Reviews: (by author)

Lindsay, Barbara and Emma Gelders Stern. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Illus. Gustaf Tenggren. New York: Golden Books (Random House), 2002. ISBN 0-307-10432-X. $19.95.

Ah, this is the King Arthur legend as it should be illustrated and told. I start with illustration because the artist of these gorgeous, full-color, and full-bodied paintings is the world-famous Scandinavian Gustaf Tenggren, known for classic books such as The Poky Little Puppy and for the design of early Disney movies such as Snow White. Would that Disney had kept Tenggren's sensibilities in mind when his studio did its version of King Arthur, with its wimpy hero and trademark lack of substance and disrespect for the material! Tenggren's art fits the mood of the medieval romances which developed the Arthur legend; battles are bloody, Goya-esque, and damsels are appealing, often with the appropriate look of seductive danger. The colors Tenggren uses in his dynamic paintings?greens, reds, blues?and, when called for in the story, grays and browns, bring to life an imaginary world of bravery, duplicity, sadness, and honor. His characters are expressive of all these qualities. This art is high art, fitting to high fantasy and adding to the power of the many stories told in this outstanding book.

And many stories are told; the book covers nearly all the romances, including the Grail and even side-stories like that of Gareth and Lynette. The language used by Stern and her daughter Lindsay is just right. Syntax is occasionally inverted, "A knight I will make you" and "here thou liest," but the text, while stylized, is never self-consciously archaic and the prose reads smoothly, seamlessly. None of the treachery, heartbreak, or complexity of the romances is sacrificed by these retellers, i.e. no dummying down.

If I were buying a book for children about King Arthur, this is unquestionably the book I'd purchase. Golden Books/Random House is to be thanked for reissuing this work of art, and for including a fine introduction by author Mary Pope Osbourne.

**Highest recommendation

A.A. Nov. '02

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