Author: Retold by Margaret Hodges
Title: Gulliver in Lilliput
Publisher: Holiday House, 1995
Grade Level: 4-5
Summary: A shipwrecked Englishman finds himself in Lilliput, a land full of people on 6 inches tall.
Strengths: I think the biggest strength of this work is Hodges' ability to retail a story meant for adults in a way that children can enjoy. The illustrations, vocabulary, and overall retelling of the story makes this story both enjoyable and appropriate for children. I think this book is best suited for older children, probably in 4th and 5th grade. Keeping that in mind, I really appreciated that Hodges divided the book into "chapters", which will also appeal to an older audience. I also found the illustrations interesting, particularly Kimberly Bulcken Root's decision to alternate between brightly colored pictures and duller pictures.
Concerns: My only concern is the interest of the intended audience. I found some parts of the story dry, which may make it even harder to get a elementary school student to read this book. Also, since this book is not intended for younger readers, it may be more difficult to grab a older student's interest since it is a picture book.
Classroom Use: I think this study would be a great supplementary resource for a unit on fairy tales. I also think older students might enjoy reading sections of Gulliver's Travels and comparing it to this particular retelling of the tale.
(image from Amazon.com)
Technically, this is not traditional literature, since it's based on an original story, though it certainly has a folktale feel to it.
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