Customer Reviews

The Dwarf, the Giant, and the Unicorn: A Tale of King Arthur

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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."

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.

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.