Although there are beautiful new collections of illustrated Dickens and Shakespeare for children, Austen seems to have been overlooked. Our girls loved this Usborne compendium with its illustrations and easy to read versions of the stories - it's available secondhand, and definitely highly recommended! I'm a big fan of familiarising children with the classics so that they have the basics of the stories well under their belts in preparation for being able to more easily access the original versions. Understanding the complex language of Austen, Dickens, or Shakespeare is so much easier when you already know what is going to happen in the book! Abridged classics make these staples of literature accessible to our kids, give them a sense that reading these authors is attainable, and grow their confidence ready for if they choose to pick up the real deal. And, for those children who never do, it leaves them with a library of classics in their heads, even if they don't tackle the original versions in their teeens or adult life - it's win, win.