Plutarch in Yesterday's Classics

They are just stories, in the children’s version.  The- children’s version of Shakespeare helps because, the language of the actual plays being difficult, it helps if the children are familiar with the story first, so if you find a retelling like Lamb’s of good literary quality, it can help with understanding the actual plays.  But Plutarch’s value is in the examination of each subject’s character and how that influenced what happened to them.  Reducing the Lives to simple story format, all you are left with is a basic historical story.  Which in many cases isn’t all that interesting.  It’s in deeper questions of integrity, character and the  choices made, and those choices’ effect upon the man–this is what you want to get out of Plutarch.  Making them into children’s stories is like removing the bran and nutritive parts of wheat and making white bread.  Nutritionally vacant.  Wait until the children can digest the whole grain.  🙂