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Summary
Summary
In their fourth magnificent collaboration of the world's great stories, Mary Pope Osborne and Troy Howell present nine best-loved tales from the days of chivalry, honor, and enchantment.This collection contains nine treasured tales from medieval Europe--from the mysterious Celtic world of Finn MacCoul to the enchanted realm of King Arthur. Readers will meet the noble French hero Roland and the merry English outlaw Robin Hood. They will learn about the brutish chieftain Beowulf, the chivalrous knight Sir Gawain, and the brave young prince Hagen. And they will be entertained and enlightened by Marie de France's honorable Werewolf and Chaucer's venerable but clever-witted rooster, Chanticleer.
Author Notes
Mary Pope Osborne was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma on May 20, 1949. She grew up in a military family, and by the time she was 15 she had lived in Oklahoma, Austria, Florida, and four different army posts in Virginia and North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majored in religion. After graduation, she traveled around Europe and Asia. Before becoming an author, she worked as a window dresser, a medical assistant, a Russian travel consultant, a waitress, an acting teacher, a bartender, and an assistant editor for a children's magazine.
Her first book, Run, Run as Fast as You Can, was published in 1982. She is the author of the Magic Tree House series and the Merlin Missions series. Her husband, actor Will Osborne, helps her write the nonfiction companion series, Magic Tree House Research Guides. Her other books include The Deadly Power of Medusa, Jason and the Argonauts, Haunted Waters, and Moonhorse.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-9-This beautiful storybook is also an entrancing introduction to medieval art and literature, and to the development of the English language. Rather than attempting a potted life history, each tale presents a defining narrative for its hero: Finn MacCoul, Beowulf, King Arthur, Hagen, Roland, Marrok the Werewolf, Gawain, Robin Hood, and Chanticleer. Sometimes this incident is virtually all there is (e.g., Marrok), but the informative notes do not always indicate when additional tales about the figure exist, as they do for most. The language of the retellings manages to be both dignified and lively, with just a hint of the archaic. The introduction notes that the chronological sequence of the tales also reflects the development of the English language. Howell has contributed detailed notes on the medieval elements and inspiration in his work from the elaborate borders to the compositions of the full-page, color illustrations and ornamental title pages. Strikingly handsome, this collection should appeal to a wide range of readers.-Patricia Lothrop-Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
With this gorgeously produced volume Osborne and Howell meet and in some ways even exceed the standards they established in Favorite Norse Myths and Mermaid Tales from Around the World. The nine entries range from adaptations of widely known stories ("The Sword in the Stone"; "Robin Hood and His Merry Men") to more eclectic choices (Marie de France's "The Werewolf"; "The Chanticleer and the Fox," adapted from The Canterbury Tales); they also span about a thousand years of Western European literary history. Throughout, Osborne blends suspenseful storytelling with almost imperceptible explanations of the original context. For example, the Green Knight holds out his own head to Gawain, the knight who severed it, and reminds Gawain that he has promised, on his honor, to receive a blow of the ax in return. Osborne subtly relays the historical weight of this exchange: "Even the bravest warrior shuddered. Preserving a knight's honor was more important than preserving his own life." Howell, meanwhile, imaginatively bends medieval traditions to his own uses. As he explains in a detailed endnote, he models his paintings on such works as the Unicorn Tapestries and specific illuminated manuscripts. Adding to the book's educational value, Osborne prefaces each entry with an excerpt in the original language (along with a translation) and conveys further information in unusually meaty appendices. This stylish collection will not only entertain readers but will also nurture a lively interest in history, literature and language, and the way these forces of culture intersect. Ages 8-12. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-6, younger for reading aloud. Dramatic and immediate for storytelling, this companion volume to Osborne and illustrator Troy Howell's Favorite Norse Myths (1996) has the same large-size, handsome design with spacious type, thick paper, and full-page painting and illustrated title page for each story. Osborne's nine retellings are faithful in spirit to the original stories, from the Arthurian chivalry of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to the cozy domesticity of Chaucer's beast fable "Chanticleer and the Fox." There is also a Robin Hood story, a French werewolf parable, and versions of Finn Maccoul, Beowulf, the French Song of Roland, and the German Island of the Lost Children, all of them passed down orally and first written down between 1100 and 1450. Howell's acrylic paintings evoke the brightly detailed designs of illuminated manuscripts and medieval tapestries, with monsters and heroes, arches and battlefields. The excellent, readable notes provide historical and literary context, and many readers will go from here to the great full-blown retellings by such writers as Rosemary Sutcliff and Howard Pyle. --Hazel Rochman
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. vi |
| Finn Maccoul | p. 1 |
| Beowulf | p. 8 |
| The Sword in the Stone | p. 17 |
| Island of the Lost Children | p. 25 |
| The Song of Roland | p. 34 |
| The Werewolf | p. 42 |
| Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | p. 50 |
| Robin Hood and His Merry Men | p. 60 |
| Chanticleer and the Fox | p. 67 |
| Notes on the Stories | p. 73 |
| Artist's Note | p. 81 |
| Bibliography | p. 84 |
| Index | p. 85 |