The exceedingly rare 5-star review! Beawolf, by Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal artist Zach Weinersmith, is an absolutely mesmerizing re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf in graphic novel form. The story is set in a backyard treehouse inhabited by children who speak in poetry. Actually, it's just the first part of the story: the emergence of Grendel (played here by exceedingly grumpy next-door neighbor Mr. Grindle, an old man driven to fury by the joyous revelry in the treehouse next door.)
No one dies in this story. It is, after all, for kids. Instead, Mr. Grindle's touch turns rambunctious children, bursting with life, into bedraggled adults who hate their jobs, or sullen teenagers staring at their phones.
Enter Bea Wolf, valiant toddler from a far neighborhood. Epic battles ensue, complete with an ending that promises another installment featuring the next episode of the saga.
The attention to detail is remarkable. The poetry accurately captures the rhythm and cadence of the original Anglo-Saxon work, complete with caesuras and kennings aplenty (both of which are explained thoroughly in the epilogue, which I would use in class if I still taught Brit Lit). The drawings are whimsical, and the language is simultaneously accessible to young readers and chockablock full of jokes that the adults will get.
This is a book I will one day buy my grandchildren. It's that good.
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