A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys

A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys is a collection of children's stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and first published in 1851. The book retells several famous myths from ancient Greece in a style designed for younger readers.

The stories are presented by a young narrator who tells the myths to a group of children. Hawthorne adapts tales such as the adventures of Perseus, the story of King Midas, and the legend of Pandora, giving them a lively and accessible tone.

Rather than simply reproducing the classical myths, Hawthorne reshapes them with moral lessons, imaginative details, and a strong sense of wonder. The collection includes stories of magical creatures, heroic quests, dangerous challenges, and extraordinary transformations.

Through these retellings, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys introduces young readers to the mythology of ancient Greece while emphasizing courage, curiosity, kindness, and the consequences of human choices.

"BENEATH the porch of the country-seat called Tanglewood, one fine autumnal morning, was assembled a merry party of little folks, with a tall youth in the midst of them. They had planned a nutting expedition, and were impatiently waiting for the mists to roll up the hill-slopes, and for the sun to pour the warmth of the Indian summer over the fields and pastures, and into the nooks of the many-colored woods."