British Literature 449-1798: In Classic and Modern English

Original English wording opposite paraphrases in today’s English. Wim's parallel texts include excerpts from Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Le Morte Darthur, Paradise Lost, and Gulliver’s Travels, as well as pieces by Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and other great authors of that age. Entertaining and informative biographies of the authors. Introductory essays about the works and the times in which they were written. (Perfection Learning)

Parallel Text Editions of Shakespeare's Plays

Shakespeare’s plays in their original language opposite parallel texts in today’s English. Studying numerous editions of each play, Wim wrote complete, line-by-line paraphrases for Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Othello—often clarifying misunderstandings and debunking conventional interpretations along the way.
...For example, some scholars seriously doubt that Hamlet is really contemplating suicide in his Act III, scene i soliloquy (“To be, or not to be”)? Wim’s rendition of this celebrated speech may make you re-read the original in a whole new light. Wim also wrote introductory essays for parallel text editions of The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, and Romeo and
Juliet—arguing that the last play is as much a political tragedy as a romantic one. (Perfection Learning)

Shakesperience series

Who was the worst actor ever to play Romeo? What are the magical powers of a mandrake? What role did Lincoln’s assassin play in a production of Julius Caesar? Why does Macbeth contemplate requiring urine tests from all the subjects in his kingdom? Wim playfully explores such questions for these classroom editions of Shakespeare’s plays. (Perfection Learning)

Retolds

From ancient myths to well-loved classics, we've retold stories using vocabulary and sentence structures suitable for specific reading levels.

• 5 books of retold myths, legends, and folklore, for grade 5 and up. (Perfection Learning)
• 11 respectful rephrasings of well-known works of literature for grade 5 and up. (Perfection Learning)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame retold for 2nd grade readers. (AV Concepts)
• Treasure Island retold for a graphic novel format, Ben Franklin Award. (Stone Arch)

Source Documents

We’ve selected, edited, and written introductions, footnotes, and commentary for collections focused

on specific topics.

• Osama Bin Laden (Greenhaven)
• The American Civil War (Greenhaven)
• 20 American History titles (Discovery Enterprises) Many of these are included in the Scholastic Reading Counts! quiz library.

Nonfiction

• 8 American History titles (Enslow)
  
• Iraq in the News (Enslow)
• Captions and sidebars for 2 history titles (Publications International)

Fiction

Some of our series novels were published

under pseudonyms such as Emma Bradford,

Cassie Kendall, and D.F. Rider.

• 3 novels about Laurel the Woodfairy (Just Pretend)
• 2 novels about Kat the Time Traveler (Just Pretend)
• 1 science fiction novel for an early reading program (Rigby)
• 7 YA novels, the Decryptors science fiction
  series. (Perfection Learning)

Magazines — Plays, articles, and stories for AppleSeeds and READ

Contributions to reference books:

The Storytelling Encyclopedia

The Children's Dictionary of Mythology

More than 300 entries for two reference books on mythology and traditional stories, both edited by David Adams Leeming (Oryx and Franklin Watts).

World War II Chronicle
Forward by John S.D. Eisenhower;
Preface by U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

The Chronicle of the American West
Foreword by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Council of 44 Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Nation

Sidebars and hundreds of photo captions for these two lively, highly dramatic treatments of history (Publications International).

The Book of Incredible Information
Several entries about fascinating facts.
(Publications International: Armchair Reader Series)

Classroom Materials

Reading passages and test-prep items for ETS, McGraw-Hill, and Perfection Learning. Teacher guides, classroom study guides, alternate assessment packets, and other curriculum materials beyond counting. Here are a few examples.

• English Matters!—about 50 entries on literary and grammatical terms for Grolier's English Matters! series.
• 10th and 12th grade student handbooks for grammar and writing, Glencoe/Mcgraw Hill
• Lives and Works—thirteen profiles of young adult authors for Grolier’s series.
• World Literature Bios—102 brief bios of authors for a world literature series, Perfection Learning.
• Heroes/The Odyssey—10th grade unit outline and example lesson plans for for ESubjects, Inc. Comprehensive notes on teaching about heroes, relating selections from The Odyssey to other texts and to music from a wide range of cultural sources.
  
  

Magic Key Classics

Gift editions of classic literature. A series featuring works by Stephen Crane, Joseph Conrad, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack London, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Ambrose Bierce, and Mark Twain. Wim made the selections for these handsome editions and wrote witty, probing, scholarly critical/biographical prefaces.