I am student teaching right now and was quite excited to learn that the teacher did regular "classic reading" with the kids. She explained to me that in addition to their free choice personal reading, they do additional silent reading from a library of classics she provides for the classroom. It turned out on inspection that these were a special series of classics "for children." They managed to condense and simplify Wuthering Heights to less than 50 pages!
I am not sure how I feel about this. Part of me is glad that the children are at least being exposed to classic authors and their works, and in a way that is meaningful and interesting and makes them excited about the stories. And I also recognize that an 11-year-old would not be able to handle some of these books in their original form. But on the other hand...it isn't really the same thing. They have HEAVILY edited these books, and it just isn't the same thing. I am curious what you all think of this. Is it so important to expose the kids to these works and a love of them that reading them even in such a simplified form is still a great service? Or should we say that if an 11-year-old is not ready to read Wuthering Heights as it is written, it is better that they simply wait until they are older rather than reading a watered-down form?
I am not sure how I feel about this. Part of me is glad that the children are at least being exposed to classic authors and their works, and in a way that is meaningful and interesting and makes them excited about the stories. And I also recognize that an 11-year-old would not be able to handle some of these books in their original form. But on the other hand...it isn't really the same thing. They have HEAVILY edited these books, and it just isn't the same thing. I am curious what you all think of this. Is it so important to expose the kids to these works and a love of them that reading them even in such a simplified form is still a great service? Or should we say that if an 11-year-old is not ready to read Wuthering Heights as it is written, it is better that they simply wait until they are older rather than reading a watered-down form?