Little Women·Penguin Hand Embroidery Classics·10th Anniversary Edition Author: Louisa May Alcott Publisher: Beijing United Publishing Company

Introduction · · · · · ·
Little Women is a classic masterpiece known to every household in the United States. The novel describes the life of the March family. There are four sisters in the March family. Although they are from a poor family, they live a simple and warm life. The four sisters have different personalities: the eldest sister Meg is beautiful and dignified. She was a little vain when she was young, but later she realized the true meaning of love and marriage and married a simple and honest tutor; the second sister Jo is free and independent, eager to become a writer, and is eager to take on the responsibility of the family. Later, she met her soul mate, Professor Bhaer; the third sister Beth is kind and shy, loves music, and she is frail and sick. She finally accepted her fate peacefully and passed away peacefully; the fourth sister Amy is smart and lively, loves art, and hopes to become a "lady" in the upper class. In the end, she married Laurie, a boy from the neighbor's house, and lived a happy life.

Whether it is Meg who is willing to live in poverty for love, Jo who becomes a writer through her own efforts, Beth who faces death calmly, or Amy who takes it as her responsibility to help the weak, they all face life bravely and tenaciously with their unique personalities. Although their ideals and destinies are different, they all have the common characteristic of self-reliance.

The plot of Little Women is simple, true and touching. Over the past 100 years since its publication, it has been adapted into films many times and translated into various languages, becoming a classic masterpiece in the world's literary treasure house. The various emotional experiences and life experiences described in the book have happened, are happening and will happen to every girl in her process of growing up; the qualities advocated in the book, such as kindness, loyalty, selflessness, generosity, dignity, tolerance, tenacity and courage, are also the good qualities that humans always respect and pursue. All of these give the book a vitality that transcends time and borders, which is why it has become an immortal classic.

【Editor's recommendation】

Penguin x "Unread·Literary Artist" presents one of the Penguin Hand Embroidery Classic Series (Penguin Threads), recreating the beauty of classic literature with complex craftsmanship

★ Penguin×"Unread·Artists" makes a great contribution: Penguin and Unread have joined hands to create the Chinese version of Penguin Hand Embroidery Classic Series. In October 2011, Penguin Random House published Penguin Hand Embroidery Classic Series (Penguin Threads), which selected six world classics "Emma", "Black Beauty", "The Wizard of Oz", "The Wind in the Willows", "The Secret Garden" and "Little Women", showing the beauty of literary masterpieces with special creativity and craftsmanship. Since then, this series has become a very unique and classic set of design books in Penguin cover art, which has swept the world and is a collection of readers and fans around the world.

★A touching family novel, a growth book for every young girl: Little Women is the first of the "25 must-have books for elementary school" designated by the American Education Association: it has been translated into more than 100 languages ​​and selected as one of the "world's best-selling books" by the Library of Congress. It has been adapted into the screen countless times, and Hollywood has to "update" it every 20 years. The family stories in the book are delicate and true, and the plot is fascinating. The various emotional experiences and life experiences described in the book have happened, are happening, and will happen in the process of every young girl's maturity. The little woman's pure and kind character and the spirit of courage to pursue dreams and happiness have touched countless readers who yearn for beauty. The beautiful humanity advocated in the book gives the book a vitality that transcends time and country, and it is also the charm and reason why this work has become an immortal classic.

★The binding is complex and exquisite, and it can be called an art collection: The cover design of each book is pure hand-embroidery by an embroidery artist. The entire cover, back cover, front and back cuffs are all covered with embroidery patterns, and the inside of the book cover also retains the thread ends and stitches left during the hand-embroidery process. The cover of the whole book adopts extremely precise printing technology, which retains the real embroidery style to the greatest extent, making the stitches and embroidery threads on each book look like handmade, exquisite and lifelike, and of great artistic value.

★Nostalgic rough-edged books, can be framed independently: The book edges of the whole set of books are kept with cutting rough edges, which echoes the handmade craftsmanship of the cover and retains the exquisite and simple texture similar to that of a handmade book. The Chinese version cover has a cutting line on the bottom edge, and the waist seal can be torn off and the outer cover can be collected as an independent artwork.

★Selected famous translations, re-edited: This book is translated by Mr. Wang Zhiguang, a famous translator and professor of the School of Foreign Languages ​​of Zhejiang University. The authoritative translation has been tested by the market. This carefully revised version has a beautiful style, vivid language, and sincere emotions.

★Parent-child reading: reject dry preaching chicken soup, and enrich children's reading time with the warm growth stories of the four March sisters. It is subtle and entertaining, so that children can understand how to get along with their family, learn to take responsibility, and be independent and brave.