Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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seeker
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Posted: Feb 27 2012 at 1:30pm | IP Logged Quote seeker
A friend has been sending these to Bindi to read; she's 8. So far she's read Peter Pan and Pollyanna. I picked up Pollyanna the other day and noticed that they are abridged. The back of Pollyanna says, "In a specially adapted version by Marian Leighton."

Have you had any experience with these? I've never been particularly fond of abridged books. Are these "dumbed down" versions?

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CatholicMommy
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Posted: Feb 27 2012 at 6:16pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy
My not so humble opinion: they're dumbed down beyond dumbed down.

When I first saw them I was 11 or so and somehow got a collection of them: they were small squarish but thick. It got me reading books I hadn't read yet; but by then, I'd already read the full versions of many of them. So those ones were totally a let down.

I've seen other versions over the years, that almost make them look interesting. Blech. It's the same thing, just in a larger format, with larger pictures. The words don't change. I've even seen hardcover ones!

As a parent, I don't mind if my son reads them at others' homes, but I don't allow them here at our home. I tell him that if a book is worth reading, it's worth reading what the author *actually* said. We don't do abridged anything, except Homer (even I need the dumbie version there sometimes!) - and then, not so much abridged as "accessible" and "appropriate" (when it comes to more adult topics for example).

I recently accidentally purchased one of these books from a lady online - I got a list of other books from her and just didn't pay attention to the details. I was so disappointed, but it was my own fault! I hate to do it, but it's in the garbage pile. I might consider removing the pages and using the hardcover binding for something, just so it's not a total waste, but I WON'T offer it to anyone else.

Stepping down off the soapbox now ;)

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