Gulliver's Travels (Core Classics Series);

Stories loved for generations come to life for today's young readers in the Core ClassicsTM series. Faithful to the style, plot, and themes of the originals, Core Classics are designed for use as classroom editions of the literary works listed in the Core Knowledge Sequence. They include introductions by E. D. Hirsch Jr., editor of the Core Knowledge© Series (What Your Kindergartner - Sixth Grader Needs to Know). The Core Classics are generally considered suitable for fourth and fifth grade students. The texts are illustrated, annotated, and include a brief biography of the author. From the Introduction When Gulliver's Travels was written nearly 300 years ago, European explorers were making maps of all the world. But the Pacific Ocean, where some of the story takes place, was a mystery. Some geographers thought there must be an undiscovered continent somewhere in its lonely reaches. Explorers and sailors who came back from the Pacific wrote vivid tales of their voyages and claimed to have seen strange cultures and fantastic animals, such as unicorns, griffins and giant eagles. Jonathan Swift presented his book's hero, Gulliver, as such a traveler.