The American Autobiography Trilogy contains the classic books The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Each book is reproduced in its entirety and includes Michael’s “language illustrations”—close-ups of poetic techniques, four-level analyses of interesting grammar, and comments about writing strategies. Challenging vocabulary is defined at the bottom of each page.

The special features in these editions are designed to support the book in a reader’s way, making it needless to stop reading and look something up in a reference book. They are meant to flow unobtrusively with the story, available as quick, elective glances for the enjoyment of young readers. They also help to demonstrate how profoundly formal language study benefits reading. Children will treasure these books for a lifetime.