The Headless Horseman: A Retelling of Washington Irving's "the Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

Irving, Washington

ISBN 10: 0805035842 ISBN 13: 9780805035841

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co, 1995

Synopsis

A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy farmer's daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-6-A sensitive and lively retelling of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" that preserves all of its main characters and familiar action. Downplaying Irving's social satire allows the supernatural atmosphere to dominate the tale. The text is not dumbed down, however: words like herculean, unsurpassed, crestfallen, and careened flavor the pages. The illustrations, too, have a level of sophistication that will satisfy older readers without entirely baffling younger ones. Against a variety of green tones, red-orange hues strike notes ranging from autumnal to lurid. The artist's style is reminiscent of Chagall's. A strong hint of Ichabod in the scarecrow on the last spread emphasizes the gangly schoolmaster's final humiliation and defeat. An adaptation that might whet readers' appetites for the original.
Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. This concise distillation of Washington Irving's classic is as accessible to youngsters who want to read alone as it is to children who simply want to be listeners. Emma Harding's paintings are an eerie counterpoint to the concentrated story, with their almost surreal flavor and autumn palette lending nuances not necessarily present in the text itself. Dark and brooding, they add a gloomy subtext that is both powerful and disconcerting, and they restore subtleties to the story that disappeared with Irving's original, elegant language. A solid addition to the holiday shelf and to collections of books for transitional readers. Janice Del Negro

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0805035842
• ISBN 13: 9780805035841
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Harding Emma