A Tale of Two Cities

by Mary Sebag-Montefiore (Adaptor), Barry Ablett (Illustrator), Charles Dickens (Original author)

It was the best of times ."These lines were spoken just before the bloody revolution in France. Watch the drama unfold through the eyes of the characters in this book.

Genres: Childrens, British Literature, Classics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2009

About the author

Mary Sebag-Montefiore is an author of children's books and often adapts adult classics for children. She has rewritten everything from David Copperfield, Wuthering Heights and War and Peace. She is associated with Usborne.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Let me just say, this is probably the most depressing books I have read and anyone would come across in the Usborne Young Reading series. Even though the ending was predictable I thorougly enjoyed it. The ending to it was good but terribly sad. I can see why this is one of Charles Dickens most powerful and famous novels. I imagine the book is pretty true to the original tale and the illustrations give the story the credit it needs to be engaging and powerful, with an impact. I quite liked the choice of wording where there were more complicated words, including one of which (unanimous) I had to look up. I would definitely read it again and I think this even deserves a place on my shelf if not the original tale. A must read for classic lovers or Dickens Worshippers

[Joanna Hendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good but at the end it was kinda sad and also Kinda like creepy but it is really good it was a really short book and it was only 60 pages I read it in two days it was really good👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍😃😃

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellie loves this book!.. We have read it many times..krb 2/13/16

Read again for CC2 wk 11 and 12..krb 1/23/17

[Sunni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this quick retelling of a classic. I admit, I have never read the original, nor have I seen any movie version, but I have read other tales in this series and found that it was a true retelling of the original story. Very glad I read it!!

[Yolanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite it’s gore and horror, the school kids absolutely love this!

[Dancingsocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great version.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fair retelling of a classic story of a brutal time. Usborne does a pretty good job recapping stories for younger readers. The goal is to get younger readers familiar with classic tales, so that as they mature they will be drawn to read the original for themselves.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tale of Two Cities is a little bit sad because someone gets killed. His brother's going to die, so he disguises in his brother's clothes and he becomes the one that dies so he can save his brothers life because he has a wife and a child.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very good book.