Classic literature · Ages 0–10

Beowulf

Beowulf starts as the stranger from over the sea who saves an old king, and ends as the old king who needs saving. All three of our books follow him, from the monster in the hall to the dragon.

Choose a bookWhy we love it
Cover of Beowulf: A Toddler Book, for ages 0–4Ages 0–4Cover of Beowulf: A Picture Book, for ages 3–7Ages 3–7Cover of Beowulf: A Chapter Book, for ages 6–10Ages 6–10
An orange dragon with wide wings breathes a stream of fire from a rocky mound, in soft crayon

A page from Beowulf: A Picture Book, for ages 3–7

Why we love it

The songs.

Each night Hrothgar's people eat and sing, and out in the dark swamp Grendel hears the songs and hates the happy sounds. Once Grendel starts coming, the hall goes dark and the songs stop; once Beowulf beats him, the songs come back. The poem gives the singer a harp, and a song about how the world was made.

Toddler book, ages 0–4 ↓

Wiglaf.

When the old king goes to fight the dragon, his men turn away one by one, all but young Wiglaf, who picks up his sword and stands next to him. They meet the dragon side by side, and it is Wiglaf who holds Beowulf at the end. In the poem Wiglaf first shames the runaways with the rings their lord gave them.

Picture book, ages 3–7 ↓

The last word.

The poem ends with twelve riders circling Beowulf's burial mound, calling him the mildest and gentlest of men, the kindest to his people, and, in its very last word, the most eager for fame. In our chapter book they are still singing on the last page.

Chapter book, ages 6–10 ↓

Which book for your child?

Cover of Beowulf: A Toddler Book, for ages 0–4

Ages 0–4 · Toddler book · Read to them

Beowulf: A Toddler Book

A king with a golden hall. A beast that hates singing. And Beowulf, who crosses the sea, fights with his bare hands, and doesn’t stop until the people he came to save are safe. The heart of the story, in short strong sentences that land when read aloud.

24 pages · about 380 words · cut-paper collage

Good to know
Grendel runs off into the night and never comes back, and a dragon burns the land. The book ends at the dragon's defeat and leaves out Beowulf's death; the monsters are cartoonish.
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Beowulf, a blond boy in a brown tunic, grabs the arm of a shaggy green monster with big yellow eyes inside a wooden hall, in cut-paper collage
Beowulf grabbed the monster and held on tight. He was the strongest person Grendel had ever fought.
Beowulf raises a glowing sword toward Grendel's mother, a green, scaly monster, in a blue-green underwater cave, in cut-paper collage
Deep down he found a cave and a sword. He used the sword to stop her.
Old Beowulf in armor and young Wiglaf sit resting against a rock, a sword on the ground and the dragon's tail at the edge of the picture, in cut-paper collage
Together they faced the dragon and won! Beowulf was tired and hurt, but he had done it.
Cover of Beowulf: A Picture Book, for ages 3–7

Ages 3–7 · Picture book · Read together

Beowulf: A Picture Book

The full arc of the poem, not just the first fight. Grendel, his mother at the bottom of a cursed lake, fifty years of peace, and then a dragon. Most retellings skip the ending. This one gives your child all three fights and the loyal friend who stands with him at the end.

36 pages · about 740 words · soft crayon

Good to know
Grendel smashes into the hall and chases everyone out, his mother swears revenge, and the dragon attacks with fire and claws. After the dragon falls, Beowulf dies quietly at sunset and is honored with a funeral fire on the cliffs.
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Young Beowulf in a blue tunic holds up both open hands before old King Hrothgar, who sits by the fire, in soft crayon
He walked into the broken hall, looked at Hrothgar, and said, “I will face this monster with my bare hands!”
Beowulf bursts up out of the water holding a sword high while two friends run toward him along the rocky shore, in soft crayon
When Beowulf came up at last, his friends on the shore ran to him. “We thought you were gone!” they cried.
Old, white-bearded Beowulf rises from his seat and reaches for a mail shirt hanging on the wall, a shield below it, in soft crayon
Old Beowulf stood up. His hair was white. His hands shook. But he said, “I will go. This is my fight.”
Cover of Beowulf: A Chapter Book, for ages 6–10

Ages 6–10 · Chapter book · They start reading alone

Beowulf: A Chapter Book

In 1731 a fire nearly destroyed the only surviving manuscript. This retelling gives young readers the whole story, the golden hall, the underwater fight, the dragon, and the hardest question: what does a leader owe the people who depend on him? Includes a foreword on the poem’s history and inline pronunciation guides for the Old English names.

84 pages · about 7,300 words · 22 black-and-white drawings

Good to know
Grendel carries off sleeping warriors, his arm is torn off and hung from the rafters, and his mother drags away the king's old friend. The dragon's poisoned bite kills Beowulf.
Also inside
An afterword reads the three fights as youth, experience and sacrifice, then asks whether any of it lasted: the dragon's treasure goes into the ground with him, and only the story survives.
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Young Beowulf stands at the prow of a ship with his arms folded and his cloak blowing, in black-and-white line art
Beowulf stood at the front, watching the horizon for the first sign of the Danish shore.
Beowulf, now a crowned king, stands with his hands on his hips, in black-and-white line art
He was a good king. Not just a strong one. A good one. He protected his people.
Old Beowulf, seen from behind with sword and round shield, walks into the dark mouth of a cave, in black-and-white line art
He told the warriors to wait outside. Then he stepped into the darkness.

The original

The real Beowulf

  • Poet unknown
  • 3,182 lines of Old English
  • One manuscript, copied around 1000

It is set among the Danes and the Geats of the 500s, peoples who really lived, but a Christian poet composed it in England, and nobody knows exactly when.

When you want more

From the blog

Why We Made Beowulf for Kids

Our Beowulf books for ages 0–4, 3–7 and 6–10 all keep the three monster fights, and only the toddler book stops before the old hero's death.

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