Moby Dick

Rating:
Summary: Moby Dick
Review: If you're looking for an exciting way to introduce your kids to the classics, this 'retelling'of Moby Dick is it. The author and illustrator(Lew Sayre Schwartz & Dick Giordano)manage to stay faithful to Melville's original tale while condensing it into 48 pages of adventure and danger. The interplay of the scary, cartoonlike illustrated panels and the gripping, dramatic text is perfect for kids. A 9-year-old of my acquaintance actully put his Game Boy aside to read this book. He was completely caught up in the suspense on every page. One example: a close-up drawing of a terrified Ishmael when he meets Queequeg for the first time, matched with this text, "There in the dimly lit room looms the forbidding image of Queequeg...harpoon at the ready, poised to sink its sharp head into his shaking body!!". I should add that the 9-year-old's father was also caught up in this Moby retelling, having lots of fun shouting out the story's most famous line, "Thar she blows!". A bonus is the brief bio of Melville, and information about whales and whaling, all written in an entertaining, kid-friendly manner. Kids will love this book, so will you.

Rating:
Summary: Inviting Version of Great American Classic
Review: The famous Melville story is brought to life for young readers in a comic book style rendition. This time, it is told in the third person, and does not begin, "Call me Ishmael."

An excellent introduction to the life of Melville and the adventures he had prior to writing "Moby Dick" serves as a preface. An essay on whales and whaling concludes the book, providing a context for the story.

The build-up of the mythical whale intensifies page-by-page with careful flashback and foreshadowing.

I fully recommend this version of "Moby Dick."

Anthony Trendl