The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle

by Washington Irving

Overview

Here are two favorite stories by “the father of American literature” exactly as Washington Irving wrote them, newly reset in easy-to-read type, with six handsome new illustrations. Once again in these pages, Ichabod Crane, the hapless schoolmaster of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, faces the terror of the Headless Horseman; and the henpecked husband of Rip van Winkle rises from a 20-year sleep to find a world vastly changed. Children and adults alike will enjoy the humor and suspense of these two beloved classics of American literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486288284
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	12/01/1995
Series:	Dover Children's Thrift Classics
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Washington Irving, the first American writer to make his living by his profession, was born April 3, 1783. At the age of six he was introduced to his namesake, George Washington. He studied law but then was sent to Europe because of his health and was to spend 17 years abroad. When he was thirty-five his family's business went bankrupt. It was then that he began to support himself by writing. He wrote letters, essays and short fiction. Washington Irving died in 1859.

Editorial Reviews

George Vafiadis narrates these two early American classics skillfully, changing pace and pitch to bring out the nuances of Irving's storytelling. Vafiadis builds tension by drawing out Ichabod Crane's encounter with the Headless Horseman, then strikes a wry tone to highlight the social satire woven through both works. He lingers on the details of the social changes that occurred while Rip Van Winkle napped, thus showing modern listeners the many social changes that accompanied the American Revolution. The stories were written as if they were documents passed down through several handlers, but through shifts in tone Vafiadis easily differentiates between each layer of distance constructed by Irving. G.B. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 02 - AudioFile