The Highwayman

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Alfred Noyes's famous poem still has the power to thrill us as we read the story of the highwayman and his doomed love for Bess, the landlord's black-eyed daughter. This classic story of sacrifice in the name of true love has been a favorite with generations of young readers. The powerful, evocative language of Alfred Noyes's verses echoes through the centuries, complemented by Charles Keeping's dazzling illustrations which won this book the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1982.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 6 Up-Kimber's robber villain rides a mean motorcycle through the streets of New York City in this Art Deco rendering of Noyes's familiar poem of romantic tragedy. The vigorous, somewhat angular charcoal drawings in this modest, narrow volume richly convey the city night. Often they contradict the descriptive passages of text. For "The moon was a ghostly galleon/tossed upon cloudy seas./The road was a ribbon of moonlight/over the purple moor," the artist infuses his dark illustrations of city streets with shades of tan and mauve, but the red tones so prevalent in the poem appear infrequently. The skyscrapers and automobiles are far removed from Noyes's rustic setting with the "old inn-door" and the "gypsy's ribbon" road. King George's men are now machine-gun-toting tough guys, whose strong-arm tactics in tying up Bess have a kind of familiarity in evoking scenes from gangster comics and movies. Some readers will find the mismatched imagery confusing, and others are likely to be amused at the modernized interpretation. The strong rhythms and imagery and the dark tone and violence of this poetic story should continue to have wide adolescent appeal.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 7-10. The debut volume in the elegantly packaged Visions in Poetry series, a dark treatment of Lewis Carroll's The Jabberwocky, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch, earned the 2004 Canadian Governor General's Award for Illustration. This second volume likewise offers an unusual interpretation of a curriculum chestnut. Painting in an art deco style and film noir palette, Kimber casts a motorcycle-riding rebel as the highwayman; a curvaceous glamour girl as Bess; and tommy-gun toting cops as the soldiers who intrude upon the lovers' tryst. Although it may be hard for some readers to reconcile the sleek, urban imagery with the tlot-tlot of horses' hooves, the dramatic artwork plays up the elements teens will find most rewarding--particularly the protagonists' defiance of authority and the unblushingly melodramatic conclusion. Noyes' words and many of Kimber's illustrations candidly portray violence (a rope-bound Bess struggles to free herself, hands wet with sweat or blood ), so reserve this for middle- and high-school readers, who may enjoy comparing the recasting with the Kate Greenaway Medal-winning version by Charles Keeping (1983). --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2005 Booklist

Horn Book Review

The romantic anti-hero in Noyes's rhythmic, haunting ballad of doomed love is re-fashioned as a sleek, motorcycle-riding gangster in this modern version of the poem, which the artist sets in art deco-era New York City. Rendered in sepia, gray, and black, the dramatic illustrations create a film noir atmosphere, but ultimately the geometric images feel mismatched to the text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.