Nothing, it seems, can harm the valiant Lancelot. The most brilliant warrior to join the Knights of the Round Table, he vanquishes beasts and villains at every turn. But Lancelot's own pride and conflicts of loyalty threaten to destroy the hero, whose passion and instincts are the source of his greatest strength and gravest danger. In this fourth volume of the Tales of King Arthur picture-book series, Hudson Talbott's dramatic vision sends readers on an unforgettable adventure.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4-Talbott continues his retelling of the "Tales of King Arthur." He begins with Lancelot's birth, his adoption by the Lady of the Lake, and his preparation for presentation at King Arthur's court. Accounts of Lancelot's daring adventures as a knight-errant-slaying dragons and rescuing fair damsels-follow his induction into the knighthood. The story continues with Lancelot's discovery of his love for Guinevere. Ashamed to have betrayed his king's trust by falling in love with his wife, the knight flees to the forest and lives in a state of madness. After a time, he is rescued by Elaine the Fair, who restores him to normalcy. In gratitude, Lancelot marries her and when their son, Galahad, is born, they present the child to the King and Queen. Here the book ends, which may leave readers to believe that they all lived happily ever after. The bold, dramatic, full-page watercolor illustrations are similar to those in the earlier titles in the series, with one jarring exception-the picture of Galahad's presentation at court is almost cartoonlike. This retelling, a series of episodes strung together without much of the complex background found in Malory's retellings, may leave adults questioning the value of trying to present the legend to such young children. Perhaps it's better to wait until they can read a fuller account, such as Howard Pyle's The Story of Sir Lancelot and His Companions (S & S, 1985; o.p.).
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
A clean and energetic rendering of the life of Lancelot, in language full of sound and spirit. The Lady of the Lake rescues the royal child Lancelot when his parents die fleeing their burning realm. She raises him in Avalon, and when he's 18 and has the "grace of an angel and the intensity of a panther," she brings him to Arthur to be made a knight of the Round Table. As Queen Guinevere's champion, he rescues maidens from two hideous giants, and saves Guinevere from Sir Melegrans. He rescues first the fair Elaine and then her father's kingdom from a great dragon, but when he returns under Elaine's colors to fight at Camelot, he so fears his love for Guinevere that he runs away to forget even his own name. Saved by Elaine and the Grail, Lancelot marries her and presents their baby son, Galahad, to Arthur. The finely rendered watercolors range from misty gorgeousness to satisfyingly gruesome blood and guts, and the stories are told simply without eviscerating their power. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"You Shall Be Known as the Queen's Champion...",
By
This review is from: Lancelot (Books of Wonder) (Hardcover)
It's been years since I read and reviewed Hudson Talbott's King Arthur and the Round Table, but I remember well how much I admired it. I believe it's one of the best adaptations of the King Arthur legends for a young readership, mainly because of the gorgeous illustrations that capture the grandeur, beauty and hardship of the medieval world; in a beautiful blend of realism and idealism.
Along with "King Arthur and the Round Table," are Talbott's preceding books The Sword in the Stone and Excalibur, though here he draws focus away from King Arthur and in order to concentrate on his most famous knight: Sir Lancelot. There is a huge amount of material that makes up the saga of Lancelot's life, and naturally Talbott can only mine a fraction of it, choosing to end the story on a relatively happy note and avoid the tragedy that follows. Though the text may be a bit wordy for some younger readers, it still captures a fair chunk of Lancelot's early life, and can be considered a good introduction to more weighty adaptations of his story, such as Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Sword and the Circle and T.H. White's The Ill-Made Knight. As a baby, Lancelot is saved by the Lady of the Lake after his parents' kingdom is overthrown, and when he comes of age he travels to Camelot to become one of the Knights of the Round Table. Swearing his loyalty to King Arthur and becoming the favored champion of Queen Guinevere, Lancelot roams the land in search of adventure. After the usual rescuing damsels, slaying giants and battling false knights, Lancelot is drawn to a haunted tower, where a beautiful maiden called Elaine is cursed to sit day and night in a burning bath, awaiting a champion. From here the story goes on to include the killing of a dragon, Lancelot's madness and wandering in the wilderness, the Holy Grail, and his marriage to Elaine, ending on a hopeful note with the birth of Galahad. Talbott chooses to keep the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot to a minimum, which has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, young readers are not bogged down by themes of adultery, guilt and vengeance, on the other, the onset of Lancelot's madness is not his forbidden love for Guinevere, but rather his shame that he's become Elaine's champion instead of the Queen's without her permission. After Guinevere chides him for: "dishonoring me and the court!" Lancelot jumps out of a nearby window, a scenario which not only casts Guinevere in a negative light, but which makes Lancelot seem a bit of a drama queen. Still, the real strength of Talbott's retellings have always been his bright and vivid illustrations. There are beautiful vistas here of Guinevere's springtime maying, complete with a May Pole and petals strewn on the ground, in which the pastels of the idyllic meadow is encroached by the black and purple knights of Melegrans. Later, a bedraggled and beaten Lancelot dwells in a murky, grey forest, where birds and deer quietly dwell in the mists. Finally, Lancelot and Elaine are married in the sunset colors of mauve and gold, rowing across a glassy lake to their isle of Joyous Garde. Talbott has a mastery over his palette of colors, making this array of images just as iconic and memorable as any famous renderings of King Arthur and his kingdom. The pictures are not short on blood and gore when need be (though it's never gratuitous) and Tallbott pays especial attention to shields and insignias (from Arthur's golden dragon to Melegrans' black falcon), lending the illustrations a sense of both authenticity and otherworldliness. His horses are graceful, his dragon terrifying, his knights manly and his maidens winsome. With just the right blend of mystery and clarity in both the prose and the illustrations, this is another excellent rendering of a Camelot legend for a young reader.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lancelot as a Young Man,
By
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This review is from: Lancelot (Books of Wonder) (Hardcover)
The story of Lancelot has inherent issues when presenting it to children. The story of his affair with Guinevere raises difficult questions. Hudson Talbott wisely avoids these questions by covering Lancelot's life from his birth till his marraige to Elaine and the birth of their son, Galahad. Not surprisingly, how Elaine convinces Lancelot to marry her is not explained. Hudson Talbott does a very good job of presenting Lancelot's character to young children. Recommended.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sir Lancelot,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Lancelot: Tales of King Arthur (Books of Wonder) (Library Binding)
If you like knights, monsters, castles and warriors like I do you should read Sir Lancelot by Hudson Talbot. He is a famous warrior that stops evil men and protect its kingdom.
In the beginning of the book Lancelot is born and he grows into a man and becomes a knight of the round table. He gets into a fight with his mom and becomes angry and jumps out the window. He went into the woods and got lost! His mother found him unconscious. She cures him and his wife had a baby. Look in your local library to find Sir Lancelot!
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