Beowulf

by Jacqueline Morley (Adapter), Li Sidong (Illustrator)

This retelling of the first great epic poem in the English language recounts the story of Beowulf, his heroic struggle against the monster Grendel, and his final fight to the death with a ferocious dragon. Barron's Graphic Classics offer easy-to-follow retellings of immortal literary works. They introduce elementary and secondary school students to many of our culture's great plays, novels, and epic poems, and encourage boys and girls to discover the joy of reading the masterworks in their original form. Graphic Classics titles tell absorbing stories with high-quality color illustrations complemented with short narrative sections and dialogue balloons that capture the spirit of the originals. They also present background material to help young readers understand when and why the literary work was originally written. Graphic Classics titles are available in both paperback and hardcover editions.

Genres: Graphic Novels

48 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Jacqueline Morley studied English at Oxford University and has taught English and History. She is the author of numerous books, including award-winning historical nonfiction titles for children. Her books have won several TES Senior Information book awards.

Reviews

[Ana (thestarslisten) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It works for all ages.
I always wanted to know the story of Beowulf but I didn't want to read a really thick book for it. This comic book was very helpful as it has great art with synonyms for words that are less familiar.

If you need to write an essay on a classic, choose comic books especially from this publisher because it's easy to read and it has a lot of pictures.

[Roger Gaboury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the first great epic English language poem, with helpful background info.

[Onebookworm BR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I want to read the epic poem.

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic version of the famous Anglo-Saxon epic is well worth reading. Firstly, it presents the story in an interesting yet unadorned way. There are no spectacular narrative tricks to obfuscate. The visuals are clear (yet they demonstrate an interesting problem about graphic work: the evil monsters have to be visually represented - the readers don't need to face their own deep dark imagination!). The text is also clear, yet challenging: the vocabulary is not aimed at the lowest common denominator, and the technique of explaining unusual words with footnotes also make readers read in a way that they would probably avoid. The information in the final section, where more extensive background to the story, the manuscript and the history is given, is substantial though brief; it refers to Tolkien's groundbreaking lecture and Heaney's revered translation, amongst others. Decades of thorough research is neatly summarised here. This volume will be an excellent first read of this important narrative.

Hoewel gemik op kinders weens die grafiese aard van die aanbod, getuig die weergawe van die verhaal en die agtergrondinligting in die laaste paar bladsye van deeglike navorsing en eerbied vir die oorspronklike. Die boek is 'n waardige eerste kennismaking met die oudste epos in Engels.

[Chloe Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard of the story of Beowulf when I was a kid, probably less than ten and studying Anglo-Saxons in primary school. I really enjoyed the graphic novelisation and the added historical information in the back of the book.