Beowulf

by Michael Morpurgo, Michael Foreman (Illustrator)

Overview

“Will fire imaginations and elicit the heart-pumping, wide-eyed response that has kept this tale alive and vigorous through the ages.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Long ago a Scandinavian warrior fought three evils so powerful they threatened whole kingdoms. Standing head and shoulders above his comrades, Beowulf single-handedly saved the land of the Danes from a merciless ogre named Grendel and from his sea-hag mother. But it is his third terrible battle, with the death-dragon of the deep, in which he truly meets his match. Lovers of heroes, monsters, and the drama of battle will find this retelling as enthralling as it is tragic. Now in a handy black-and-white digest edition perfect for classroom use.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763672973
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/10/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	259,979
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	NC1180L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael Morpurgo, a recent British Children's Laureate, is the author of more than ninety books. He has been awarded the Smarties Book Prize, the Writers' Guild Award, and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. He lives in Devon, England.

Michael Foreman has written and illustrated numerous children's books and won several major awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal twice. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up-Morpurgo retells the classic story of the courageous young warrior from the land of Geats (now southern Sweden) who used his brute strength to save the neighboring Danes, then his own kinsmen, by slaying two horrible monsters, a sea serpent, and a massive dragon. The tale has been divided into three segments: the story of the monster Grendel's defeat; the slaying of his mother, the sea-hag; and the battle with the death dragon of the deep. Morpurgo has retold the tale in twisting, long-winded sentences that call to mind the way in which old epics were recounted by poets and bards. The text-filled pages framed with a Celtic-style border are broken up with small watercolor illustrations tucked here and there to help move things along. Many attractive full-page watercolor and pastel paintings illustrate important action-filled scenes-battles, a banquet, and Beowulf's funeral pyre. Morpurgo's short acknowledgment states that his inspiration for this version of the Old English classic came from the likes of Seamus Heaney, Rosemary Sutcliffe, and Kevin Crossley-Holland. The lack of introductory material and historical background is noticeable but overall this is a fine retelling.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

"Hear, and listen well, my friends, and I will tell you a tale that has been told for a thousand years and more." It's not exactly a rarely told tale, either, though this complete rendition is distinguished by both handsome packaging and a prose narrative that artfully mixes alliterative language reminiscent of the original, with currently topical references to, for instance, Grendel's "endless terror raids," and the "holocaust at Heorot." Along with being printed on heavy stock and surrounded by braided borders, the text is paired to colorful scenes featuring a small human warrior squaring off with a succession of grimacing but not very frightening monsters in battles marked by but a few discreet splashes of blood. Morpurgo puts his finger on the story's enduring appeal-"we still fear the evil that stalks out there in the darkness . . . "-but offers a version unlikely to trouble the sleep of more sensitive readers or listeners. (Fiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews