Usborne Illustrated Classics For Girls

by Rachel Firth (Editor), Lesley Sims

The Railway Children, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, Little Women and Heidi.

Genres: Classics, Childrens, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Fiction

384 pages

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Rachel spent 11 years studying and teaching philosophy at the universities of London and Oxford before joining Usborne. Since then she has written books on subjects ranging from knights, to food, to philosophy, as well as retelling folk stories, and writing children's versions of numerous novels.

Reviews

[Jordan Tiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have only read the originals of Heidi and Little Women so can’t really comment on how accurate the other renditions are. Unsurprisingly omits any and all Christian content from the stories and so pretty hollow in comparison with the originals. But served as a nice introduction to some classic stories for our toddlers.

[Harriet Lawrance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very very nostalgic for me as I used to read these books as a kid. Now that I read more I can tell how simplified they are made, the pictures are pretty too though so that makes it better. 3⭐️

[Mary Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love the way these classic stories are retold, with beautiful illustrations I might add, I am annoyed at Usborne for labeling this collection of stories “for girls.” The best way to get a child uninterested in reading classic literature is to put a gender label on it. And the collection of stories in this book is truly pathetic. This 2008 printed edition displays 19th century ideologies about the roles of men and women.

This book contains 1. The Railway Children (Basically the Box Car children) 2. The Wizard of Oz (the only one we have read more than once) 3. the Secret Garden (because we all know that girls are the only ones interested in gardens 3. Black Beauty (a story written by a woman about oppression and abuse) 4. Little Women (At least there are some strong female leads in this one) 5. Heidi (What is it with girls being orphans in classic stories?)

The real outrage is what Usborne has reserved for the boy’s edition. 1) Robin Hood (ROBIN HOOD! The girls get orphaned children and the boys get fighting a tyrannical government? 2. Gulliver’s Travels (The male version of The Wizard of Oz apparently) 3. Moonfleet (I don’t even know what this is. But it is about a boy whose parents die and he has to go live with a grumpy relative, so I’m cool with matching this with Heidi.) 4. Around the World in 80 days (The boys will enjoy reading about traveling the world while the girls supposedly want to read about abused animals) 5. Robinson Crusoe (yep. Out adventuring while the ladies stay home and wait to hear if the men will be coming home from their adventures.)

I really wouldn’t call myself a feminist. Honestly. I was raised by a stay-at-home mom, but she was the one that wore the pants in the family. I have three kids of my own, and during the pandemic I dabbled in homeschooling and am currently the stay-at-home parent. We don’t conform to very many standard ideals of the roles of men and women at our house. I fix things and mow the lawn. He cooks and cleans. This book was insulting. I guess since the printing of this book they have rereleased some of their titles as “stories for children.” Thank goodness for that.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some nice abridged versions of classic stories, but why for girls Usbourne? 10 yr old boy enjoyed them just as much

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my daughter and it was perfect for her. She was able to read it on her own and the summarizing of the tales was well done. She enjoyed the illustrations as well.

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is so good i have read it so many times

[Kari · Rating 5 out of 5]

this included The Railway Children, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, Little Women and Heidi. I enjoyed reading these to my daughter. She is still a little young for a couple of the stories but she really, really enjoyed the Wizard of Oz.

[Michael Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books have shortened versions of classic books like Little Women, Black Beauty, Heidi, Secret Garden and Railway Children. It also has gorgeous artwork on every page. It's a good shorten versions of the originals. Black Beauty was my favorite of the bunch.

[Sherona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that even though there are plenty of classics that are suitable for girls, but the stories are shortened and simplified down to only a few chapters instead of a whole book.

[Meg💿🐯🍒🫒 · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ this is the best thing my mum ever bought baby me

[Katherine (Schutte) Pielak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just enough for a 5-year old.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice