bates, Clara Doty, 1838-1895 Author · American · 1838–1895

Clara Doty Bates (1838–1895) was an American poet and writer of children's literature, active in the late nineteenth century. Public information about her life is limited, but it is confirmed that she was known mainly for her poetry and for works written for children. Her representative work, On the Tree Top, reflects her focus on writing for young readers; such works generally emphasize rhyme and rhythm, use simple language, and suit reading aloud and parent-child shared reading. Within late nineteenth-century American children's literature, she belongs to the group of authors who served young readers through verse and short pieces, and her work shows features common to children's reading material of that era: attention to sound and rhythm, short length, and light subject matter. Because surviving materials and works are limited, her full body of work is difficult to outline completely; only one of her works is held here, so this introduction centers on her confirmed direction as a writer rather than speculating about biographical details.