Twain Illustrated: Three Stories by Mark Twain, is a collection of three classic Mark Twain stories, illustrated by Marc Johnson-Pencook. All three stories, Emerson, Holmes, and Longfellow, The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut, and Running for Governor, show why Mark Twain is recognized as a master of wild, American humor. Check it out! /images/adaptedclassics/Twain%20Illustrated-free.pdf

Literary scholars have been analyzing Bartleby the Scrivener ever since Putnam’s Monthly Magazine published the story in its November and December 1853 issues. And they psycho-analyze Melville the author as well, for he either purely imagined and created Bartleby—or maybe lifted him from a newspaper article he had read—or composited certain teachings of Jesus Christ into a Bartleby person—or symbolized his own emotional reaction to the departure of neighbor, mentor and dear friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had recently moved away. Theories have continued to proliferate in literary circles about the origins and constitution of Bartleby, but none have risen above theory, leaving everyday readers free to reflect on the Bartleby puzzle and decide for ourselves just what this amazing character represents, or even, if we are so inclined, to research Melville and guess how Bartleby came to be.

   All readers interested in illustrated literature, from middle school to young adult to the old and venerable, read, witness, and analyze: Eve & Adam view the wonder of God’s creation differently. But weren’t they supposed to live in harmony? Doesn’t Eve meddle in Adam’s business? Isn’t Adam too self-absorbed? Is nature too full of wonder for Eve, or are Adam’s priorities out of whack?
   Mark Twain’s tender take on creation and gender roles will amuse you while you decide what Mr. Twain gets right and what he gets wrong! And yet another wonder of creation gotten perfectly right? Marc Johnson-Pencook’s illustrations! His contemporary-classic, pen-and-ink illustration capture new creation straight on, no frills, and directly via the mind's eye of iconic American author Mark Twain. Marc's illustrations inspired author Jerome Tiller to bring two, separate Twain stories seamlessly together via light and respectful editing. Working together they have made this adaptation a great introduction for middle school readers to Mark Twain, one of America's greatest authors.

Tolstoy Illustrated collects three of Tolstoy’s best moral tales, each illustrated in pen and ink by a different young artist trained at The Art Academy in  St. Paul, Minnesota, a renowned educational institution established in 1993. These fables exemplify the moral stance Tolstoy adopted in the last three decades of his life as his search for truth matured and crystalized.

By diverting a stream that was puddling through his dad’s farmyard, Colin, an industrious Scottish boy, inadvertently locks himself into a test of wills with the Queen of the Fairies. Colin would never have dreamed his engineering expertise and hard work would lead to an encounter with the queen. Or that to prepare himself to match wits with her, he must first visit a place where he would lose, then find himself. So why not take a walk and get lost with Colin in that special place?  After you find yourself there, maybe you too will be emboldened to face any problem that might confront you.

Poe Illustrated, Three Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, collects three illustrated classic stories by Edgar Allan Poe: Thou Art the Man, Hop-Frog, and The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether.  Edgar Allan Poe, master of the macabre, inventor of the detective story, and a sower of sly humor throughout all of his works, remains hugely popular with readers the world over. He ably executes all the elements of his stories, and tells them with straightforward prose that plants delightful sound into the ears and minds of modern readers, young and old alike.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s stories are visually-rich. In Hawthorne Illustrated, master pen & ink illustrator Marc Johnson-Pencook interprets three of Hawthorne’s best stories: Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment, Mr. Higginbotham’s Catastrophe, and Feathertop. Marc’s illustrations, combined with adapter Jerome Tiller's lightly modified, modernized prose, will help middle school readers fully enjoy Hawthorne's brilliance as writer and story-teller.