Can we read a long story tonight? – JD, 4

JD is developing a bit of a pattern in his reading. Daytime reading is about dinosaurs, space and other factual books, while bedtime is more for story books.

Real Reads are re-tellings of classic works of literature, each condensed down into 64 illustrated pages. They’re faithful to the original style and language, but offer a simplified, shortened version that makes the tales more accessible to children.

We chose some Dickens titles, and because Dickens didn’t shy away from dark themes, including murder, the content is not entirely suitable for younger children.  However, since JD isn’t yet reading independently, we are able to gloss over the nasty bits without losing too much of what makes the stories great.

A nice touch added to the end of each book is a resources section, which contains a variety of extension materials, including a bullet pointed summary of the elements lost in the condensing process, some background information about the era, and some ‘food for thought’ questions about the story.

It’s early days for JD and clearly these books are aimed at older children, but we can already appreciate the educational benefit and I look forward to revisiting them with him as his reading develops.

Disclosure: we were sent a selection of Real Reads free of charge for review. No other payment was received and all reviews are 100% honest.