Beowulf by James Rumford

I recently picked up James Rumford's Beowulf: A Hero's Tale Retold (2007) and found it an interesting read. The book--both written and illustrated by Rumford--offers young readers a simplified and non-gory version of Beowulf that makes several attempts for a more "authentic" version of the story. The costumes, arms and armor, architecture and decoration are suitably early medieval in appearance, and the text itself both uses keenings and employs a lexicon of words primarily derived from Old English. Rumford details his approach to the book in an author's note that concludes the work and on his website. This is definitely something to consider for the young medievalists on your holiday shopping lists.