lewelma Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I am overwhelmed by choice! There are (at least): King Arthur and his Knights by Merchant The Story of King Arthur by Pyle King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Green Once and Future King by White And even a version by Steinbeck These are all amazing authors! How did you choose? I have a good reader who will be in 6th grade, and I would like to challenge him. He recently read are The age of Fable by Bulfinch to give you a sense of his reading level. Also, Is Once and Future King the same story line as the rest of them? Would you read it in addition to one of the others? thanks, Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 We chose to use Green's version of King Arthur. The same year we did Pyle's version of Robin Hood. Pyle's language is a little harder to plow through, but I think we were served better by having a more understandable version of King Arthur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 I'd read both Green and The Once and Future King! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 what age is this for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMom Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 Roger Lancelyn Green, definitely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 23, 2011 Author Share Posted April 23, 2011 ds is in 6th grade and will be just 11. ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gratia271 Posted April 23, 2011 Share Posted April 23, 2011 The Once and Future King and Howard Pyle's version. My son has read many books on Arthurian legend, and these two are his favorites (along with The Boy's King Arthur and Sir Gawain). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 My ds read Pyle when he was 13yo. He liked the language. He didn't like Green, but he's never really enjoyed Green's writing style anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 We chose the Green version as that is the one that corresponds to the Memoria Press guide. If not for the guide, I would have had a difficult time choosing, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 We read Black Horses for the King at the beginning of this year when we started our medieval history studies, then we used Once and Future King as a read aloud as we were also using the Duke TIP King Arthur study. I wanted my son to experience the difference between the "historical Arthur" of the 6th century and Malory's Arthur. My ds voted Once and Future King as one of his favorite books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I love Elizabeth Lodor Merchant's retelling for a good, thorough introduction to the legends. Pyle is wonderful, but the language is so very Victorian that it makes for a better read-aloud (tough on the reader, but easier for young listeners than reading alone unless they're already confident with Victorian depictions of medieval language). Green is a good and fluid retelling, though since we were using him for Robin Hood as well, I preferred Merchant for Arthur. I did have ds read The Sword in the Stone (first volume of The Once and Future King -- Arthur's childhood), and I felt that it really would have been better read along with *modern* history (early 20th century) than with medieval history. It's *wildly* anachronistic (intentionally) and is a commentary on early 20th century, not the medieval world. By waiting two more years, the kids would have had more context to understand the anachronism, and there would have been more opportunity for discussing allegory and politics and authorial intent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I did have ds read The Sword in the Stone (first volume of The Once and Future King -- Arthur's childhood), and I felt that it really would have been better read along with *modern* history (early 20th century) than with medieval history. It's *wildly* anachronistic (intentionally) and is a commentary on early 20th century, not the medieval world. By waiting two more years, the kids would have had more context to understand the anachronism, and there would have been more opportunity for discussing allegory and politics and authorial intent. I understand what you are saying, Abbey, because we read the whole book and we took a lot of rabbit trails since ds is very much interested in politics. It was helpful too that we had read Hamlet and Macbeth. If I had one more child to teach, the temptation to make the book into a unit study for 7t or 8th grade would be great. It's all there: nature studies, politics, mythology, science, history, and literature. I am not sure that I would agree that it is not about the medieval world. The setting and the depiction of feudal life and customs is medieval, even if there are numerous 20th century references. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I am not sure that I would agree that it is not about the medieval world. The setting and the depiction of feudal life and customs is medieval, even if there are numerous 20th century references. See, I think it's *Set* in the medieval world, but it's *about* the early 20th century world. With references to the whole of Western world history... I think it's well worth reading -- I'm not arguing with you there at all. :) ... I just wouldn't read it for *Arthur* or the medieval world. Those are, in a way, incidentals... I'd read other stuff as a middle-schooler's first intro to Arthuriana... But for all the other reasons you mentioned, it's a great read. (I also think it's better, as you mentioned, in 7th or 8th grade, even for very strong students -- another reason I suggest putting it off for "modern" period for those following WTM-history, rather than in 6th with medieval.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna in Texas Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Once and Future King is one of DD's favorite books. We still talk about it several times a week, particularly about the last chapter. I'm not sure how I want to cover it with my youngest (still very far off) because I agree with both Lisa and Abbey. DD was familiar enough with the 20th century to get the references, but I wonder how when we do Modern for 8th, will OaFK still be in our heads to discuss. In our case, because neither of us remember covering Arthur the first time (I think we were moving to Houston that year because I don't remember much of any history that year, although she knows a lot about the Tudors, so it wasn't all lost), OaFK was her intro to him and of course since it's her favorite book, I'm afraid she's holding other Arthur books that we read to that standard. She's fiercely loyal to it, so I'm hoping to reiterate next year the importance of it. She may want to reread it. Another interesting point: We bought the Deathly Hallows DVD last week. She's only read the first 3 books and plans on reading the rest this summer before the last movie, so she's not familiar with the rest of the story. DH and I were watching it and she came in at the part where the trio are polyjuiced at the MOM. She saw the statue/plaque that said "Magic is Might." She started rereading SS right after that. We also did some Inferno briefly while reading OaFK, so she was able to pick up those references, and since she loves the song 'Hallelujah', she was able to pick up the David/Bathsheba references. We've not done Hamlet or Macbeth, yet (we're covering Shakespeare in May), so I'm interested to see how that goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I have one son who loved Pyle - read all his books over and over when he was about 10 (until he began to use archaic vocabulary in his everyday speech :001_smile:). The rest of my dc have preferred the Green version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks everyone for replying! One more question: for those of you who read Once and Future King AND one other version, why did you read two different versions of the same story? I am assuming from previous posts, that Once and Future King is quite different from the others. Would you please tell me how. Thanks, ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Thanks everyone for replying! One more question: for those of you who read Once and Future King AND one other version, why did you read two different versions of the same story? I am assuming from previous posts, that Once and Future King is quite different from the others. Would you please tell me how. Thanks, ruth in NZ Yes, quite. As I said above, The Once and Future King (it's actually three books) is quite anachronistic and includes references to ancient history and mythology, hundreds of years of medieval history and legend (Robin Hood shows up randomly in Arthur's forests), there are quotes from Shakespeare, Victorian and Edwardian references, Machiavelli, Dante, communism, etc, etc, etc... Various *elements* of the traditional Arthur stories are included, but sometimes quite different from earlier editions and mixed with so many other elements as well. I wouldn't consider it a good introduction to the Arthurian canon because it's so non-traditional. *After* a child has familiarity with more traditional Arthurian tales and also world history (including the 19th and early 20th centuries), I think The Once and Future King is much richer and more meaningful. Merchant, on the other hand, bases her tales on Malory, which, while still recorded many hundreds of years after the supposed time of Arthur, are at least based on even older English and French legends. Most of the Arthurian writings since have relied (to some extent) on Malory. I consider her book a great place to begin with middle school students because it does do a good job of introducing the tales from which later writers (including White) were working. (Pyle and Green aren't bad choices either. I just happen to like Merchant's retelling a lot!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 (edited) Anyone ever heard of an Arthur retelling by Barbara Leonie Picard? I only ask because I happen to own it - it's from a Scott Foresman series I think meant for the schools, but it's old (don't know how old - can't find a date anywhere on it :glare:), and doesn't appear to have simplified language (quite to the contrary). The same text series uses Pyle's Robin Hood. A quick perusal of the author on Amazon shows she's done lots of other retellings of ancient stories, myths, and legends, including Homer - many of them are compiled for a series called "Oxford Myths and Legends." Anyway, I've been wondering if it's something I should bother using, since it's sitting here, or whether I should insist on one of the other retellings (I'm going to have them read OaFK, but I think it's a good point to have them read something more 'traditional' as well). Edited April 27, 2011 by matroyshka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 We read Picard's One is One and loved it. Picard is one of the authors that Eliana recommended in an awesome thread a while back on older authors. Picard is an excellent writer, so I wouldn't hesitate to use her book on King Arthur. I believe she has also done a couple of volumes for Oxford's Myths and Legends series. Rosemary Sutcliff has a trilogy on Arthur; she is an excellent historical writer as well. Anyone ever heard of an Arthur retelling by Barbara Leonie Picard? I only ask because I happen to own it - it's from a Scott Foresman series I think meant for the schools, but it's old (don't know how old - can't find a date anywhere on it :glare:), and doesn't appear to have simplified language (quite to the contrary). The same text series uses Pyle's Robin Hood. A quick perusal of the author on Amazon shows she's done lots of other retellings of ancient stories, myths, and legends, including Homer - many of them are compiled for a series called "Oxford Myths and Legends." Anyway, I've been wondering if it's something I should bother using, since it's sitting here, or whether I should insist on one of the other retellings (I'm going to have them read OaFK, but I think it's a good point to have them read something more 'traditional' as well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Another version worth considering is the Oxford Illustrated Classics/Rand McNally retelling written by James Riordan and illustrated by my beloved Victor Ambrus. I haven't actually read it, but flipped through it at a used bookstore and the images are dazzling! http://www.amazon.com/ARTHUR-Illustrated-Victor-Ambrus-Riordan/dp/B000P0LQGC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLinWI Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I have always loved the Once and Future King. I hope my daughters do! Lisa--good thinking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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