David the Shepherd Boy

Steedman, AmyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 21K words
Chapters: 3

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.David the Shepherd Boy by Amy SteedmanAuthor: Steedman, Amy,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: May 16, 2008

Editor's review

This book is a collection of Bible stories for children written by the British children's author Amy Steedman, centering on David as a shepherd boy; it is a public-domain work of children's literature. Its value lies in retelling, in narrative form, David's early life from shepherding to the years before he became king of Israel, in plain language and with tight plotting, making it a good introductory text for understanding Western cultural background and classic stories. As a Project Gutenberg eBook, it is easy to search, copy, and carry around, and is especially suited to parallel reading or reading aloud on electronic devices. The stories are short and the chapters stand alone, so the book can be read straight through or individual pieces can be pulled out as bedtime stories or English extensive-reading material. Note that the book carries a religious and cultural background; readers would do well to approach it as literature and history rather than as a devotional text. Overall, this is a light, easy-to-read, culturally dense public-domain booklet, suitable as supplementary material for cross-cultural reading and English learners.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Bible stories and Western cultural background
Chinese parents and teachers looking for short stories for children
Learners at the English extensive-reading stage who want to try public-domain English texts
Speaking-practice readers who need short passages to read aloud

Not a good fit for

Researchers seeking systematic academic literature on religion
Readers who prefer long novels with continuous plots
Readers not interested in religious or cultural subject matter

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter, and after each story retell the plot in two or three sentences.
Read bilingually: read the English first, then check the Chinese, to build narrative vocabulary.
Use individual stories as bedtime reading material, and discuss the characters' choices with your child afterward.
Jot down cultural terms such as ancient shepherding and court life as you read, and look them up together.

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

Is this book a complete full-length novel?

No. It is a collection of short stories centering on David as a shepherd boy; the pieces are relatively independent and short, better suited to reading in sections or selectively than to being read straight through as one continuous novel.

Can I understand it without a religious background?

Yes. The stories are clearly narrated, and characters' motives and plot developments are explained, so you can follow along without knowing the background. A little lookup of ancient customs and relationships will make the reading smoother.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It works as extensive-reading material. The text is public-domain children's literature with short sentences and strong narrative, good for building everyday narrative vocabulary; but the style is somewhat old-fashioned, so it is not ideal as a speaking model—better read alongside a modern annotated edition.

Comments

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About the author

Steedman, Amy Author

Amy Steedman is an English author of children's literature about whom relatively little is known; her nationality, dates and educational background are not clearly recorded in publicly available sources. Five works are currently attributed to her, falling mainly into two categories: stories from art history and retellings of biblical narrative. Among them, Knights of Art: Stories of the Italian Painters introduces Italian painters to young readers in story form, a typical work of art appreciation for children. The Babe in the Bulrushes, Joseph the Dreamer and David the Shepherd Boy draw on the biblical figures of Moses, Joseph and David, with simple language and straightforward plots suited to children. In God's Garden: Stories of the Saints for Little Children likewise addresses young readers with tales of the saints. Overall, her writing conveys knowledge of art and religious culture through storytelling, serving children's education and early learning in a plain and accessible style. Given the limited public information, details of her life and the influence of her works await further verification.