Advice to Little Girls by Mark Twain, Vladimir Radunsky (Illustrations)

24 pages
Published April 2nd 2013 
Finished reading on January 23, 2014 
Rating: A+ 
Genre: Children | Picture Books - Classics

Overview

When Mark Twain wrote the sparky short story "Advice to Little Girls" in 1865, he probably didn't mean for it to be shown to them. Or maybe he did, since we all know Twain was a rascal. Now, author and illustrator Vladimir Radunsky has created a picture book based on Twain's text that adds all the right outlandish touches.

Whether or not it was Mark Twain's actual intention for little girls to read this humorous short story, it's clear that he did not talk down to children, but rather expected them to stretch themselves in order to grasp sophisticated, adult meaning.

Vladimir Radunsky has illustrated many books to great acclaim. Recently, Radunsky has been moving farther and farther away from the traditional picture book and into other more innovative forms. The most recent example is a work published by HarperCollins of hip-hop poetry for children, where the graffiti art has migrated from the walls into a printed book. Radunsky has published more than thirty books for children, mostly in the United States. Many of them were translated and published in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.

My Thoughts

I love this book. I love the classic take on children's literature. I love the humor. The sarcasm. The wit. I love the truth in his story. On the other hand, there were some parts that I think is not appropriate for the tender minds of young children, but the story and advice can be read and heeded by children who are big enough to know the right from wrong or those having a grasp of what the book really means. Better yet, read it to your kids. Let's see which advice they paid attention to (wink, wink).