Stories of Heroic Deeds for Boys and Girls

James JohonnotProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3

Word count: 160K words
Chapters: 16

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.Stories of Heroic Deeds for Boys and Girls by James JohonnotAuthor: Johonnot, James, 1823-1888,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Dec 23, 2014

Editor's review

This is a children's story collection compiled by the nineteenth-century American educator James Johonnot, a classic public-domain reader. Centered on the theme of "heroic deeds," it gathers short narratives suitable for boys and girls, dealing with qualities such as courage, responsibility, self-sacrifice, and perseverance. As an early anthology of children's literature, its language bears clear marks of its time: sentences tend to be long and wording somewhat archaic, yet for that very reason it preserves the look of nineteenth-century English narrative literature and has some reference value for studying the evolution of children's reading or for practicing English reading. The stories are short and suitable as bedtime read-alouds or classroom supplementary material, and readers can also select passages by theme for discussion. Note that some stories' values and narrative methods carry the limitations of their era; today's readers can examine them in historical context. Overall, it is not a modern story collection aiming at exciting plots, but rather a window into old readers on character education for children.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to understand nineteenth-century children's literature and character-education readers
Parents or teachers who need short English read-aloud material
Learners practicing English reading who are willing to encounter somewhat old-fashioned English
People interested in collecting or studying classic public-domain story collections

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern, fast-paced, plot-driven children's stories
Learners with weak English who find nineteenth-century written English hard to follow
Readers seeking texts with diverse contemporary values

Reading tips

Read one or two short stories a day, then summarize in a notebook the choice the protagonist faces.
When reading together, have an adult read aloud first, then let the child retell the main points in their own words.
Do not look up every archaic expression; grasp the plot first, then notice language features on a second reading.
Use the story themes for discussion, comparing the values in the book with present-day views.

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 was written for boys and girls; the stories are short and the themes positive, but the English has a nineteenth-century style. For native English-speaking children, adults can read it aloud to lower primary grades; non-native readers are advised to try it after gaining some English reading foundation, or with an adult explaining alongside.

Are the stories in the book true historical events?

This is a story collection intended to convey character education through heroic deeds; some pieces draw on historical legend or anecdotes about people, and some were adapted by the compiler. The records do not identify the source of each piece, so readers should not treat them all as strict historical fact; they can be read as literary narratives.

Why does the language read somewhat old-fashioned?

The author, James Johonnot, lived in the nineteenth century, and the book is an old public-domain work with longer sentences and period wording. This language style is precisely where its value for historical and language study lies; readers can slow down, understand the plot first, and then appreciate the features of old-fashioned written English.

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

James Johonnot Author · American · 1823–1888

James Johonnot (1823–1888) was an American educator and writer, born in Bethel, Vermont. He spent many years in teacher training and school administration in New York State and the Midwest, serving as principal of Joliet High School and of the State Normal School in Warrensburg, Missouri. Beyond his educational work, he compiled numerous history and nature readers for young people. Three of his works are held in this collection: Ten Great Events in History (1887), Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors: For Young Folks, and Stories of Heroic Deeds for Boys and Girls. Ten Great Events in History recounts key historical events in humanity's struggle for freedom and is suited to young readers. His writing combines instruction with readability, aiming to inspire young readers through story-based narration. Public information on the details of his life is limited.