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| Ian Serraillier (1912-1994) |
We are presently enjoying a few titles by Ian Serraillier (1912-1994). A schoolmaster and poet from London, Serraillier is well known for his retellings of Greek legends, folk tales, fairy tales, and Shakespeare. His writing is crisp, clear, and sophisticated. I like how he explains the pronunciation of his name:
“My name, Serraillier, is pronounced: SER (as in serpent), and if you rhyme the rest with Australia you won’t go far wrong.”
I have a few (ahem) different Shakespeare retellings on my bookshelf. I used Serraillier’s book The Enchanted Island – Stories from Shakespeare to introduce each act as we moved through Shakespeare’s original Henry V. This book is very different from Lamb’s or Nesbit’s retellings, but I found it a helpful and refreshing change of pace. Serraillier has covered eleven of Shakespeare’s plays in this book. Peter Farmer’s illustrations are outstanding, too!
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| illustration from “Death of a Dictator” by Farmer |
From joy to joy,
Nancy
Thanks for the recommendation! We'll be(gin) tackling Shakespeare soon, so this will make a good addition to the other re-tellings. Thanks for linking up!
I was not familiar with this author, but I love Greek myth and Shakespeare, so I will look into his books. Thanks for sharing.
I so enjoy being introduced to new (to me) authors. I look forward to inviting him into our home ; ) Thanks Nancy!
I loved The Silver Sword too as a younger person! I look forward to reading it again with our son. I have a version of Beowulf by Ian S. saved on my wishlist that I thought would be good for my son when he is a bit older. Thanks for highlighting this great author.
And I have NEVER even heard of this author. Will have to check him out. Thanks for the suggestions. Btw, my son was in the same Sir Gawain & the Green Knight literary analysis BW class as your daughter. It was fun to see a familiar name! ;D
Judi
I have never SEEN what Ian looks like. The last book is one of our most favorites and I've tried to collect a copy for each of my children. Still need a few more copies!