Boulet

Personally, as a grown-up, I thought this was fantastic. When I first started reading it, though, I thought there is no way an average kid is going to read this. So many strikes against it:

1. It's poetry. True, the poetical nature is somewhat disguised by the graphic novel format, but there's no denying the text can be hard to understand because it's written in a style similar to Beowulf.

2. Generally speaking, Beowulf doesn't have the same appeal as, say, Greek mythology or fairy tales.

3. show more Despite the shiny cover, the illustrations are black and white inside. Lots of kids want to see full-color illustrations when they look inside a graphic novel.

But I will tell you that I read this aloud to my 8-year-old and she did not complain. (It was so fun to read this out loud because of the poetry of it -- the rhythm, the alliteration, the patterns that repeat once you get farther along in it.) My daughter was patiently tolerating it at first, but I dare say she was enjoying it after a bit.

This may be a hard sell to most kids, but it is such a fun experience to read it all the way through, just letting the inscrutable parts wash over you. You don't have to understand every word to appreciate the style, the drama, the epic-ness.

What an achievement by Weinersmith! I think this will be in Newbery discussions, though it does put in mind of [b:Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village|607931|Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village|Laura Amy Schlitz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320407671l/607931._SX50_.jpg|594437], which to this day I cannot entice any child to read. show less

A nifty retelling of the epic Beowulf poem moves the action to a modern-day suburb and casts children in most of the roles, with Grendel becoming Mr. Grindle, the surly middle-aged neighbor next door who is tired of all the noise and mess from the kids' treehouse hanging just a smidge over his fence line. In addition to being a general party-pooper, his magical touch can cause children to become angsty teens or anxious adults who no longer care about toys and candy. Bea Wolf arrives from a show more kingdom a few blocks away to save the day . . . after we hear some stories of epic feats of pig wrangling and dodgeball playing.

The verse gets a bit tiresome, but works a little better if you read it aloud and lean into the bombast.

I'm glad they left room for a sequel, because I'd like to see what Mrs. Grindle take center stage next time.

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels list. show less

Long ago, in the kid-kingdom of Suburbia, Treeheart was built. Generations of kid-kings ruled there, a hall full of candy and toys. But the sound of their merriment disgruntled their dyspeptic neighbor, Grindle. He attacked Treeheart and its merry-makers, adultifying all of them. No one could stand against him, and so the children cried out for a hero. Across the creek, someone heard them. Her name was Bea Wolf.

This book is a graphic novel retelling of Beowulf, and it’s incredible. I’ve show more never been able to get through Beowulf myself, but the graphic novel and adapted language made it so accessible that I think I have a better chance now. The language has such a compelling rhythm to it that I couldn’t help but read the whole thing out loud, by myself, to my cat. I really enjoyed Weinersmith’s notes at the end about a brief history of the story, and especially his thought process on adapting the language using lots of hyphenated epithets and alliteration. This book is absolutely a classic, and I will be buying a copy to put on my shelves right next to D’Aulaire’s. show less

In this graphic novel kids' version of Beowulf, a group of wild, free-spirited kids enjoys feasting on sugary snacks in their treehouse while making ridiculous amounts of noise, but the joy-sucking Mr. Grindle next door, whose mere touch can turn kids into boring adults, barges his way in and turns it into the kind of place with motivational posters about tooth-brushing on the walls. Fortunately, there is a mighty young hero who has come to vanquish the beast.

It's all rather ridiculous, of show more course, but in the best possible ways, and it's just flat-out amazing how well it all works. It's a sweet, silly parody, but somehow it also genuinely manages to capture the epicness and poetry of the original, and what it does with the language is weird and wonderful. The art is absolutely perfect for it, too, full of menace and whimsey and, yes, an actual sense that you're witnessing some heroic deeds. The whole thing just delighted me utterly from the very first line ("Hey, wait!").

Thoroughly recommended for kids, and for anyone who has ever been, or known, a kid. show less