Rollo at Work

Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 166K words
Chapters: 17

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. Rollo at Work by Jacob Abbott. Author: Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879. Language: English. Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres. Release Date: May 1, 2008.

Editor's review

"Rollo at Work" is one volume in Jacob Abbott's nineteenth-century series of educational stories for children and belongs to public-domain children's literature. The book centers on the boy Rollo's daily labor and growth, conveying ideas of diligence, responsibility, and character formation to young readers through concrete situations; the narrative voice is genial, and its didacticism is softened by storytelling. As a free electronic text from Project Gutenberg, it preserves the language of early English children's books: sentences are simple in structure but contain period usage, making it a suitable introductory text for English learners approaching nineteenth-century English narrative prose. For readers studying early American educational reading matter for children or the history of children's literature, the book also offers a concrete sample. When reading, it is advisable to place it within the context of Abbott's entire Rollo series and to note the historical context of its values. It is not a modern novel with a dramatic plot; its value lies more in the history of education and in the linguistic text itself.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Lower-intermediate English learners who want to improve reading skills through short English stories
Students and enthusiasts studying nineteenth-century British and American children's literature and educational readers
Parents or teachers looking for public-domain English moral stories for children
Collector-type readers interested in Jacob Abbott's series of works

Not a good fit for

Readers of modern fiction who seek strong plots and fast-paced narrative
Learners with weak English foundations who cannot yet read English paragraphs independently
Adult readers impatient with didactic children's stories

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the storyline, then read again to look up unfamiliar words and period usage.
Can be read in order alongside other volumes in the Rollo series to observe the continuity of the character's growth.
When reading to children, discuss after each section whether Rollo's choices were reasonable.
As language material, excerpt short sentences describing actions and dialogue for imitation writing practice.

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 of child is this book suitable for?

The original is in English and has a nineteenth-century style; it is recommended for children over ten with some English reading ability, or for reading accompanied by a parent or teacher. Younger children are better suited to hearing an adult explain it or reading a translation.

Do the books need to be read in series order?

The volumes in the Rollo series are relatively independent, and reading this book alone does not hinder comprehension. But reading in series order gives a more complete view of the character's personality and growth clues, which is more beneficial for readers studying the series.

Is this a paper book or an e-book?

This entry comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain electronic text in English, first released in 2008. Readers can obtain the electronic version on its platform; it is not a new paper book from a traditional publisher.

Are the educational ideas in the book still applicable today?

The book's emphasis on diligence and responsibility is universal, but its specific disciplinary methods and the values of its historical background bear nineteenth-century marks. Readers are advised to read with a historical perspective, distinguishing character issues that can still be learned from outdated educational practices.

Comments

Find this book

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

Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879 Author

Jacob Abbott (1803–1879) was an American author and educator best known for his historical and biographical works. The library holds 51 of his works, including Darius the Great, History of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, History of Julius Caesar, Richard II, Cyrus the Great, Pyrrhus, Cleopatra, and Peter the Great. Writing for young readers, he wove individual lives into the broader context of their times, narrating the rise and fall of rulers and figures in clear, accessible prose that made history both readable and instructive. His historical biographies circulated widely and helped popularize history reading. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so this profile focuses on the subjects and style of his works.