Arthur, High King of Britain

 

A boy sets out to hike across the sea bed at low tide to an island not too far offshore, determined to prove that he could make it there and back again alive. A short doze in the sunshine on the island and a sudden fog, however, leaves him in dire straits. Trapped on a sandbank, the sea closes in all around him. He is a strong swimmer, but the sea current is certain to drag him down into its depths. The last thing he thinks in the cold, dark water is that Heaven will be warm and dry. Then he awakens in bed, a roaring fire burning nearby. He is in a grand hall and sitting by the fire is an old man with his dog. The old man is the legendary warrior King Arthur, and as he recovers by the fire, the boy hears the most magnificent stories of heroic knights and deeds of great chivalry, but also bewitchment, evil, and betrayal at Camelot. Together, Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman succeed in presenting the well-known legends in a way that is both captivating to read and a delight to the eye.