This tale about King Arthur, a dwarf, the dwarf's giant son, and a mother unicorn was originally the concluding episode of an Arthurian romance written in France in the Middle Ages, Le Chevalier du Papegau ("The Knight of the Parrot").
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In his first work of fiction, Giblin (When Plague Strikes; The Truth About Unicorns) retells the final episode of a little-known Arthurian adventure, but without memorable results. Stranded on an island with his men, Arthur comes across an articulate English-born dwarf. The dwarf recounts how he and his infant son?now a giant?ended up on the island and survived with the help of a unicorn, who suckled the infant and hunted for the dwarf. Arthur does not perform any feats of particular bravery: his role is a talking one. The dwarf worries that his son, who has killed other visitors to the island, may harm Arthur, but the giant is not truly menacing, just unsocialized. When he finally appears, Arthur pacifies him by saying, "I want to be your friend." Unfortunately, Ewart's (One Cold Night) hazy watercolor and colored pencil art does not add suspense to this talky story. In only two pictures is Arthur brought sufficiently into focus to give readers a sense of what he looks like. The artist's muted style works somewhat better for the flashback scenes, which depict tiny unicorns frolicking in deep woods, framed with period-inspired borders. Giblin notes in an afterword that the story's inclusion of a female unicorn is rare; it is too bad that this minor addition to the Arthurian canon doesn't have something more eventful to distinguish it. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5?Giblin retells a story from a late medieval Arthurian romance, Le Chevalier du Papegau. The young Arthur, newly crowned, sets sail with his knights in search of adventure. Their ship runs aground on an island inhabited only by a dwarf, his son, and a unicorn. Arthur listens to the dwarf's story of shipwreck and finds out how his baby son was nursed and nurtured by a unicorn until he grew into a giant. Belligerent and fiercely strong, the giant must be persuaded that Arthur and his knights are friends before pulling the beached ship into deep water. Dwarf, giant, and unicorn come aboard and travel to Camelot where they live happily ever after in Arthur's kingdom. Despite the intriguing cast of characters, and despite Giblin's skill in description and dialogue, this story within a story moves at a lengthy, measured pace, without climactic action, twist of plot, or any familiar Arthurian theme. The sketchy watercolor paintings are bland but have been skillfully varied in size and placement. As a nice touch, those pictures illustrating the dwarf's tale are distinguished from the main story by colorful borders decorated with Celtic motifs. Unfortunately, Giblin's smooth writing cannot compensate for the overlong and unexciting plot.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book with many surprises.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur (Hardcover)
In this book, King Arthur and his knights sailed through a storm and got stranded on an island. King Arthur set out to find someone to help them get their boat off of the sandbar. He found a dwarf in a tall tower, his son who was a giant, and a unicorn. I liked this book because there were many surprises. The tiny dwarf had a giant for a son, and the unicorn was a hero. I would recommend this book to kids who liked the movie "Quest for Camelot."
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pretty good start for younger readers on Arthurian legend,
By
This review is from: The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur (Hardcover)
This book contains one of the many stories about the legendary King Arthur. In this story, the young king and his knights get shipwrecked on an island where Arthur befriends a dwarf and a giant.
One of the great things about this book is that it teaches the young reader to look past physical differences and see the "person" on the inside. For instance, when King Arthur and the giant first meet and become friends, the giant helps King Arthur by providing him with a place to sleep for the night and food to eat. Likewise, King Arthur sees strength and potential in the giant when he asks him to drag his ship out to sea in return for his and his father's voyage to England. Especially remarkable is the fact that there is not violence in the book; no battles and no killings. Because of the large amount of text, this picture book will go far in developing the reading skills of younger children. Unfortunately, there might be (at least for some) a little too much detail in the text. This may tend to bore younger and more inexperinced reader. Also, some parents (or teachers) may be alarmed by the picture of a unicorn nursing a human baby. Overall, this book would serve well as a good picture book for children who are at the age where they need to start developing their reading skills more. It's fairly long for a picture book, and reading it in one sitting may present a challenge to younger readers. However, it is for this reason that this book develops better reading skills.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Peaceful King Arthur,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur (Hardcover)
This is a great alternative to the many King Arthur stories that include lots of violence. It is nice to see another side of the legend, and the story of the young giant being suckled by a unicorn is fascinating. This is LONG, but for kids who are fans of knights and castles, it is not to be missed.
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