–Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OHĬopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. The lack of introductory material and historical background is noticeable but overall this is a fine retelling. 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. Many attractive full-page watercolor and pastel paintings illustrate important action-filled scenes–battles, a banquet, and Beowulf's funeral pyre. 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. 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 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.
Grade 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.
0 kommentar(er)
