Young Arthur

I am a minor Arthurian legends buff- I know many variations of the main story, both fictional and scholarly- but I'm not an expert. I was disappointed when I read the story to see it included an early death for Arthur's mother (here called Igerna, in most other stories Igraine). In every version I've ever read, Uther dies first, and Igraine is kept off to the sidelines, usually held safe in a monastery. It also doesn't mention that Uther's Britain is not very peaceful but is for the most part divided. However, that may have been a bit too much to go into for the audience. Overall, though, I thought San Souci hit the rest of the points well enough- the guardianship of Ector, the arrogance of Kay, Arthur's humble bravery and the magic of Merlin. The tales of the two swords are also pretty close, though again, I've never seen another version telling of Merlin flying Arthur to Excalibur. All in all, the tale of embittered, warring England united under the brave Arthur is pretty true to spirit, if not entirely form. I must disagree with the previous (adult) reviewer: I thought the drawings were sensational, and I wasn't getting "late 80s" at all. There may have been some exaggeration of muscle tone, but since this a story of legendary heroes, that's not such a crime. Being more of a color person, I loved the way the images really jumped off the page. And the illustrator did a very good job conveying the youth and innocence of Arthur versus the quiet, humorous wisdom of Merlin (the latter of which especially isn't immediately apparent in the text). This shouldn't be a child's first introduction to the Arthurian legends, and it's hardly an exhaustive piece of work, but for the seven- to ten-year-olds this is aimed at, it's fine.

I waited for a long time for this book to finally come out. I am so excited that I finally have it.I liked when Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone the best. I liked very much how he illustrated it. This book inspired me to draw pictures about the middle ages. I think other kids that like king arthur stories should read this exciting book. I also wrote my own king arthur legend. Brian Kelly age 7