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28 June 2007

The Highwayman (Visions in Poetry)

Written by Alfred Noyes; Illustrated by Murray Kimber

This book is the second in a series called Visions in Poetry. Like the other books in this series, the poems are favorites from long ago, but contemporary artists provided the illustrations. This provides a new and fresh approach that may catch the attention of today’s teens. For example, in this 1907 ballad, The Highwayman, the anti-hero rides a horse, however, in the illustrations, he is riding a motorcycle. The villains in the ballad, the redcoat troops, are dressed in long trench coats, instead of the traditional garb of the British Army. The illustrations, done in the film noir style, add to the mystique of a love affair gone wrong. The ballad is exciting to read, and the illustrations grab your attention. In the end, you can’t help but get swept up in the story.