KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
adapted by Marcia Williams & illustrated by Marcia Williams
Williams (Sinbad the Sailor, 1994, etc.) continues her popular series of folklore classics in comic-book-style strips with text at the base and dialogue balloons in the pictures. Each spread is a separate mini-chapter on an aspect of the Arthurian legend: One is dedicated to ``King Arthur,'' another to ``Excalibur,'' one for ``Morgan le Fay,'' and so on to ``Camelot'' and the tournament celebrating Galahad's success. With plenty of adventure, this is a grand introduction to the genre, although the characterization of Elaine (dumb), Morgan le Fay (evil), and the Lancelot-Guinevere entanglements (glossed over) may be a little too rigidly traditional for some modern readers. Williams, featuring the knights and other players as well as King Arthur, has selected appropriate versions of the various episodes and kept the text brief and flavorful. Whether such an epic cycle does well in such a domesticated guise is a matter of taste, but it looks destined for success in collections everywhere. (Picture book. 7-12)