Moby Dick

Usborne Classics Retold

by Henry Brook (Adaptor), Bob Harvey (Illustrator), Herman Melville

Captain Ahab takes his crew on a mission to find Moby Dick, the great white whale that crippled him, in this retelling of Melville's sea story.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 26, 2007

Reviews

[Rachel Bridgeman]

Today, myself and my 8 year old daughter, Elizabeth, embarked upon a marathon 50 page march to the end of Moby Dick, so desperate was she to watch the film starring Patrick Stewart (yes I am aware the Gregory Peck one is superior but I cannot watch it since we found out real whales were hunted for the footage). A notoriously fickle reader of fiction but devourer of non fiction we thought this would tick all her boxes and get her reading outside her comfort zone.
At 160 pages (including a chapter on Herman Melville) this is not re written in a patronising tone but in a manner that retains enough of the source material but in a way that is accessible to a precocious 8 year old reading years above her age. She absolutely devoured the story, it was an invaluable piece of 'me time' , very difficult to achieve with 4 daughters, and was fascinated by the story, the madness of the adventure and Herman Melville's lack of success with what is now considered' The best work of prose ' according to this edition.
More challenging than just reading an abridged Puffin or Ladybird version, it challenges a reader to the halfway mark and should push them to the source material she writes hopefully). Very impressed by this we ordered Jason and the Argonauts from the3 same series.
Only criticism, the end is very abrupt and could have been fleshed out a bit.

[Robert C.]

I thought this book was exciting and adventurous. Its amazing how captain Ahab is determined to kill the whale that maimed him and is rude to all the other ships out there that try to be hospitable to everyone.
This was the best classic I have ever read in my life.

[Erin the Avid Reader ⚜BFF's with the Cheshire Cat⚜]

This is a good book to read to get an idea of what Moby Dick is really about. I read this before I started reading the original. Very good book! I would recommend this to a lot of people.

[Helen]

A long read but worth it

[Prakash Hegade]

A thrilling read! No wonder a classic. This retold version now wants me read the original.

[Nancy Lilly F]

A great way to get the abbreviated theme of the novel.

[Cathy]

A well written, easy-to-read adaptation of the original book, which I can't wait to devour! 🐳 This text is intended for younger readers but I really enjoyed it! 😊

[Addie]

Overall a good book, I wish that it had been longer

[Srikanth Sreedharan]

Excellent retelling. Worth a read, if, like me, you find the original too boring and long-winded! The story is told while preserving the essence of Melville's original work.

[Jules Degenaar]

Love the pictures , great intro to the story for a you ger audience

[hwwa]

this book was very boring and I wasn't enjoying it at all while reading it. the writing wasn't proper as there weren't any descriptions. And I gave it 3 stars only for the reason this is considered a classic.

[Andrewmurray]

The Retold story of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. This book was a very interesting story of adventure, action, and revenge. Ishmael the main Character is signed up to go on trip of his lifetime as he embarks on a Whaling Ship the Pequod under vengeful Captain Ahab. As they travel in search for the beast that robbed Captain Ahab. Sending Ishmael to be traveling to the other side of the world. This is a book that i recommend people to read, it is interesting, and a good entertaining read with action and adventure.

[Alex Owens]

hey u should read this book Moby dick is a great book it has this guy called captain ahab who trys to seek revange against the great white whale

[Jamie]

The most tedious book I've ever read. I never thought I'd finish.

[Jehan]

It's slightly too advanced for my just turned 6 year old son, plus we took long breaks between chapters, making continuity difficult. Will re-shelve this classic and try again in a year or two.