Young Guinevere - Hardcover

Robert D. San Souci

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385416237 ISBN 13: 9780385416238

Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1993

Synopsis

Set in Medieval Europe, this is Robert San Souci's magical tale of Guinevere--from her childhood to her marriage to King Arthur. When Guinevere's father's castle is besieged by invaders, she must travel through the forest and cross the perilous river in search of young King Arthur. Their fateful meeting leads to the fulfillment of Guinevere's destiny and her betrothal to King Arthur.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In a rather long text for the picture book format, San Souci ( Feathertop ; Young Merlin ) draws on an amalgam of sources to portray the young princess as she explores the enchanted forest around her father's castle and as she ultimately saves the kingdom from destruction. All the ingredients prized by fantasy aficionados are here: the prophecy of Guinevere's marriage to Arthur, the unicorn in the woods, the hideous monster Guinevere outwits, the heraldic splendor of the battle for control of England, the heroine's brave journey to summon her future husband to arms. Although the extensively researched text evokes the glamour and danger of legends of the Middle Ages, it occasionally becomes self-consciously weighty. As a result, characters are little more than stock gothic types, which befits the grand scale of oral epic but is ill-suited to the more intimate scope of a picture book. Henterly's ( Good King Wenceslas ) lavish full-page artwork in rich jewel tones is, like the text, best when confined to small detail work. The exquisite spot illustrations embody all the beauty and delicacy of the tapestries they are meant to suggest. However, the sweeping large-scale paintings may appear overly commercial for some tastes, conjuring up visions of florid romance novel covers. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-- Hardly a junior Mists of Avalon (Ballantine, 1985), this large picture book pays welcome attention to a female figure--the central female--in the Arthurian cycle. The motherless daughter of a king, Guinevere spends her maiden days embroidering or wandering in the forest with her bow. She shoots a wolf, then discovers and treats the shape-changing, wild boy she has wounded. Later the wolf/boy helps her evade a siege of her father's castle, escape a dragonlike beast, and seek aid from the court of King Arthur. Arthur falls in love with her, but she overhears Merlin warn him that their marriage could be disastrous. When the young king decides to take that risk, the story ends happily, with Guinevere riding off to her wedding. (A postscript summarizes the later developments in her story.) Henterley's illustrations are traditional and romantic, rich in color and detail, although the figures are sometimes a bit stiff or flat. The decorative elements, drawing on Kells-period design, and the spot illustrations, modeled on the Bayeux Tapestry, are particularly successful. The appeal of the pictures should lure readers to this book, which may in turn springboard a few to more complex treatments of Arthurian material. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0385416237
• ISBN 13: 9780385416238
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Jamichael Henterly