Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales by Marcia Williams
Posted by Mrs. Marquez on July 23, 2008
Marcia Williams’ book Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is an excellent way to get high school students interested in the original Canterbury Tales from 1380s. The inside cover has some tips for the reader that I did not see until I had finished reading the entire book. I wish I had read this section first. It suggests readers read aloud the lines in Medieval English so that they will be able to understand the dialogue. With this in mind, the book is much easier to understand. Since this is the tale of a pilgimage from Southwark to Canterbury, I thought the table of contents was very uniquely done. Each of the storytellers is riding on horseback in the order they appear in the story. Each is holding a banner with the title of their tale and its page number. The story begins with a quick introduction of the characters. I really liked the layout of the storyboards. Williams’ illustrated this book with beautiful engaging watercolor images. Each page has a border which includes a title of the tale at the top of the page and audience comments on the outer sides of each page. Along the bottom we follow the travelers along their journey and see which pilgrim is telling the current tale. The images are so full of intricate and interesting details that this story could be read multiple times and still new details would emerge. NIne tales are included. Each pilgrim tries to outdo the previous storytellers, since the person with the best tale will earn a free dinner upon arrival at Canterbury. The tales are about love (The Knight’s Tale), dishonesty (The Reeve’s Tale), honor (The WIfe of Bath’s Tale) and justice (The Parndoner’s Tale.) When they finally arrive in Canterbury the fate of the winner of a free meal is left in the hands of the reader.
As I read this book, I was intrigued by the fact that all of the themes still easily relate to today’s society. I appreicated the format of the text boxes on each page. Stories are told in a graphic novel fashion with Medieval dialogue placed by the characters and in a separate text box below each is a modern English explanation. Students will be able to relate to this story better with the paired explanation. I also appreciated the glossary at the back of the book, although it was limited. There were quite a few words I had trouble with and I am sure teens also would appreciate more words included in the glossary. Currently there are only 12. Also these words were not in italics, bold or underlined. I had no idea they were defined in the back until I finished the entire book. At that point I felt lazy to go back and remember what pages these words appeared on. I wonder…if I felt this way…would teens take the time to go back to the story?
Overall, this was a great read. It was short (only 45 pages.) But, plan to spend some time reading this. It’s not a quick read. The Medieval English and thought provoking themes require you to dedicate sometime pondering the meaning of the tales.
