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A review by nairam1173
Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne
5.0
Hello, first 5-star book of the year...figures you'd be children's, history, and J398.
I loved this. The tales were very succinct, from the ones I was familiar with (Beowulf, Robin Hood, Roland, Gawain) were loyal depictions in a short space. The ones I wasn't familiar with I want to look up, especially Finn Maccoul. I found the prose very readable. A good introduction.
I especially liked, however, the focus on language Osborne brings up in the introduction. I further liked the background information after the stories (pretty accurate!), and explanation of the illustrations and how the illustrator took medieval elements as inspiration. Each story has one full page illustration and lovely title page.
I think it would work well for introducing kids to these stories, and a discussion of the supplementary elements in the beginning and the back will also start them on the way to understanding the history that the stories come from.
I want one.
I loved this. The tales were very succinct, from the ones I was familiar with (Beowulf, Robin Hood, Roland, Gawain) were loyal depictions in a short space. The ones I wasn't familiar with I want to look up, especially Finn Maccoul. I found the prose very readable. A good introduction.
I especially liked, however, the focus on language Osborne brings up in the introduction. I further liked the background information after the stories (pretty accurate!), and explanation of the illustrations and how the illustrator took medieval elements as inspiration. Each story has one full page illustration and lovely title page.
I think it would work well for introducing kids to these stories, and a discussion of the supplementary elements in the beginning and the back will also start them on the way to understanding the history that the stories come from.
I want one.