Gutta-Percha Willie

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 254K words
Chapters: 26

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.Gutta-Percha Willie by George MacDonaldAuthor: MacDonald, George, 1824-1905,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

Gutta-Percha Willie is a work of juvenile literature by George MacDonald, in the original English and in the public domain as an ebook. MacDonald is known for imaginative, gently toned children's stories; this book follows the boy Willie's growth and is suitable as graded reading for English learners or as material for parents and children to read together. The language is relatively plain and the length moderate, so it offers practice in reading stamina while conveying the narrative appeal and moral concern of nineteenth-century children's literature. Read the plot through first, then return to dialogue and description to build up expressions; if reading to a child, discuss Willie's choices and their consequences along the way, turning the story into material for conversation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with some English who want to try original English children's literature
Parents of school-age children looking for English read-aloud material
Readers studying MacDonald's children's fiction and nineteenth-century British children's literature

Not a good fit for

Beginners with no English who need Chinese annotations
Mature fiction readers who prefer complex plots and adult themes
Young children who need a modern retelling or illustrated edition

Reading tips

Read a chapter first to get the narrative rhythm, then go back to look up new words and long sentences.
When reading with a child, ask one question about Willie's choices after each chapter.
Copy out recurring expressions of action and dialogue to practice speaking.
After finishing, try retelling the main storyline in three sentences to check your understanding.

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 source material does not specify a reading age. Judging from its classification as juvenile literature and its plain language, it suits upper-primary children with some English reading ability; younger children are better served by a parent reading aloud with explanation.

How difficult is the English?

As a nineteenth-century children's work, its sentences are somewhat longer than those in modern graded readers, but the vocabulary is not especially hard overall. Readers with basic English reading ability can finish it with a dictionary, and it works well as practice in moving from graded readers to full-length originals.

Why is the book called Gutta-Percha Willie?

Gutta-percha is a natural rubber material, and in the book it is connected with the experiences of the protagonist Willie. The exact plot needs to be confirmed by reading the original; no speculation is offered here, and readers can watch for the context in which the name appears in the opening chapters.

Comments

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About the author

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905 Author

George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish author known for his fairy tales, fantasy novels and religious sermons. This library holds 68 of his works, including The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the North Wind, Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women, Sir Gibbie and the three series of Unspoken Sermons. His fairy tales often centre on children, weaving adventure with questions of morality and faith in plain, imaginative prose, while his fantasy works are regarded as forerunners of modern fantasy literature and have influenced later writers of the genre. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are speculated here; his works alone show him to be skilled in both storytelling and spiritual reflection, writing for children and adults alike.