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Question about Lamplighter Books
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After seeing several good recommendations for Lamplighter Books on this forum, I went looking around a bit on their website and considering getting 1 or 2 of them for our kids for Christmas gifts. My oldest is 5 (daughter) so primarily shopping for her at this point, but we also have a ds2 and dd 6months who will be coming through the ranks in the next couple of years, even though they wouldn’t probably appreciate these kind of books now (when we actually BUY books to add to our home library, I like to choose things that all the kids will enjoy for years to come.) When I sorted through the books on their website for this age range, it came up with the illustrated ones, many of which seem to be abridged from some of the originals. Are these still worthwhile? Or better to wait until we can enjoy the originals? Generally we avoid simplified and abridged stories. Or are there any of the originals that my dd5 might enjoy now? We have read and enjoyed several chapter books over the past year such as Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, Grandma’s Attic, All of a Kind Family and others. Any particular titles of these books that your younger children enjoyed?
Thanks for any suggestions!
I own both the illustrated and originals of
- The Hedge of Thorns
- Teddy’s Button
- The Three Weavers (new, unread as of yet)
We love both. The illustrated copies are shortened, but are still quite long for a picture book and keep the story well, IMHO. We’ve read the originals, too, and we enjoy them equally. The only other abridged book we own is The Little Pilgrim’s Progress. We avoid abridged stories b/c they are generally poorly done and change the author’s intent, but I didn’t find it to be so with these.
Off the top of my head, we’ve read the following with our 9, 6 & 3 yo. The 3yo isn’t as interested, but picks up more than you’d think.
- Nobody Loves Me
- Fire in the Sky
- Throw Me Overboard
We’ve just purchased all of their dramatized audio books and they are awesome! We esp. liked A Peep Behind the Scenes and Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince.
Incidentally, I really love their books for older teens – adults. Ishmael is probably my all time favorite book, along with The Hidden Hand. Currently I’m reading Shepherd of Bethlehem and really enjoying it as well.
You could call Lamplighter. They are very knowledgeable about their books and make good suggestions for your age kids.
Christie
Thanks for the suggestions – good to have a starting place. Glad to know the the abridged illustrated editions are well done too.
The very first Lamplighter we read (and our favorite by far) was the unabridged Peep Behind the Scenes. I had borrowed it from a friend and wanted to later buy our own copy.
I bought an abridged version and I was surprised that they had completely edited and changed the whole point of the story! So no more abridged for us (we don’t normally do abridged anyway, but I thought it wouldn’t matter with the Lamplighter)
Vision Forum often has excellent sales and the Lamplighters do go on sale frequently.
I agree about the dramatized versions. CBD has them and they are excellent.
I also wanted to mention that several of the Lamplighter books can be found online for free from Gutenberg.org. That makes them a little more afordable if you have an e reader or don’t mind reading online or printing. =)
And if you enjoy audie dramas, they have a few. They are VERY well done. We’ve listened to The Captive, Charlie’s Choice, and Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince so far. Excellent!
Nanci,
Thank you for the warning about A Peep Behind the Scenes (abridged). I went checking and this wasn’t done by Lamplighter, but by a different author. I agree about abridged books in general, but the three I mentioned above have been beautifully illustrated and the story line kept in tact by Lamplighter. They are the only abridgments we’ve ever enjoyed. The Hedge of Thorns in particular is fabulous in both versions.
Our next family Lamplighter will be The Giant Killer, I can’t wait to get started!
Christie
We have a large collection of Lamplighter and many of the illustrated ones. I have boys that are oldest so one of our favorites has been the Squire and the Scroll.
Hedge of Thorns is really good also
Teddy’s Button
The True Princess
My personal favorite has been Stepping Heavenward, but I think that you can get through other places other than Lamplighter.
Christianbook now carries them at a great price…I think the lowest anywhere. Plus, you can get on a monthly plan with Lamplighter, too.
On their website, you can listen for free the audio dramas. A new episode is every Fri and then you can listen to it for free the rest of the following week. I think until Fri., you can listen to episode 2 of the Robber’s Cave.http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/AudioDrama.asp
Rachel
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