Beowulf is one of the most important texts in Old English and is believed to date from somewhere between 975 and 1025 - around the time of Alfred the Great.

Maybe teachers could counter this effect by asking children to draw inferences from the language and actions of the characters about positive and negative aspects of their personalities, rather than just taking the narrator's view as Gospel; doing this might simultaneously ignite pupils' critical literacy and understanding of the nature of historical interpretation. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. He has written and illustrated numerous children's books and won several major awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Kurt Maschler Award, and the Bologna Graphics Prize. In fifth-century Denmark, a murderous monster stalks the night, and only the great prince of the Geats has the strength and courage to defeat him.Years later a vicious dragon is awakened after someone does something really stupid, (*warning: never steal gold from a sleeping dragon) and Beowulf must save his own people from the dragon's venomous fire. Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow, accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and holds a feast in the hero’s honor.

Beowulf's terrifying quest to destroy Grendel, the foul fiend, a hideous sea-hag and a monstrous fire-dragon is the oldest surviving epic in British literature. Although in essence Beowulf and the tales are considered legendary rather than fact, historians generally accept the characters described by the poem are based upon genuine 6th Century Scandinavian royalty and warriors - and the Anglo-Saxons and subsequent 8th/9th Century Viking raids upon Britain form part of the History National Curriculum at KS2; thus this book supports cross-curricular learning too. Beowulf goes to her evil under water lair, which is guarded by several diabolical sea-serpents and brutally cleans Grendel's mother's clock with a mighty sword.

This ancient Anglo-Saxon tale is brilliantly retold by Micheal Morpurgo and has the children enchanted. In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature. Beowulf knows he is putting his life in danger but is still willing to do what he has to do to save the people .

Planning has been adapted from several sources and fitted to the way in which English is taught in my school. Evidently, Grendel, the defeated foul foe, had a mother and now Beowulf's got to get rid of her as well. Michael's books have been translated into many languages including Chinese, Bulgarian and Hungarian, Hebrew and Japanese.According to Beowulf’s wishes, they burn their departed king’s body on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him with a massive treasure in a barrow overlooking the sea. I liked this book , the story contains friendship, ad venture and people that care, although some of it didn’t really catch my attention. Lovers of heroes, monsters, and the drama of battle will find this retelling as enthralling as it is tragic. We understand that not everyone can donate right now, but if you can afford to contribute, we promise it will be put to good use. Standing head and shoulders above his comrades, Beowulf single-handedly saved the land of the Danes from a merciless ogre named Grendel and from his sea-hag mother.