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Cozy Classics
Cozy Classics: Great Expectations
Cuddle up with a classic! In twelve needle-felted scenes and twelve child-friendly words, each book in this ingenious series captures the essence of a literary masterpiece. Simple words, sturdy pages, and a beloved story make these books the perfect vehicle for early learning with an erudite twist. Budding bookworms will delight in this clever retelling of the classics made just for them!
Charles Dickens' Great Expectations introduces the orphan boy Pip, a very pretty young lady, and Pip's exciting adventures in the city. It's a first words primer for your literary little one!
The Cozy Classics series is the brainchild of two brothers, both dads, who were thinking of ways to teach words to their very young children. They hit upon the classics as the basis for their infant primers, and the rest, as they say, is history. From Moby Dick to Pride and Prejudice, here are The Great Books of Western Literature for toddlers and their parents in board book form-mdash;a little bit serious, a little bit ironic, entirely funny and clever, and always a welcome gift.
Charles Dickens' Great Expectations introduces the orphan boy Pip, a very pretty young lady, and Pip's exciting adventures in the city. It's a first words primer for your literary little one!
The Cozy Classics series is the brainchild of two brothers, both dads, who were thinking of ways to teach words to their very young children. They hit upon the classics as the basis for their infant primers, and the rest, as they say, is history. From Moby Dick to Pride and Prejudice, here are The Great Books of Western Literature for toddlers and their parents in board book form-mdash;a little bit serious, a little bit ironic, entirely funny and clever, and always a welcome gift.
24 pages, Board Book
First published February 23, 2016
1 person is currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Jack Wang
19 books45 followersWE TWO ALONE: STORIES
* Winner of the Danuta Gleed Literary Award from the Writers' Union of Canada for best debut collection in English
* Shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
* CBC Books Best Canadian Fiction of 2020
* Quill and Quire 2020 Books of the Year
* 49th Shelf 2020 Fiction: Books of the Year
JACK WANG ’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Journey Prize. In 2014–15, he held the David T. K. Wong Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, and in 2020, he was awarded a residency at Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver. He holds a BSc from the University of Toronto, an MFA from the University of Arizona, and a PhD from Florida State University, and he is an associate professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College. Originally from Vancouver, he lives in Ithaca, New York, with his wife, novelist Angelina Mirabella, and their two daughters.
* Winner of the Danuta Gleed Literary Award from the Writers' Union of Canada for best debut collection in English
* Shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
* CBC Books Best Canadian Fiction of 2020
* Quill and Quire 2020 Books of the Year
* 49th Shelf 2020 Fiction: Books of the Year
JACK WANG ’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and longlisted for the Journey Prize. In 2014–15, he held the David T. K. Wong Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, and in 2020, he was awarded a residency at Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver. He holds a BSc from the University of Toronto, an MFA from the University of Arizona, and a PhD from Florida State University, and he is an associate professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College. Originally from Vancouver, he lives in Ithaca, New York, with his wife, novelist Angelina Mirabella, and their two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 15, 2017
Board book classics! Fantastic idea!
August 5, 2016
How can board books even come close to teaching children about classic books like Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice? The answer is they don’t, but that’s not the point of the Cozy Classics series, which includes those two titles as well as Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
The collection is written and illustrated with doll-like hand-felted figures by two brothers who hit upon the concept while searching for a way to teach their young children new words. Each two-page layout features a single word for parents to teach their infants. For instance, Great Expectations boils down to boy, help, old, pretty, cry, money, and a few others. Parents familiar with the story can explain more or not, as they gauge their children’s interest.
I could see, say, a parent reading the word “friends” from the first page of Pride & Prejudice, which shows two men, and creating a story for the child that mirrors the classic by saying, “two friends came to stay in a grand house in the English countryside.”
Infants and children will appreciate lap time with mom and dad as they learn new words. Parents can enjoy thinking about their favorite pieces of classic literature in a new light. It’s all fun. And the popularity of the series means that many more titles are on the way to publication.
The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The collection is written and illustrated with doll-like hand-felted figures by two brothers who hit upon the concept while searching for a way to teach their young children new words. Each two-page layout features a single word for parents to teach their infants. For instance, Great Expectations boils down to boy, help, old, pretty, cry, money, and a few others. Parents familiar with the story can explain more or not, as they gauge their children’s interest.
I could see, say, a parent reading the word “friends” from the first page of Pride & Prejudice, which shows two men, and creating a story for the child that mirrors the classic by saying, “two friends came to stay in a grand house in the English countryside.”
Infants and children will appreciate lap time with mom and dad as they learn new words. Parents can enjoy thinking about their favorite pieces of classic literature in a new light. It’s all fun. And the popularity of the series means that many more titles are on the way to publication.
The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 30, 2020
Cozy Classics takes adult classics and abridges them into word primers. Each of the 12 single words is paired with a full-color photo of charming felt figures and details depicting a scene from the book.
boy - help - old - pretty - cry - money - city - manners - me - sorry - fire - garden
I loved the incredible detailed interiors created in this book: Miss Haversham's dress and veil, the miniature lamps, bottles, clocks, books, tea set, dishes and food items.
Perfect for introducing words, books and beloved classics to very young children.
boy - help - old - pretty - cry - money - city - manners - me - sorry - fire - garden
I loved the incredible detailed interiors created in this book: Miss Haversham's dress and veil, the miniature lamps, bottles, clocks, books, tea set, dishes and food items.
Perfect for introducing words, books and beloved classics to very young children.
December 26, 2025
Each scene is a detailed art piece. Coincidentally, not being familiar with the original, this left me intrigued…and somewhat confused.
July 3, 2019
Having never read the actual book, I had a difficult time following this story. Perhaps more than 12 words would have helped this one? But I can't complain, because I still got to see those adorable felt figures, and didn't have to waste my time reading the original book!
September 26, 2017
I’m surprised to say that I liked this one, because I haven’t liked Cozy Classics in the past. My favorite aspect was that the words described the images and were concepts that children could grasp.
June 21, 2018
I haven’t read Great Expectations, but this 12 word board book made me want to!
August 11, 2018
These books make me want to read the original.
July 6, 2021
Me: uh...is this for readers, kids, crafters or well...anyone.
Alex: what happened?
Owen: I don't know!
Alex: what happened?
Owen: I don't know!
January 18, 2026
Hard to say how to rate it! 🤣 Such a strange read when you don’t know the story. The scene with the fire is very dramatic.
November 30, 2018
Concept/classic, published in 2016
This is an adorable one word per page book that summarizes a classic story. This would be great for little kids to read along side their parents who are reading the original story. I would love to have this book in my reading corner for kids to quickly look through and practice their reading really early on
This is an adorable one word per page book that summarizes a classic story. This would be great for little kids to read along side their parents who are reading the original story. I would love to have this book in my reading corner for kids to quickly look through and practice their reading really early on
August 22, 2016
An almost irresistible version of the classic story from Charles Dickens features 12 easy words and 12 needle-felted scenes that are pivotal to the tale. I have no idea how the author selected the words that appear here or how that felt comes to life in such an astonishing manner, but this book is delightful for its intended purposes. Little ones can have their interest in great stories awakened through this simplified version of the classic while older ones may be reminded of how much they enjoyed reading it the first time around. The depiction of Miss Havisham with her wedding regalia is absolutely incredible.
March 16, 2016
Wow. Just, wow. Who in the world thought that this book in this format was a good idea? There are so many other great, classic novels which could be made into fantastic board books (and have been made as such in this Cozy Classics series) but this is NOT one of those novels. Any board book for young children that shows an old lady catching fire is a no-win for me. Epic fail!
April 14, 2016
Not at all what I was expecting. This is a board book with just 12 words. Each page has just one word and an accompanying picture. My recollection of this story is quite vague so it would be hard pressed to try to tell the story based on these words and pictures. The felt dolls in the photos are beautifully done. Review copy received.
April 3, 2021
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
May 17, 2020
Wanted more plot. Too abridged.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews