The Children's Portion

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 319K words
Chapters: 32

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 Children's Portion by R. W. ShoppellAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Apr 10, 2006

Editor's review

This work belongs to juvenile literature, presented in its original English, with a length and difficulty suited to serving as an entry point into early English children's narrative. The electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg, a long-standing public e-book project; the text has circulated for a long time, and readers can safely treat it as free material for offline reading. Its value lies not in bestseller lists but in offering a direct look at the language habits and narrative rhythm of early twentieth-century English children's books, which often read with an old-fashioned simplicity. For learners who want to practice English reading without the heavy slang of modern material, this book offers a relatively steady option. It is best used as short reading material rather than a long book to finish in one sitting; looking up words and reading aloud will work better. Since the original has no Chinese notes, reading requires more patience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Ordinary readers who want low-cost access to English children's literature in its original form
Intermediate English learners who need short English texts for reading practice
Researchers interested in the language style of early children's literature
People who like free public-domain e-books that are convenient for offline reading

Not a good fit for

Beginners who need a Chinese translation or sentence-by-sentence notes to read smoothly
Young readers who expect modern pacing and strong plot conflict
People who only want quick knowledge points rather than reading the original text

Reading tips

First read one piece through, mark recurring high-frequency words, then go back for a close reading.
Advance at a pace of ten to fifteen pages each time, avoiding long single sessions.
When encountering unfamiliar words, first guess from context, then check them all together after finishing a passage.
Use read-aloud audio or shadowing to help adapt to old-fashioned English syntax.

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 readers with zero foundation?

Not really. The original is English children's literature with no Chinese notes or translation, so zero-foundation readers are likely to struggle with vocabulary and syntax. It is better to have basic vocabulary first, or pair it with annotated reading material, before trying to read independently.

What are the features of Project Gutenberg e-books?

Project Gutenberg is one of the earliest projects to provide free e-books, mostly public-domain works that are easy to obtain free and save offline. When reading, note that the edition is in the original English, with relatively simple formatting and notes, so readers need to check background information themselves.

In what order should this book be read?

The material does not provide a description of the chapter structure; it is suggested to read in table-of-contents order, first grasping the overall language style, then selecting passages of interest to reread. If time is limited, read in separate sessions, focusing on one complete passage each time, avoiding fragmented skipping.

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About the author

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Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.