The Lost Kitty

Leslie, Madeline, 1815-1893Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 39K words
Chapters: 4

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.The Lost Kitty by Madeline LeslieAuthor: Leslie, Madeline, 1815-1893,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Apr 27, 2008

Editor's review

This short story by nineteenth-century American children's author Madeline Leslie belongs to the category of juvenile literature and has been prepared as a free electronic text by Project Gutenberg. The work bears clear marks of its era; its narrative moves at a gentle pace and revolves around a lost kitten, drawing from everyday incidents themes of responsibility, kindness, and family warmth, in plain yet finely observed language. For today's readers its value lies chiefly at the documentary and linguistic levels: it offers a direct sense of the vocabulary, syntax, and moral instruction typical of nineteenth-century English children's books, and is a primary source for the study of early Anglo-American children's literature. As for reading situations, it suits English learners as extensive reading material, since it is short and its sentences are clear, and it also suits parents reading aloud with children, who can select passages for discussion. Note that the ideas and expressions in the book carry Victorian traces; readers should approach them with a historical eye rather than treat the book as a model for contemporary children's education.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners who want to practice extensive reading with a short original English text
Readers and researchers studying nineteenth-century Anglo-American children's literature
Parents who wish to read classic short stories with their children
Collector-minded readers interested in public-domain ebooks from Project Gutenberg

Not a good fit for

Readers of modern fiction who expect dramatic plots and strong conflict
Beginners with weak English who need annotations and translation
People put off by old-fashioned children's stories with a strong didactic tone

Reading tips

Read through the whole text first to grasp the storyline, then go back and note unfamiliar words and old-fashioned expressions.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century American children's literature to understand its moral instruction.
When reading with children, choose the passages describing what happens to the kitten and discuss the characters' choices as you go.
As extensive English reading material, read a short section each day and retell its gist to reinforce a feel for the language.

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 aimed at nineteenth-century young readers; the language is not difficult but the sentence patterns are dated. Today it is best read with a parent, or given to children aged ten and above with some English foundation; for younger children, an adult reading aloud and explaining the background works better.

Does the electronic edition include illustrations or notes?

According to the available information, the book is an English electronic text released by Project Gutenberg, with no indication that it includes illustrations or modern annotations. Readers who need help understanding it can prepare a dictionary or relevant background material themselves.

Are the ideas in the story still appropriate today?

The work carries Victorian moral instruction, and some of its expressions differ from today's views of childhood. It is best read as a historical text, with attention to its narrative manner and language, and its ideas approached critically rather than adopted directly.

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About the author

Leslie, Madeline, 1815-1893 Author

Madeline Leslie (Leslie, Madeline, 1815–1893) was a nineteenth-century author known for writing for children and families; details of her life are limited in publicly available sources, and she is known today mainly through the many works she left behind. Twenty of her works are held in this collection, most of them in the inspirational and coming-of-age category, including Minnie's Pet Cat, Little Frankie and his Mother, Bertie's Home or, the Way to be Happy, The Pearl of Peace or, The Little Peacemaker, The Lost Kitty, and Little Robins' Love One to Another. Judging from these titles and themes, her writing often centres on childhood life, family relationships, pets and nature, harmony and good deeds, gently conveying to young readers lessons of honesty, kindness, and happiness in simple language suited to reading together with parents, and is fairly representative of children's literature of her time.