A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (Everyman's Library

A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (Everyman's Library Children's Classics Series)

Six legends of Greek mythology, retold for children by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Included are The Gorgonâ€™s Head, The Golden Touch, The Paradise of Children, The Three Golden Apples, The Miraculous Pitcher, and The Chimaera. In 1838, Hawthorne suggested to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that they collaborate on a story for children based on the legend of the Pandoraâ€™s Box, but this never materialized. He wrote A Wonder Book between April and July 1851, adapting six legends most freely from Charles Antonâ€™s A Classical Dictionary (1842). He set out deliberately to â€œmodernizeâ€ the stories, freeing them from what he called â€œcold moonshineâ€ and using a romantic, readable style that was criticized by adults but proved universally popular with children. With full-color illustrations throughout by Arthur Rackham.

A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (Everyman's Library Children's Classics Series)