Prince Jan, St. Bernard

Forrestine Cooper HookerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 188K words
Chapters: 19

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.Prince Jan, St. Bernard by Forrestine C. HookerAuthor: Hooker, Forrestine C. (Forrestine Cooper), 1867-1932,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Feb 3, 2005

Editor's review

This work centers on a St. Bernard dog and belongs to juvenile literature; it can serve as light reading in the original English for an early encounter with animal narrative. Project Gutenberg's public-domain electronic edition gives readers free access to the full text, which is especially convenient for reading on electronic devices or printing out. The dog is the protagonist who drives the story forward; the language is on the whole not difficult and the plotline is clear, making the book a sample for understanding how animal themes were written in early twentieth-century children's literature. At the same time, Hooker's narration bears the mark of its era, and readers can sense how early juvenile fiction handled themes such as loyalty and courage. One caveat: this is an early English original, so some expressions and the narrative pace differ from contemporary works; it is best used as both a literary-historical document and a language reader rather than approached as a modern novel with a strong plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like animal themes and want to read a juvenile novel in the original English
Learners who need a public-domain English text for light reading practice
Readers interested in early children's literature and animal narrative
Parents looking for a classic English animal story for their children

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a fast-paced modern novel with strong twists
Those with weak English who cannot yet read original chapter books independently
Readers who need a systematic critical edition or scholarly annotations

Reading tips

Read one chapter first to get a feel for the narrative pace, then decide whether to read closely or extensively.
Mark unfamiliar words without looking them up, and deal with them after finishing a section to keep reading fluid.
You may consult a Chinese translation or synopsis for support, but read the English original as the main text.
After finishing, note how the book depicts the dog and compare it with contemporary animal fiction.

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 suitable for English beginners?

The whole book is in the original English, with language close to a juvenile novel, but because it was written long ago, some sentence patterns and word choices are distant from modern English. Learners with basic chapter-book reading ability can give it a try; complete beginners are advised to start with easier material.

Does the electronic edition cost anything?

This book comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain e-book, usually available for free download and reading. For the exact access method, refer to the platform page; the full text can be read without buying a paper copy.

Is the content outdated?

As an early juvenile animal novel, its narrative pace and some ideas bear the marks of its time, but precisely for that reason it can serve as a sample for observing animal themes in early twentieth-century children's literature. Readers may read it with a comparative eye rather than treating it as a contemporary work.

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

Forrestine Cooper Hooker Author · American · 1867–1932

Forrestine Cooper Hooker (1867–1932) was an American woman writer of children's literature and Western-themed stories. She moved with her husband, an army officer, from one Western military post to another; this life as an officer's wife made her familiar with frontier life and provided material for her writing. Her works are mostly drawn from life on the Western frontier and from animal stories, written in a relatively realistic style for child readers. Her representative works include Prince Jan, St. Bernard; Star: The Story of an Indian Pony; and The Long Dim Trail. She also wrote the memoir An Army Officer's Wife, which records her life as a military spouse. Public information about her life and work is limited, and existing accounts center mainly on the works mentioned above.