History Main / AbridgedForChildren

* Most versions of classic {{Fairy Tale}}s such as ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite'' tend to [[HappilyEverBefore leave out the endings]], such as when the Prince's mother is actually an ogress who wants to eat her grandchildren. One of the main goals of Creator/TheBrothersGrimm when collection fairy tales from the folk actually was to make them more family friendly. Their first and most popular collection is called ''Children's and Household Tales'' for a reason. Most people probably remember the kid-friendly versions of the Grimms over the original fairy tales.

A piece of literature is abridged in content and length so that it is suitable for kids. Interestingly, this is often not objectionable material such as violence, but more things like [[PurpleProse excess description]], [[RomanticPlotTumor sappy romance]], or [[AuthorTract long]] [[CharacterFilibuster monologues]], as these things are considered less likely to be palatable to a child's attention span. Usually the essential part of the story structure is still maintained. Note that this doesn't necessarily exonerate them - Creator/RayBradbury ranted extensively in the coda of ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' about how abridging great works of literature was just as bad as burning them.

* Most versions of classic {{Fairy Tale}}s such as ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite'' tend to [[HappilyEverBefore leave out the endings]], such as when the Prince's mother is actually an ogress who wants to eat her grandchildren.

[[caption-width-right:349:Just wait until he gets to the part about what [[CruelAndUnusualDeath happens to him]] in the Four Gospels...]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* School productions of ''Theatre/AvenueQ'' are required to remove many of the adult moments of the play. For example, Trekkie Monster is now a social media addict rather than obsessed with pornography, and, as such, "The Internet Is For Porn" is replaced with a new number.

Compare with {{Bowdlerized}}, which is abridged for possibly offensive material. See also {{Disneyfication}}. Not to be confused with TheAbridgedSeries.

* This is the in-story reason Mr. Goldman abridged ''Literature/ThePrincessBride''. He wanted his kids to enjoy it, and there was far too much boring stuff. However, he did leave in all the torture and death (though he ''does'' warn us about what's coming at one point, telling us that this isn't ''Curious George Uses the Potty''). Mr. Goldman's (in-story) father's Good Parts abridgment fits the trope more accurately. He tried to leave out the scary parts until he was called on it.

[[folder: Theater]]

Compare with {{Bowdlerized}}, which is abridged for possibly offensive material. See also {{Disneyfication}} and [[Main/AdaptationForChildPerformers Adaptations for Child Performers]]. Not to be confused with TheAbridgedSeries.

** Creator/RickRiordan wrote two companions to Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries which tell abridged versions of ancient Greek myths -- ''Percy Jackson's Greek Gods'' and ''Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'', which are the old stories as narrirated by his character [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson]] in all his sarcastic glory.

* Hal Leonard offers junior versions of dozens of musicals (including ''Theatre/{{Aladdin}}'', ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'', and ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical''), which have been edited to bring the running time down to an hour (and sometimes for content), and have been rearranged in keys appropriate for younger voices. The offer kids versions of some shows, which have been edited to bring the running time down to half an hour.

* Hal Leonard offers junior versions of dozens of musicals (including ''Theatre/{{Aladdin}}'', ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'', and ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical''), which have been edited to bring the running time down to an hour (and sometimes for content), and have been rearranged in keys appropriate for younger voices.

* Hal Leonard offers junior versions of dozens of musicals (including ''Theatre/Aladdin'', ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'', and ''Theatre/ShrekTheMusical''), which have been edited to bring the running time down to an hour (and sometimes for content), and have been rearranged in keys appropriate for younger voices.

* Likewise, Myth/ClassicalMythology has a tendency to have a lot of these. For example, a lot of the male lovers of heroes and gods (like Ganymede and Patroclus), kidnapping/rape of children (ever wonder ''why'' Oedipus's father had such a terrible fate?), and certain horrifying fates (Oedipus) are just plain omitted.

* School productions of ''Theatre/Avenue Q'' are required to remove many of the adult moments of the play. For example, Trekkie Monster is now a social media addict rather than obsessed with pornography, and, as such, "The Internet Is For Porn" is replaced with a new number.

** Creator/RickRiordan wrote two companions to Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries which tell abridged versions of ancient Greek myths -- ''Percy Jackson's Greek Gods'' and ''Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes'' which are the old stories as narrirated by his character [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson]] in all his sarcastic glory.

** In Germany, Gustav Schwab (probable first-contact for kids and mythology) is guilty as Hades of this trope. Not because of omission of ticklish material, but rather because of turning the GreyAndGrayMorality prevalent in all mythology into a fairytale BlackAndWhiteMorality. Hooboy, did he smear [[Literature/{{Mahabharata}} Karna]] and whitewash [[Myth/CelticMythology Cu Chulainn.]] If you "learnt" mythology with Schwab and reread the originals as an adult, you're in for some surprises.

* Most versions of classic FairyTales such as ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' and ''Literature/SnowWhite'' tend to [[HappilyEverBefore leave out the endings]], such as when the Prince's mother is actually an ogress who wants to eat her grandchildren.

-->--''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''

* Abridged versions of the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books were released ahead of the debut of the [[Film/TheWizardOfOz 1939 MGM film]]. Though they were already children’s books, they were simplified even further.

* Literature/TheBible often gets this treatment, with many different editions of brightly illustrated "Favorite Bible Stories for Children." Such books tend to leave out the complicated theological passages, the arcane details of the Laws of Moses, and the FamilyUnfriendlyViolence and sex such as can be found (for instance) in the Literature/BookOfJudges. Interestingly they do usually retain a few violent episodes, such as Daniel in the Lions' Den, [[DavidVsGoliath David killing Goliath]], and of course the [[CrucifiedHeroShot Crucifixion]] of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}.