Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This book is a wonderful retelling of the Medieval story. The vivid illustrations and curious tale captured my children's attention completely. My 4-year-old constantly looked at the pictures in the book even when we were done reading it.

As we got further in to the story, I became concerned about the temptations that Sir Gawain encountered. It sparked many discussions with my children on chastity and how to deal with temptations. We compared Sir Gawain with Joseph of Egypt.

My understanding increased as the story progressed. I realized it was more than just a knight's tale. This is a story about the fall of man, the temptations of the devil, the weakness of man, repentance, chastity, and the mercy of the Lord. In other words, it is a show more temple story, a story of becoming, a story of redemption. The green sash that Sir Gawain wore at the end had a major impact on me. I will forever be changed because I read this simple children's story.

I eagerly look forward to reading Tolkien's translation of the original poem. show less

When in the mist of New Year festivities, a gigantic, green figure with an axe rides into King Arthur's court unexpectedly and demanding to play "a blow for a blow" game, one of King Arthur's knights of the Round Table, Sir Gawain, takes the King's place in the game with the Green Knight. Sir Gawain then has to travel to face the knight a year and a day later. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a retelling of the wildly known story about how on his way to face the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is faced tests and challenges which teach him about chivalry, resisting temptation, and honesty. The language is very keeping with oral tradition, both lively and flowy. It’s a great version of a classic tale.

This book is all about Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew, who beheads the Green Knight of the Green Chapel. Gawain promises that very night when he beheads the big brute of a giant that in a year and a day he will go to the Green Chapel and have the same punishment put on him.

But course, you can tell what will and won't happen.

I think that this book is aimed for people about my age - that is, eight years old - and up. There is one slightly gory scene and quite a bit of yucky 'kissy-wissy-ooh-la-la', but I think that somebody the same age as me would understand that that is, of course, how the story goes.

Brilliant book - no mistakes from lazy publishers, etc. Then again, I'm that sort of a girl who'd prefer it if Morpurgo left out the show more 'kissy-wissy-ooh-la-la', so I say three stars. show less

A fantastic introduction to Arthurian legend. The legend of Sir Gawain & the Green Knight teaches courage, honor, and integrity. This adaptation has be artfully written to maintain the core of the tale, without the complexity and symbolism of the original adult version. The narrative and dialog are somewhat predictive in nature, as Sir Gawain is tested three times by beautiful queen, while her husband is away hunting. Each time, Gawain remembers his knightly duties and resists the queen, aside from a kiss. The story is suspenseful and introduces the reader to foreshadowing through the predictive text. The wonderful watercolor and pastel illustrations are a nice edition to this special book. Although there are no specific chapters, there show more are defined stops and starts in the tale itself, and in the page layout, making it an ideal book to read in more than one sitting, or to read aloud for short periods. Because of the more advanced vocabulary and advanced sentence structure, I would recommend this book for Tweens, grades 5 – 8. show less

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