About CBE
All books in our Classic Bestsellers Easy Edition series are based on classic works of world literature written by some of the greatest authors from many different countries. They tell the stories of unforgettable people and fates and address universally relevant themes.
It’s no wonder the original works became bestsellers, i.e., books that have been read by millions of people and translated into many languages over the years.
Who hasn’t heard of authors like Goethe, Charles Dickens, Kafka, Jane Austen, Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, and Tolstoy? What about the titles Anne of Green Gables, Black Beauty, and Effi Briest? Fortunately, the original works are still sold and loved today.
However, not everyone who could enjoy these books finds them easy to access.
Classic Bestseller Easy aims to bridge the gap between the often difficult-to-access original works and overly simplified, too-short adaptations.
The idea
The idea of adapting classic bestsellers came from experience working in foreign language teaching, with young people aged 13 and above, and with adults who have limited reading experience.
Many of these students wanted to read internationally famous classics, but they were discouraged by the books’ length and often archaic, complicated language.
Have you, your children, students, or acquaintances ever felt this way?
Would you like to discover timeless works of world literature whose themes, questions, and characters remain relevant today? Would you like to broaden your general knowledge and learn firsthand about the people, history, and societies of other countries and eras? Do you want to empathize with famous protagonists and understand them better than you ever could by watching a movie?
Contents
In our classic bestsellers, you will find adventure, humor, serious stories, and tragic stories, with love often playing a major role, either positively or negatively. After all, these books reflect the full spectrum of human life.
You will not only find exciting entertainment, but also learn about past times, other countries and cultures, and personal destinies that no one can remain indifferent to.
Some CBE books contain content that is “politically incorrect” by today’s standards. They may cover topics such as the treatment of women, servants, or slaves; racial prejudice; and political and religious beliefs that we would consider “outdated” today.
These passages have been retained – sometimes in a slightly toned-down form – because we do not want to alter the authors’ original message or the spirit of the times.
We don’t believe readers need to be shielded from certain statements. In fact, reading and understanding excellent books can empower people by stimulating discussion, changing perspectives, and fostering empathy.
While reading, we often ask ourselves: What would I have done in this situation under these circumstances? Despite all the differences, are there any parallels to the present day? To my own life?
Method
CBE’s goal is to enable even less-informed and less-experienced readers to enjoy the best and most interesting books of all time.
Therefore, we carefully abridge, simplify, and modernize the original texts. There are no footnotes or glossaries; brief historical background information is integrated into the text where necessary.
Some older novels contain a great deal of description and commentary but hardly any dialogue. In such cases, we convert the relevant content into interesting, easy-to-read dialogue.
To avoid overwhelming or boring today’s readers, we occasionally omit minor characters and subplots from very long and complex books.
However, unlike other literary adaptations or film versions, we never change the main plot, characters’ names, or story ending.
If the author intended a tragic fate for the hero or if the original work’s love story doesn’t have a happy ending, we leave it that way. Sometimes, when reading our books, you may notice that the film adaptations have little in common with them.
We also strive to keep the original style recognizable. Generally, the older the text, the more it is adapted to modern language usage. Texts that are more modern, with less complex sentence structures, are therefore changed less.
In short, we respect the plot, characters, and message of the original text. We want the authors of classic bestsellers to be proud that our adaptations make their masterpieces accessible to a wider audience.
Students and young people
Most CBE books are suitable for independent reading by young people aged 12 or 13 and older.
However, many are also ideal for classroom reading.
Ten Famous Stories from English-Language Literature contains moving stories by Jack London, Katherine Mansfield, Oscar Wilde, and other renowned authors that encourage interpretation and discussion.
Five Famous Novellas of German Literature introduces young readers to important authors, works, and themes of the transition to modernism. It presents texts by Kafka, Goethe and others.
Older students interested in social and political issues may enjoy Home and World by Indian Nobel Prize winner Tagore or Reeds and Mud by Spanish realist Blasco Ibáñez.
For younger students, we recommend works such as Black Beauty, Nils Holgersson, and Maya the Bee, which are enjoyable to read and, at the same time, more profound than their respective television series.
We always focus on ensuring that students enjoy reading and develop a love of good books, without having to struggle with outdated vocabulary or highly complex sentence structures.
Take a look at the PDF samples of our texts to see which books might be suitable for your students.
Feel free to contact us for tips on using literature in the classroom. Teachers and lecturers may request additional sample pages or short stories to use in class.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Foreign Language Learning
You can also improve your foreign language skills in a fun way by reading CBE books.
Unlike conventional textbooks, these books contain longer texts with interesting characters you can follow on their journeys and whose fates will touch your heart.
As you turn the pages, you will practice vocabulary, spelling, and grammar without even realizing it.
But that’s not all. CBE books include realistic dialogues that strengthen your language intuition and communication abilities.
Our monolingual books are intended for intermediate-level learners and above. However, with the help of a dictionary or a teacher, they can be used at an earlier stage.
The bilingual editions are particularly interesting and convenient for language learners. They eliminate the need for a dictionary, save time, and ensure that the text is understood correctly.
Translations are done by native speakers with excellent reading skills in several languages.
Our goal is to translate the adapted original text into the target language so that the translation and original have the same effect. To enable comparisons between languages, we alter the linguistic structure of the original text relatively little. Of course, there are no word-for-word translations in our books. Idioms and phrases are adapted as needed so that the text sounds natural in the target language.
We generally use modern, colloquial words and sentence structures. However, we occasionally deviate from this approach to approximate the literary original.
We use standard German for the German texts, which may be colloquial in dialogues. Any dialect words are usually adapted to standard German.
Spanish texts use the Spanish of the Iberian Peninsula, except for dialogue involving Latin American speakers.
We use American English for English texts, except for dialogue by non-U.S. Americans.
None of the texts contains outdated or “elitist” words, and only the most necessary technical terms are used. Moderate swear words are rare in dialogue, and truly vulgar expressions are never used.
In other words, anything you read in CBE books can be used in any situation without embarrassing you.
Feel free to contact us if you would like tips on using the texts in class or as reading material.
Our goal
All books in our series are well-suited for young people aged 13 and up, as well as adults with limited reading experience in their native languages. However, they are also enjoyed by average readers who prefer to enjoy a classic bestseller with less effort.
Intermediate-level language learners and above can read the books in the foreign language, and beginners can benefit from the bilingual versions.
An added benefit is that reading skills and vocabulary in the native or foreign language expand.
Most importantly, though, all our readers enjoy the books. Many language learners and less experienced readers are proud to read true classics and bestsellers.
Parents and teachers have long known that enjoying reading leads to more reading, thus creating a positive cycle.
CBE wants to contribute to this.
Based on our positive experiences, we have decided to publish an affordable series of printed and e-books containing adapted classic bestsellers.
We believe that these books – and of course the original works on which they are based – are so excellent that as many people as possible should discover them.
The work will continue, and so will the fun. In addition to the books already available, more are in the works. Check back on this website from time to time to learn about new releases!.
Can you think of a book you’d like to read in a shorter, simpler, more modern version? Feel free to send us your suggestions. Please note that CBE can only adapt works that are already in the public domain.
We welcome your questions and suggestions!
Book collection
We want to focus on offering the best books at affordable prices and practically everywhere.
That's why we use Amazon's service. A link on each book takes you directly to the corresponding page.
That's why we use Amazon's service. A link on each book takes you directly to the corresponding page.