Beowulf.

Rumford, James. Beowulf.
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher, 2007. $17.00 unp 978-0-618-75634-X

This simplified, illustrated retelling of the hero's tale of the great Anglo-Saxon warrior, Beowulf, will introduce younger students to the epic tale of how he defeated the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother.
This simple retelling of the great tale of Beowulf, is both clear and refreshing. The words have been carefully chosen to include only words known to the ancient Anglos and Saxons who created the epic. The reading is strong, and action filled.
The illustrations are two parts. The background looks like ancient runes and has a dragon interwoven around the page. The dragon is not fully shown, but hints of it tease the reader. Within each page is an illustration that almost looks like a woodcut. These main illustrations are more dreamlike or impressionistic than the background. This fits the hero tale and helps the reader understand the text.
The writing is easy to understand and does a remarkably complete telling the hero tale. This would be a good way to introduce younger students to this classic tale. JT