Beowulf: A Verse Adaptation With Young Readers In Mind

This adaptation of the Beowulf epic, written for a younger audience, preserves the Anglo-Saxon verse feel of the original text. Illustrations by Sean Yates enhance the reader's experience. "Joshua Gray's poetic re-telling of the Beowulf epic as a tale for children gets to the essence of the action with a use of modern English which is accessible and clear for young minds, listening while busily building their own image-worlds... I have the sense that this new text may well encourage very young listeners, years later (after their bedtime stories are a distant memory), to recall this tale with pleasure and to discover a vibrant curiosity to know more about the doings of Hrothgar, Grendel and Beowulf." -- Benjamin Bagby, Performer of Beowulf "Gray captures both the fearsomeness of the poem's monsters and the artful alliteration of its Anglo-Saxon origins...Hook the kids with this version, and hope that they will return to the longer poem in later years." -- Tod Linafelt, Georgetown University

"Gray's text reduces the story to a speedy series of adventures in the conquering of the three monsters with efficiency and some flair. Hrothgar's "sermon" gets boiled down to its essentials: don't let pride rule, when you're king you're responsible for more than just your fame." -- K.A. Laity

"The illustrations capture a dark mood of adventure; they're sufficiently gruesome though only suggestively so -- safe for parents, inviting for younger readers." -- K.A. Laity

This tender, immediate and powerful adaptation employs Anglo-Saxon verse to highlight the original language; each major scene of the epic is reduced to a stanza, and the illustrations enhance the story's action. Originally written for Gray's six-year-old son, the adaptation can be enjoyed by children of all ages.