Evidently, Grendel, the defeated foul foe, had a mother and now Beowulf's got to get rid of her as well. Michael Morpurgo, began writing stories in the early '70's, in response to the children in his class at the primary school where he taught in Kent. They have three farms in Devon, Wales and Gloucestershire, open to inner city school children who come to stay and work with the animals.

His life might be over, they said, but his name and his deeds would live on as long as his tale was told. It's something like a local pub where citizens get together and have a pint or two and talk about the good ol' days. We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, sell user information, or run ads. In November 2016 Michael Morpurgo won the J M Barrie Award for his contribution to children’s literature.To touch the lives of children, to witness their listening and reading silence, is reward enough in itself.

Morpurgo retains the dramatic poetry of the original, the bite and strength of the narrative, and the Christian content. Heroics, violence, faith, loyalty, morality, fatality, fantasy, humanity, cowardice, bravery and more all rolled up into the epic tales of Beowulf. Although Michael Morpurgo is most well-known for his original tales from historical periods of war (War Horse, Private Peaceful, Friend or Foe), he provides here a wonderfully accessible adaptation of the anonymous Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf for LKS2 readers. In the Scandinavian kingdoms of the Danes and the Geats, young Geatish prince Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, when the latter's people are repeatedly ravaged during the night by the evil human-eating monster Grendel.

He sits outside the series-driven blockbusters so beloved of publishers nowadays: he hasn't created a Harry Potter or an Alex Rider – and I admire him for resisting that. More Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. It started, and I realised it was CG, and I actually thought, oh, this might be less alarming, then. Complemented by Michael Foreman's vivid illustrations, this epic tale is skillfully spun, with both the accessibility and the integrity it takes to capture a new audience.

On the other hand, I disliked that the protagonist had no flaws, it makes the character inhumanly and the reader can not relate to him.Decent retelling that worked well for reading aloud for my kids, my kids were able to follow the story well. Lovers of heroes, monsters, and the drama of battle will find this retelling as enthralling as it is tragic.