The Annotated Wonder Book for Boys and Girls

The Annotated Wonder Book for Boys and Girls restores Hawthorne’s beloved retellings of the Greek myths to their place as formative literature—stories meant to shape a child’s inner life, not merely entertain or instruct.

Hawthorne told these tales with the deep conviction that children learn who they are, and who they are called to become, through living stories. Perseus, Midas, Pandora, Hercules—each figure is drawn with moral clarity and human warmth, inviting young readers to recognize courage, humility, self-restraint, gratitude, and mercy as realities worth loving.

In the Charlotte Mason tradition cherished at Living Books Press, this edition treats literature as a means of character formation. Stories awaken the moral imagination—the quiet inner faculty by which children come to recognize goodness, perceive beauty, and respond rightly to the world around them. A story reaches the heart first; judgment and discernment follow in time.

What Makes This Edition Distinct

This annotated edition has been created especially for families and educators who wish to read A Wonder Book with intention and confidence.

A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys has long held a quiet place in the education of the young—not as a book that explains virtue, but as one that forms it. In these luminous retellings of the Greek myths, Nathaniel Hawthorne offers children living stories that speak directly to conscience, sympathy, and judgment.

Perseus, Midas, Pandora, Hercules—each story presents moral choice embodied in action. Courage is tested. Desire is revealed. Self-restraint, humility, gratitude, and mercy are shown rather than taught. This is the work of the moral imagination: the inward faculty by which a child learns to recognize what is noble and what is destructive, long before he can put such things into words.

Living Books Press has prepared this annotated edition for families and teachers who wish to read A Wonder Book with care and understanding, trusting the deep, formative power of story.

What This Annotated Edition Includes

This volume preserves Hawthorne’s original work while offering gentle, clarifying supports that serve both adult readers and children.

• An original Introduction explaining the book’s place in character formation and moral imagination
• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 Preface, presented in full
• The complete six stories, unabridged and faithfully reproduced
  • The Gorgon’s Head
  • The Golden Touch
  • The Paradise of Children
  • The Three Golden Apples
  • The Miraculous Pitcher
  • The Chimaera

The Reader’s Companion, created for parents and educators

• Reading A Wonder Book with Children — practical guidance for reading aloud and discussion
• Stories and the Moral Imagination — an essay on how stories shape conscience and inner vision
• Glossary of Names and Places — to support children encountering classical mythology
• Biographies of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walter Crane — providing literary and artistic context
• These additions are designed to assist without intruding—helping adults guide reading while allowing the stories themselves to do their quiet, lasting work

This edition of A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys is well suited for family reading, independent reading for older children, or thoughtful use within a Charlotte Mason–inspired education. It rewards slow reading and return visits, inviting reflection rather than haste.

Each tale presents moral choice embodied in action. Children come to see what is noble and what is destructive, long before they can analyze it. This is the quiet work of the moral imagination.

A Living Book for the Formation of the Whole Child

A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys belongs in homes where stories are read slowly, returned to often, and allowed to do their work over time. It is well suited for family reading, independent reading for older children, or thoughtful use in a Charlotte Mason–inspired curriculum.

This edition exists to help children grow in sympathy, discernment, and strength of character—and to remind adults why stories have always been among the most powerful teachers of the human heart.