Don't Forget to Send A Card

England's most famous bard and its beloved patron share the day today. A birthday for William Shakespeare (he'd be roughly 440 years old had he lived) and a feast day for St. George. I have to admit, I didn't remember to send a card, but I thought a good way to acknowledge these two celebrations today was to start our school day by digging in to some good literature. At breakfast we sat down with Margaret Hodges' retelling of Saint George and the Dragon. Beautifully illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Margaret Hodges is a favorite in our house and the Saint George book is no exception. The language is so evocative! Here is an excerpt which became Ben's copywork today

"Then dawn chased away the dark, a lark mounted up to heaven, and up rose the brave knight with all his hurts and wounds healed, ready to fight again. When the dragon saw him he began to be afraid. Still he rushed upon the knight, mouth gaping wide to swallow him whole. And the knight's bright weapon, taking advantage of that open jaw, ran it through with such strength that the dragon fell dead, breathing his last in smoke and cloud. Like a mountain he fell, and lay still. The knight himself trembled to see that fall, and his dear lady did not dare to come near to thank her faithful knight until she saw that the dragon would stir no more."

Pretty gripping breakfast reading, eh? The boys love this book and seemed hooked on every word. Even Charlie!

After cleaning up our shields and swords, er, bowls and spoons, we headed to the couch to read Romeo and Juliet out of our well worn copy of Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. This brother and sister team had quite an "interesting" life but managed to author this collection of 20 prose adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, which are wonderfully accessible to young kids. You can read it for yourself online here. Well, what are you waiting for? I know you're a sucker for those star-crossed lover stories. Go on, read it! And have a piece of cake today, too. Maybe some ale. There's lots to celebrate.