Joshua Gray

Beowulf: a Verse Adaptation with Young Readers in Mind Joshua Gray

(Saddle-Stitch) This adaptation of the Beowulf epic, written for a younger audience, preserves the Anglo-Saxon verse feel of the original text. Illustrations by Sean Yates enhance the reader's experience. "Joshua Gray's poetic re-telling of the Beowulf epic as a tale for children gets to the essence of the action with a use of modern English which is accessible and clear for young minds, listening while busily building their own image-worlds... I have the sense that this new text may well encourage very young listeners, years later (after their bedtime stories are a distant memory), to recall this tale with pleasure and to discover a vibrant curiosity to know more about the doings of Hrothgar, Grendel and Beowulf." -- Benjamin Bagby, Performer of Beowulf "Gray captures both the fearsomeness of the poem's monsters and the artful alliteration of its Anglo-Saxon origins... Hook the kids with this version, and hope that they will return to the longer poem in later years." -- Tod Linafelt, Georgetown University