Tales of King Arthur

By James Riordan

Book Overview

In this splendid retelling of the Arthurian legend in the Oxford Illustrated Classics series, James Riordan captures all the magic and mystery of the splendid kingdom of Camelot. The magician Merlin, the sword Excalibur, the Lady of the Lake, the beautiful Guinevere, the knights of the Round Table, Lancelot, the Green Knight, and all the other characters from Camelot spring to life in Victor Ambrus's colorful recreations of the lost world of King Arthur. Beginning when the evil Vortigern poisons his father, the story of King Arthur follows young Arthur's escape in the arms of the magician Merlin, his education as a knight, his coronation after he pulls the sword from the stone, and his reign over Camelot amongst the Knights of the Round Table.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192741772
• ISBN13: 9780192741776
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.1" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended

This is a book that I had as a kid and recently re-discovered. As a kid I liked it; as an adult I love it. It retells some of the best Arthurian stories with brevity, but without dumbing them down; it addresses the sex and the violence without going too far; it has been adapted for children without being condescending. Special praise must go to illustrator Victor Ambrus, whose art is realistic with touches of stylization (a bloody scene overlaid with a green wash, for instance). Nicely done.