a mission from which nothing could disturb me.
It was an adventure of epic proportion,
my goals were quite clear, there would be no distortion.
My challenge was one book a week to be read
and to save people thinking it was in my head
I had to post one weekly blog of review,
only when I could scrounge a moment or two.
Each book was to fit a topic proposed
and each single week a challenge was posed.
But the single most challenging hill by a mile
was that all of these books must be fit for a child.
Now I won't tell a lie, some books were quite easy,
at first the whole mission did nothing but please me.
But as time wore on and the topics grew stranger
I discovered I could be in terrible danger
of giving it all up and calling it quits
because forcing time was a struggle to fit.
Though struggle I did and most books overcome
until I then found the most difficult one!
One of the topics was an epic poem.
'That's easy' I thought, though I did not know them.
My husband was quick to teach me a lesson.
"An epic poem my dear is no less than
a poem that can be the length of a play.
It's not something you can just read in a day."
I asked for examples, of which he found four
by Homer and Milton and viking folklore.
I sighed with dejection, so hard was the task.
"Where do I find the kids' versions?" I asked.
Then one sunny day in the middle of June
I turned up a book that made my heart swoon.
Inside a museum there perched on a shelf
was a copy of Beowulf sat all by itself!
The problem I faced was that I couldn't buy it
and for four more months I scrambled to find it.
For what was it's dual single blessing and curse?
It was the sole kids version written in VERSE!
Roll round to October and something so pleasant
I received a copy as a birthday present!
Sent from my sister who's not one to fail ya
she got the book in all the way from Australia!
A beautiful picture book, vibrant and bold,
which starts as a bedtime story that's told
by a Dad to his son as he drifts off to sleep
with stories left deep in his mind there to keep.
And lo and behold the young boy takes centre
of his father's stories through which he did enter.
The stories of Beowulf the strong, big and brave
who fells two great monsters (one while in her cave)!
He then goes to battle a fiery dragon
and says to his people "don't worry I'll have him."
Although he wins an incredible fight
he tragically dies of a poisonous bite.
The pictures are detailed, the language sublime,
the vocab quite tough to fit into a rhyme.
Though fit the words do, the author should be proud
as this book is a pure joy to read through out loud.
So thanks Oakley Graham for a job well done.
For kids' epic poems yours is the sole one.
And I didn't quite realise until tonight
how hard epic poetry can be to write!
Now here is my effort, a one not too tawdry,
on my year long book list this book is book 40!!!!!
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