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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
[Junior Classics for Young Readers]
When a mysterious crazy man named Mr. Hyde appears, Dr. Jekyll starts acting very suspicious. It's up to Mr. Utterson to find out who Mr. Hyde is and what Dr. Jekyll has to do with him.
When a mysterious crazy man named Mr. Hyde appears, Dr. Jekyll starts acting very suspicious. It's up to Mr. Utterson to find out who Mr. Hyde is and what Dr. Jekyll has to do with him.
179 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
March 19, 2025
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde really made me think about human nature, repression, and the dangers of unchecked ambition. Stevenson creates such an eerie atmosphere and psychological depth that the story feels like a timeless cautionary tale about the struggle between good and evil within us all. It actually reminded me a lot of Frankenstein - both explore the consequences of scientific ambition and the darker side of human nature. The unsettling creepiness also brought to mind Edgar Allan Poe’s work, with its gothic tones and psychological horror. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be rereading it in the future.
July 6, 2023
Nice short read; cute illustrations. makes me wanna read the full thing 5/5
October 20, 2023
I just couldn't get into the storyline or characters. Pushed through because it's a classic but not sure how to feel about it.
September 19, 2022
This is an abbreviated version of the classic tale. A tale of a man with dual personalities. The evil denizen of the night, Mr. Hyde, and the good, mild Dr. Jekyll.
It is an experiment that has gone wrong and cannot be reversed. Dr. Jekyll has been experimenting with a potion that alters personality. Jekyll is protective of the Hyde personality at first, but finds out his control is slowly slipping away. Jekyll is also concealing the fact that he knowledgeable about Hyde.
This is more of an introductory version for kids 7 and up. It also has a number of illustrations through the book
It is an experiment that has gone wrong and cannot be reversed. Dr. Jekyll has been experimenting with a potion that alters personality. Jekyll is protective of the Hyde personality at first, but finds out his control is slowly slipping away. Jekyll is also concealing the fact that he knowledgeable about Hyde.
This is more of an introductory version for kids 7 and up. It also has a number of illustrations through the book
July 29, 2023
The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was a re-read for me, now I don’t normally tend to reread books but when I first read this I rushed it & I didn’t really pay much attention to what was going on (also my environment was noisy) I am so glad I chose to reread this novel because I think my mind is a lot more developed now than when I first read it & I can fully appreciate/understand what Stevenson wrote. This is truly a gothic gem.
Considering this was a reread I did not remember much at all.. it was like this was a new read for my eyes & brain. I flew through this.
There’s so much tension, atmosphere & a strong air of mystery. I even feel Stevesnon plays with the reader a little bit. It’s only the last chapter where we properly get to meet both Jekyll & Hyde. Of course we meet them through other characters in a sense but it’s all very vague.
I think it’s a very important factor to look at the time when this novella was published & further more what was happening at that time. Many years before this novellas publication Darwin had published ‘ The Origin of Species’ alot of the publics reaction thought this was an attack against religion as the book made it impossible to hold the belief that god created the world in six days. During the publication of Darwin’s work, the views on religion, science & the supernatural were very much at odds with each other & many believed you could only believe in one. A lot of people believed that science was dangerous, there are many religious references in Stevensons novella. Victorian society was extremely religious. Stevenson is questioning the rules that come with religion. Jekyll & Hyde was written at a time where socially questioning science was becoming more acceptable. Stevenson cleverly associates very animalistic traits upon Mr Hyde thus also sharing many similarities with Darwin’s theory of evolution. When you look at evolution as a whole it’s mankind becoming more civilised but what happens with Mr Hyde is reversed, references such as “troglodyte” & “ape-like”. The author doesn’t only address the controversial ideas that Darwin proposed but he also blurs science with the supernatural, thus creating a tension between reason & mystical. At the end of the novella Dr Jekyll confesses that he is fascinated in the duality of mankind. Jekyll’s interest in things of a more spiritual nature suggests that his mind is different to those of lawyers & Doctors within in Victorian society who have a more confined philosophy for traditional reason.
The laboratory is the main setting for this story but is more gothic & spooky, than a conventional scientific laboratory. Once a man of science Jekyll is now leaving that all behind as he seeks unknown knowledge & truth. Dr Jekyll uses science to combat the workings in Victorian society, what he does disgusts regular men of science.
The lack of concrete description of Mr Hyde & the further lack of medical description for Mr Hydes deformity, both of the body & the mind amplifies the fuel of the power of the supernatural over the natural. Jekylls science causes alot of destruction this could be representing the power it has to disrupt the status quo within Victorian society. Along side all of this there is a strong sense of fear among the characters.. the threat of a new world, madness, of new disorders, new science & new traditions, that traditional science & reason can’t deal with. Is Stevensons view answering these questions or asking them?
The narrator Mr Utterson is a very illuminating character & Stevenson uses this character very cleverly. Mr Utterson is narrating most of the story either through documents or directly. The focus with his character is is loyalty & his ability of overlooking misdemeanours and flaws of others. Stevenson hints at planting the question, How far can loyalty be tested? In the readers mind.
I strongly believe that Stevenson was calling out the higher aristocracy during the story’s time period & labelling society as well as individuals as hypocrites. The main focus of the story is dualism. Most of the higher society did present themselves as well refined & superficial but Stevenson was calling out all the hypocrisy & showing their dark side, which was of course there. Further more most of the dark events take place at night & in the poorer areas of Landon, these areas considered to house the more lower, evil & poorer side of society. By doing this Stevenson is still today showing class prejudices. I think it’s important to mention that Mr Hyde only ever uses the back door is this a metaphorical image which seems to show that evil lurks in higher society behind the facade of refinement. I also strongly believe that this isn’t a clean cut good vs evil story. There’s a lot more to it than that. Through Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Stevenson argues that the human condition is not two halves but of repression & dark urges.When those dark urges are let loose then are repressed it’s harder to hold them back, allowing the true dark nature of man to emerge. This is also a reflection on the other characters/society & raises the question of how highly moral they are & governed by reason. I can also see a strong religious theme.
There’s a strong sense of innocence to Stevensons characters but as they learn more about Jekyll’s experiment that innocence is tarnished. The themes of violence & innocent becomes complex & the characters must come to terms with the idea that evil isn’t an outside source but one that comes from within & is only faintly held back. I think it’s very interesting how femininity & innocence blur in this story. The qualities that women were constantly portrayed of having in this era (sensitive, delicate, innocent etc) weave into the male characters. One male character upon learning the truth about Dr Jekyll becomes gravely ill & does die. Is there a subtle question here about men having traits of femininity? Was the author challenging societies views on men & women a little bit?
For my reread of the Novella I read the illustrated version by Tina Berning & it was fabulous! The dark, gothic & mysterious illustrations really amplified this story. Berning embraced the indescribable Mr Hyde appearance brilliantly through illustration. The artist leaves enough room for the readers own imagination of Mr Hyde but also captured the disturbing & mysterious sentiment. One of my favourite things in this novella is the lack of physical description of Mr Hyde but there’s a slight description of the feelings, he invokes but there’s mysterious ambiguity.
Considering this was a reread I did not remember much at all.. it was like this was a new read for my eyes & brain. I flew through this.
There’s so much tension, atmosphere & a strong air of mystery. I even feel Stevesnon plays with the reader a little bit. It’s only the last chapter where we properly get to meet both Jekyll & Hyde. Of course we meet them through other characters in a sense but it’s all very vague.
I think it’s a very important factor to look at the time when this novella was published & further more what was happening at that time. Many years before this novellas publication Darwin had published ‘ The Origin of Species’ alot of the publics reaction thought this was an attack against religion as the book made it impossible to hold the belief that god created the world in six days. During the publication of Darwin’s work, the views on religion, science & the supernatural were very much at odds with each other & many believed you could only believe in one. A lot of people believed that science was dangerous, there are many religious references in Stevensons novella. Victorian society was extremely religious. Stevenson is questioning the rules that come with religion. Jekyll & Hyde was written at a time where socially questioning science was becoming more acceptable. Stevenson cleverly associates very animalistic traits upon Mr Hyde thus also sharing many similarities with Darwin’s theory of evolution. When you look at evolution as a whole it’s mankind becoming more civilised but what happens with Mr Hyde is reversed, references such as “troglodyte” & “ape-like”. The author doesn’t only address the controversial ideas that Darwin proposed but he also blurs science with the supernatural, thus creating a tension between reason & mystical. At the end of the novella Dr Jekyll confesses that he is fascinated in the duality of mankind. Jekyll’s interest in things of a more spiritual nature suggests that his mind is different to those of lawyers & Doctors within in Victorian society who have a more confined philosophy for traditional reason.
The laboratory is the main setting for this story but is more gothic & spooky, than a conventional scientific laboratory. Once a man of science Jekyll is now leaving that all behind as he seeks unknown knowledge & truth. Dr Jekyll uses science to combat the workings in Victorian society, what he does disgusts regular men of science.
The lack of concrete description of Mr Hyde & the further lack of medical description for Mr Hydes deformity, both of the body & the mind amplifies the fuel of the power of the supernatural over the natural. Jekylls science causes alot of destruction this could be representing the power it has to disrupt the status quo within Victorian society. Along side all of this there is a strong sense of fear among the characters.. the threat of a new world, madness, of new disorders, new science & new traditions, that traditional science & reason can’t deal with. Is Stevensons view answering these questions or asking them?
The narrator Mr Utterson is a very illuminating character & Stevenson uses this character very cleverly. Mr Utterson is narrating most of the story either through documents or directly. The focus with his character is is loyalty & his ability of overlooking misdemeanours and flaws of others. Stevenson hints at planting the question, How far can loyalty be tested? In the readers mind.
I strongly believe that Stevenson was calling out the higher aristocracy during the story’s time period & labelling society as well as individuals as hypocrites. The main focus of the story is dualism. Most of the higher society did present themselves as well refined & superficial but Stevenson was calling out all the hypocrisy & showing their dark side, which was of course there. Further more most of the dark events take place at night & in the poorer areas of Landon, these areas considered to house the more lower, evil & poorer side of society. By doing this Stevenson is still today showing class prejudices. I think it’s important to mention that Mr Hyde only ever uses the back door is this a metaphorical image which seems to show that evil lurks in higher society behind the facade of refinement. I also strongly believe that this isn’t a clean cut good vs evil story. There’s a lot more to it than that. Through Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Stevenson argues that the human condition is not two halves but of repression & dark urges.When those dark urges are let loose then are repressed it’s harder to hold them back, allowing the true dark nature of man to emerge. This is also a reflection on the other characters/society & raises the question of how highly moral they are & governed by reason. I can also see a strong religious theme.
There’s a strong sense of innocence to Stevensons characters but as they learn more about Jekyll’s experiment that innocence is tarnished. The themes of violence & innocent becomes complex & the characters must come to terms with the idea that evil isn’t an outside source but one that comes from within & is only faintly held back. I think it’s very interesting how femininity & innocence blur in this story. The qualities that women were constantly portrayed of having in this era (sensitive, delicate, innocent etc) weave into the male characters. One male character upon learning the truth about Dr Jekyll becomes gravely ill & does die. Is there a subtle question here about men having traits of femininity? Was the author challenging societies views on men & women a little bit?
For my reread of the Novella I read the illustrated version by Tina Berning & it was fabulous! The dark, gothic & mysterious illustrations really amplified this story. Berning embraced the indescribable Mr Hyde appearance brilliantly through illustration. The artist leaves enough room for the readers own imagination of Mr Hyde but also captured the disturbing & mysterious sentiment. One of my favourite things in this novella is the lack of physical description of Mr Hyde but there’s a slight description of the feelings, he invokes but there’s mysterious ambiguity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2017
Being mostly familiar with the musical "Jekyll and Hyde" (and of course the common knowledge), I was surprised at how short and simple the original tale was. Granted it's hard not to love any classic, but I did find it interesting that so much of Jekyll and Hyde knowledge has evolved and expanded from this telling. Still a good quick read.
November 10, 2025
This was a fun read! I didn't mean to read an adapted version, it's just the one I picked up at the thrift store. But it was still a good read. Someday I'll sit down and read the original story. However, I think this was only slightly changed.
I was thinking about what this story meant. Yin and Yang, perhaps. There are two wolves in us all. One good nature and one evil... But it doesn't really matter which one is good and which is bad, because the good will want to be the bad, and the bad will give up for good.
Or this is a story about alcoholism.
It got me thinking about how much I hate the acceptance of douchebags in the world. "Men" can be horrid creatures but it's fine because it's their nature. Who cares about being a gentleman when a dipshit is way more fun? And I'm not saying every single person needs to be good and pure. There are room for mistakes. But we've really raised generation after generation of males who see themselves as better than everyone else. Who see life with no consequences. Who stalk in the night, take what they want, and have no remorse.
I was also thinking about the appearance of Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll explains that the reason Mr. Hyde is so small and deformed might be from a lack of growth. That if the evil was given more time to grow than the good, things would be reversed. Possibly. I saw the depiction of Mr. Hyde on how society ought to view bad people. They should ugly, awful, and emit evil. They are small not because small = bad, but because they are below us. Anyone who does awful things is below me. I am not better than a saint, but I am better than scum.
There is something to be noted about the over-used depiction of bad/evil beings as gross, small, deformed things. This is fucked up. This is harmful towards the disabled community and groups of individuals with larger features, like how Mr. Hyde is shown with a big nose. It is antisemitic. Now, do I know the true intention of Stevenson's novel? No. I might be stretching. But you get the point.
Overall, this was a fun read. I really had a different idea of what this story was about, but I'm not disappointed.
I was thinking about what this story meant. Yin and Yang, perhaps. There are two wolves in us all. One good nature and one evil... But it doesn't really matter which one is good and which is bad, because the good will want to be the bad, and the bad will give up for good.
Or this is a story about alcoholism.
It got me thinking about how much I hate the acceptance of douchebags in the world. "Men" can be horrid creatures but it's fine because it's their nature. Who cares about being a gentleman when a dipshit is way more fun? And I'm not saying every single person needs to be good and pure. There are room for mistakes. But we've really raised generation after generation of males who see themselves as better than everyone else. Who see life with no consequences. Who stalk in the night, take what they want, and have no remorse.
I was also thinking about the appearance of Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll explains that the reason Mr. Hyde is so small and deformed might be from a lack of growth. That if the evil was given more time to grow than the good, things would be reversed. Possibly. I saw the depiction of Mr. Hyde on how society ought to view bad people. They should ugly, awful, and emit evil. They are small not because small = bad, but because they are below us. Anyone who does awful things is below me. I am not better than a saint, but I am better than scum.
There is something to be noted about the over-used depiction of bad/evil beings as gross, small, deformed things. This is fucked up. This is harmful towards the disabled community and groups of individuals with larger features, like how Mr. Hyde is shown with a big nose. It is antisemitic. Now, do I know the true intention of Stevenson's novel? No. I might be stretching. But you get the point.
Overall, this was a fun read. I really had a different idea of what this story was about, but I'm not disappointed.
December 5, 2022
For some reason this gave me strong Frankenstein meets The Picture of Dorian Gray vibes. I think I’d have enjoyed this more if I didn’t hear a plot like this a hundred times before. It was very predicable, which I’m sure at the time it was published wasn’t the case. I’d probably have eaten this up in the 1880s. I’m trying really hard to get behind classics, but few have been a hit for me. I feel bad for giving this such a low rating, because it is really popular and loved by many, and I’m sure many will think I’m underappreciating the story, but I have to stay true to my own thoughts about it in this day and age, regardless to what it meant for people back in the day (or even today). I just don’t care enough to dig deeper.
March 16, 2021
Pretty good story. It poses some interesting questions about the mind and whether we all have a "Mr. Hyde" that we have to keep suppressed to conform in the world. However, I did feel that already knowing how the story goes made it a little tedious to read. I spent the whole time just waiting for everyone to realize what seemed painfully obvious to me, but that's not really the fault of the book itself of course.
November 23, 2024
I got this book from my Literature teacher’s library and decided to read it due to my previous knowledge of the characters from the movie “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”. And honestly, it was great! This book was very fast paced and short, but so full of information and plot. I also didn’t get tripped up with it being a classic, for the language was very simple and easy to understand. Robert Louis Stevenson is an excellent author and I definitely recommend this book! 4 Stars.
January 16, 2024
I had never read this story before and it was on our bookshelf for the kids to read at some point. I grabbed it and read it in a couple of sittings. It is obviously quite compressed vs. the original, but now I have a gist of the storyline and that's all I was aiming for. Worth the read if you don't want to tackle the whole thing.
December 9, 2022
I liked the book, it is suspenseful and for me as a Christian, it illustrates how we cannot do anything apart from Christ, and how sinful our flesh can be. It is that self-indulgence, gratifying the desires of the flesh, that brings about destruction.
March 30, 2024
Every year I have reread this book and every time I have found something new that I did not realise. This book is a different version of what I have read. This time I was paying much more to the small details to enhance the experience of reading the book for the first time.
December 19, 2020
I still don't know how I feel about this one...
August 13, 2022
….what the fuck?
October 30, 2020
I've heard the story a hundred times but never read the actual book. It was great! Extremely quick read. Started and finished today.
October 10, 2014
*With any adaptation you lose so many of the things that make the original wonderful. I may be gentler in my review of this particular one as it has been a good four or five years since I last read Stevenson's classic.*
The last book that I read with my son was Jack London's White Fang. We read the original version rather than an adaptation for children and I think that the vocabulary was a bit meatier than he was used to. It took a while defining many of the words throughout and explaining what was going in the book. This was an easier read, much more suitable for his age. I don't think he is ready yet for the unabridged version of this story, but this adaptation was a good introduction to it, sticking to the plot and retaining some key passages/dialogue (from what I recall). For me it was a good refresher, making me want to revisit the original some time soon; and hopefully he will be interested in reading the original when he is ready for it. And with Halloween only weeks away, this was a very fitting/timely read.
Concluding this book, we had an interesting conversation about things such as good and evil, human nature and the ethics of science (albeit on a junior level). I hope that he enjoys the next story in our queue -- an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein -- as much as he did this one.
The last book that I read with my son was Jack London's White Fang. We read the original version rather than an adaptation for children and I think that the vocabulary was a bit meatier than he was used to. It took a while defining many of the words throughout and explaining what was going in the book. This was an easier read, much more suitable for his age. I don't think he is ready yet for the unabridged version of this story, but this adaptation was a good introduction to it, sticking to the plot and retaining some key passages/dialogue (from what I recall). For me it was a good refresher, making me want to revisit the original some time soon; and hopefully he will be interested in reading the original when he is ready for it. And with Halloween only weeks away, this was a very fitting/timely read.
Concluding this book, we had an interesting conversation about things such as good and evil, human nature and the ethics of science (albeit on a junior level). I hope that he enjoys the next story in our queue -- an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein -- as much as he did this one.
September 7, 2015
I am sure that the original complete version of this story is a lot better than this condensed one. It was interesting enough for me to read, start to finish in on go, but even 20 pages in, I felt that there was a lot of information missing. Having never read any version of Jekyll and Hyde, I'm glad that I started with this one though, because I have the interest to read a complete version. As for this book, it's a good starter version, that's about it.
The art to this book is mediocre also. Some characters look like others in pictures, and a lot of the proportions are off. On top of that, for some reason, there are pages that didn't seem to print with enough ink them, so paragraphs sometimes are lighter than other pages.
A quick read.
The art to this book is mediocre also. Some characters look like others in pictures, and a lot of the proportions are off. On top of that, for some reason, there are pages that didn't seem to print with enough ink them, so paragraphs sometimes are lighter than other pages.
A quick read.
March 30, 2020
A few years ago, I taught the original version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to my 9th graders. They enjoyed it, as did I. Make sure you click the link for my full review on the original.
But, I think the Bendon Junior Classic Abridged Version did a great job keeping the style but definitely “dumbing” it down. Putting it at a 5th grade reading level with 21st century American vernacular really made it a bit easier to follow. And, since it is a “murder mystery”, it makes it a bit easier for students to understand the timeline and who did what and why and when and how and their reasonsings behind everything.
But, I think the Bendon Junior Classic Abridged Version did a great job keeping the style but definitely “dumbing” it down. Putting it at a 5th grade reading level with 21st century American vernacular really made it a bit easier to follow. And, since it is a “murder mystery”, it makes it a bit easier for students to understand the timeline and who did what and why and when and how and their reasonsings behind everything.
November 12, 2021
Spooky season is over, but that doesn't mean you can't read a spooky story! The kid and I read the adapted version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It wasn't as good as the original, probably because we knew what would happen since the book is older and featured in many movies and media since its release. But it was still enjoyable and not *too* dark. The kid had fun doing a science experiment to recreate the mixture.
April 9, 2020
This publication is made for a younger audience of eyes. You can see the similar writing style from Treasure Island. It was slow going in the beginning but it picks up a bit. I'm hoping to find the "adult" publication version to see what was left out. Definitely a quick read.
Lots of pictures in this publication, which was nice because I miss that from childhood reading.
Lots of pictures in this publication, which was nice because I miss that from childhood reading.
December 13, 2020
I always was interested in mysteries from Nancy Drew to Detective crime stories as I grew. I have never read Sherlock Holmes or the Special Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but started a list of the classics. Found this book and thought it would be an interesting breakthrough to the classics and that it was. Well done and can’t wait to read the original and others.
October 5, 2025
A lot more spiritual tones throughout than I thought at first. A potion that separates our fleshly desires and our pure motives thus solving our seemingly dual and paradoxical nature. However, instead of becoming pure you have cart blanch and indulge in your own sinful desires. Interesting thoughts.
February 19, 2014
I really want to read the Real version now.
December 28, 2015
Read out loud with my 10 year old. Easy to follow and kept him intrigued the whole time. Great shortening of a classic.
October 1, 2021
Para ser una version mas corta que la historia original esta buen narrada, logra transmitir un poco la esencia de misterio e insertidumbre de la novela original, me gusto.
April 6, 2022
This was easy to read. Even knowing about this story, I still felt intrigued to continue and find out the details. To have questions answered.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews