The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True

The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True written by Gerald Morris was such a fun read and something that I think both boys and girls in elementary school would enjoy!  Morris combines humor and Arthurian legend seamlessly in a way that is easily accessible to children – especially those who want to read about knights in shining armor.

This is just one in a series of books (The Knights’ Tales) about the knights in King Arthur’s court.  Sir Gawain is known throughout the book as Sir Gawain the Undefeated, but beside courage King Arthur believes that knights should also be courteous.  What follows is an adventure in which Sir Gawain learns the importance of not only courage, but of manners as well.  Gerald Morris does a wonderful job of including this message while still creating a story that is fun to read.

This would not only be great as a short chapter book for young elementary age children, but also makes a great read-aloud which is what I plan on using it for.  I’ve been looking for a great story to read aloud to 2nd – 4th graders and I love reading something that the kids will enjoy, but might not be aware of.  This has definitely been added to the top of my list as a great read aloud story.

Although I couldn’t find a website for the author, Gerald Morris, I did find that he wrote a series called The Squires’ Tales written for an older audience, kids in middle school.  This series includes 10 books written in the same time period as The Knights’ Tales, the first being The Squires’ Tale… something I might need to check out for the weekend.

Title: The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True
Author: Gerald Morris
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Page Number: 128 pgs.