George MacDonald was a Scottish author and minister best known for his fairy tales and fantasy novels. A theologian, MacDonald was pastor of Trinity Congregational Church in Arundel before moving to London to teach at the University of London. MacDonald s work influenced many fantasy writers including J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Madeleine L Engle; he is recognized as a mentor to Lewis Carroll and heavily influenced Carroll s decision to submit Alice s Adventures in Wonderland for publication. MacDonald was a prolific writer, and penned such fantasy classics as Phantastes, The Princess and the Goblin, and Lillith. George MacDonald died in 1905.
George MacDonald's 1870s' Sir Gibbie, about a destitute Scottish orphan, was reportedly a favorite of C.S. Lewis's. An edition of the novel, prepared by Kathryn Lindskoog, inaugurates a Classics for Young Readers series, while a companion, Sir Gibbie: A Guide for Teachers and Students by Ranelda Mack Hunsicker, is available for teachers, students and home-schoolers. In the Guide, Hunsicker contends that Sir Gibbie served as a source for Huckleberry Finn, although Mark Twain (a friend of MacDonald's) upended MacDonald's religious message. Noting that previous editions of Gibbie "cut out much of MacDonald's Christian teaching," Hunsicker adds that Lindskoog's goal was "to restore [the book] to its original Christ-centered plot."
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