Review: THE ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT THE GREAT and THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GIVRET THE SHORT by Gerald Morris

Morris, Gerald. The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great. Illus. Aaron Renier. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-618-77714-3. $15.00 
-- The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short. Illus. Aaron Renier. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-618-77715-0. $15.00. Ages 9 – 12

These two books are part of a larger collection called The Knights' Tales. Author Gerald Morris takes the stories and characters of Malory's La Morte D'Arthur and other Arthurian works and adapts them for elementary aged boys. He weaves the enormous corpus of Arthurian literature into short, easily digestive, often hilariously funny narratives. Each book centers around one character's adventures. As a medieval studies major, with a sizeable knowledge of Arthurian literature, Morris impressed me with his accuracy.

In Sir Givret the Short, Givret becomes a knight of Arthur's Round Table by virtue of his smarts, despite the fact that he is small of stature and lacks any real skill with a weapon. The tale is cute and believable, as Givret manages to save the day on multiple occasions using only his wit.

In Sir Lancelot the Great, Morris brilliantly manages to make many sticky issues of the Lancelot legend, such as his possibly illegitimate birth, his relationship with Guinevere, and his vanity, completely appropriate for children. Lancelot in this tale is comically obsessed with keeping his armor shiny, he cherishes his daily afternoon naps, and refuses to accept a lady's tournament token – all while maintaining his status as the greatest fighter in all the land.

Overall, Morris' tales are absolutely delightful. I enjoyed every moment of reading them and will pass them along to the first 11-year-old boy I meet! Morris has written an extensive collection of Arthurian children's books – if they are all as good as these two, I would like to read them all!

Marisa Behan