I'll admit it. I begged TOS to let me do this review. My children have recently taken to reading comic-type books. This classic-loving mom would cringe at each purchase except that we seemed to have a newfound love for reading. I haven't seen them go through 10-20 books a week since the times of regularly reading picture books. This isn't to say they don't like to have good literature read to them, but they generally shy away from reading classic novels to themselves.

This book was an answer to my unspoken prayer--a classic yet a comic-look. It is clearly shorter than the original. In fact, my ten-year-old son said after completing the book in less than an hour, "I will admit that the book Kidnapped impressed me more than I expected." Moreover, he added: "This book has made me hungry for the original. In the same way a book with a sequel grabs you, you just can't wait to get the next one. I'm ready for the original since it will be more thorough." I don't think I could say it any better, so I just quietly hand him the original now.

The other graphic classics available from Barron's:

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Oliver Twist
• Treasure Island
• Dracula
• The Man in the Iron Mask
• Moby Dick

Product review by Stephanie D. Scarborough, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2007