A Swift Read!

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Gulliver's Travels, you are in for a treat. The story tells of Gulliver, a sailor who is shipwrecked on an island in which things are drastically different. He meets a race of little people named Lilliputians who marvel at his size, a race of horses who are dominant over humans and have them trained as beasts of burden, and two other wacky societies that hold him at arms length.

While this novel, on the surface, is elementary enough for younger children, the underlying messages contained within are fascinating. Swift, who was a self-proclaimed misanthrope, wrote Gulliver's Travels as a satire of the human condition. In fact, when Gulliver meets the civilized horses, he is eager to become a member of their society as he finds them much more intellectually stimulating and refined than members of the human race.

This novel is a rare treat and should be praised. You can even read this one to your children while you are delving into its deeper meanings.