Children's author and illustrator James Rumford turns to the Anglo-Saxon epic of Beowulf in this powerful picture-book retelling of a classic story. Using only words that have come down to us from Old English - the original language of Beowulf - he relates how the great hall of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, was laid low by the monster Grendel; how the hero Beowulf of Geatland (AKA Götaland) slew Grendel and his mother; and how Beowulf faced one last test in his old age, sacrificing himself to defeat a dragon threatening his people...

Beowulf: A Hero's Tale Retold is the third children's adaptation of this tale that I have read, following upon Rosemary Sutcliff's Beowulf and Ian Serraillier's Beowulf the Warrior. These other two are intended for older children, who are reading chapter-books, whereas Rumford's telling can be used with younger picture-book audiences, provided they are not too sensitive about hearing frightening stories. The narrative here is beautifully done, with simple but powerful words, reflecting, as Rumford intended them to do, the linguistic feeling of the original. The accompanying artwork, done in pen and ink and watercolor, were dark but similarly powerful, and were apparently inspired by the work of Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac. I enjoyed everything about this book, from the text to the illustrations, and I appreciated the inclusion of a few sentences in the original Old English/Anglo Saxon. Recommended to anyone looking for a children's first Beowulf. ( )

In high school, I read the original version of Beowulf, so I was interested in reading how the tale would appear in the form of a children's book. I recollect enjoying it much more in high school, and I think it was because we were able to go further in depth. However, I feel like this aided my comprehension when reading the shorter version because certain details were left out or glossed over. I enjoyed the illustrations that accompanied the text, and I felt that they enhanced the story in a positive way. All in all, I think Beowulf is an interesting tale, and it is truly amazing that a story has been passed down and retold for centuries. ( )

I had to read this book in high school, the actual book, not this adaptation. And I remember a lot of other schools having to read it as well. And I remember a lot of students in my classes struggling to understand the cryptic messages that the author was portraying. I would use this as a read-aloud in a third grade classroom, there are a lot of words that are not familiar to most kids and it would be difficult to teach to a younger grade. I would also want to use this with older kids, so they are more likely to remember the story when they get to high school, and if they read the real book, then they will have some background knowledge on the story and it might now be as difficult for them to understand. Another reason I liked this book was that next to the names of characters and unfamiliar words, it had hints and how to pronounce the weird words, because even I did not know how to pronounce some of them. . For example, “He hated the Danes and their king Hrothgar [ROTH-GAR].” This helps the reader understand the names instead of skipping over them and/or taking time to try and sound them out.

I really enjoyed this book, because I read the full version in high school and even then I was confused by what was going on. This version of the story is much easier to understand, so I could see this being a great book to use for fifth grade to discuss theme and how characters respond to challenges. ( )

I love this story. Beowulf is one of my favorite stories and this is a great retelling of the heroic tale. The main idea is about the hero Beowulf and how he had overcome many beasts to protect his people until his end, which begins the legend of Beowulf. This book had fantastic illustrations! The color scheme of blue, yellow and green were kept throughout the story representing the mood of each page. When Beowulf was beginning his journey the pages were blue. During the battle, the pages were green. With each defeat the pages were a golden yellow for victory. The images were also great in capturing the time period of Beowulf. They showed the old Denmark atmosphere and warrior ways. This is a powerful detail of the story and a main reason why I enjoyed this book. Another reason I liked this book was the pronunciations next to the names of characters and unfamiliar words. For example, “He hated the Danes and their king Hrothgar [ROTH-GAR].” This helps the reader understand the names instead of skipping over them and/or taking time to try and sound them out. I would recommend this book to all ages. ( )