Target is amazing! Every so often, they will have 4-5 of these Bendon Junior Classics in their dollar section. Yah. You heard me. 4th-6th grade reading level classical novels for $1 EACH! This was a perfect way for me to build up my “classroom library” for junior high students! These novels are condensed and adapted and have pictures on every page. It made for a very easy read and easy to understand. I have never read The Time Machine before, but remember a tiny bit about the old Wishbone episode of it. It was so exciting. I loved reading it and ate it up. The main character, the time traveler, travels far into the distant future where humans have devolved into two different species: a peaceful, naive, child-like species and an ape-like demonic underground species. The time traveler gets stuck in the future and has to figure out why the two species are different and what secrets they hold. After reading this young version, I’d love to read the real novel and even see a video adaptation of it.
So yes, I read this adapted classic to read to my two boys. I really enjoyed the story. I have not had the opportunity to read the original yet but am planning to. My youngest son was a little scared in some parts but my boys definitely wanted me to read it almost every evening. I think the best part of this book is the end when the Time Traveler hurriedly grabs all of his materials, runs to the room where his Time Machine is kept (this after a harrowing adventure with the horribly creepy Morlocks), shouts back to the Narrator of the story "Give me a half and hour!", then disappears (but not without the Narrator getting a final glimpse of the Time Traveler fading into oblivion). Perfect ending. The childlike joy that is portrayed for the true spirit of adventure no matter what the costs. I just love it. My boys loved it. Great read!