Canterbury Tales

by Barbara Cohen (Adaptation), Trina Schart Hyman (Illustrator)

Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. "The Canterbury Tales" gather twenty-nine of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble plowman. A graceful modren translation facing each page of the text allows the contemporary reader to enjoy the fast pace of these selections from "The Canterbury Tales" with the poetry of the Middle English original always at first hand.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Medieval, Childrens, Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Literature

87 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 1988

About the author

Barbara Cohen (1932-1992) was the author of several acclaimed picture books and novels for young readers, including The Carp in the Bathtub, Yussel's Prayer: A Yom Kippur Story, Thank You, Jackie Robinson, and King of the Seventh Grade.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The marvelously talented children's writer Barbara Cohen, author of such wonderful stories as Seven Daughters and Seven Sons and Molly's Pilgrim , turns her attention to the work of 14th-century author Geoffrey Chaucer, sometimes known as the 'Father of English Literature,' in this wonderful collection of adapted tales. The equally talented Trina Schart Hyman, who won the Caldecott Medal for her Saint George and the Dragon , contributes the accompanying artwork here. Cohen retells four of the twenty-four stories from Chaucer's immortal Canterbury Tales , keeping fairly faithfully to the original narratives, but changing the language and structure quite a bit for today's young reader. The stories included, all told in prose, rather than poetry, are: The Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale, The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale, The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale, and The Franklin's Prologue and Tale. An afterword gives more information about how Cohen adapted these medieval stories...

As someone who loves Chaucer's Canterbury Tales , which I have only ever read in the original Middle English, I was curious to see what I would make of Cohen and Hyman's interpretation. I love both author and illustrator here, so I had high hopes, and I was not disappointed. The narrative here is engaging, and the artwork simply beautiful! Given the adult content of so many of the stories in the original, it would have been easy for a children's adapter to change, not just the outward trappings of these selections, but some of the bawdier details as well. Apparently this was done quite frequently in 19th-century children's adaptations of Chaucer. Cohen resists that impulse however, and her retellings feel faithful, while also seeming fresh and appealing to the more modern temper. I appreciated the selection of tales here, as at least two of the stories - The Nun's Priest's Tale and The Wife of Bath's Tale - can be read in conjunction with other, related works of literature and storytelling. The former is a retelling of the Reynardian story of Chanticleer and the Fox , while the latter is an Arthurian story with striking parallels to that of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady . Given that this is so, teachers and homeschoolers working on a unit on medieval English, or medieval letters in general, could use Cohen's text, together with a retelling of these two other stories, to create a lesson on the interconnected, intertextual nature of literature in the period.

I did enjoy Cohen's Canterbury Tales, and I thought Trina Schart Hyman's accompanying artwork was stunning. Her illustrations of the entire cast of pilgrims was amazing, as was her specific portrait of each storyteller included by Cohen. Unfortunately, other than these paintings, as well as four others illustrating each of the four stories, there were no other visuals. Personally, I would have liked there to be more - perhaps a few paintings per tale? As it is, there are many stretches with just text, making this more of an illustrated text, than a picture-book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although I do think that the length and maturity of theme makes this a book better suited for older children, middle grades and above, but it is regrettable that there wasn't more from Hyman. Leaving aside that criticism, this is one I would recommend to anyone looking for a children's adaptation of Chaucer, as well as to fans of Trina Schart Hyman. Needless to say, once one is old enough, the reader should read the original (and I do mean the original Middle English, rather than the modern translation), something Cohen herself hoped for, in her afterword.

[Marquise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this 3 stars for the decent and faithful to the original, but not quite that good, summed-up adaptation of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cohen, but I award five stars to the stupendous illustrations by Hyman, even though they're not as many as I'd hoped, nor as grand as her work for other popular fairy tales. I suspect the book would've been better received if it had been more lavishly illustrated, because the artwork is rather sparse and doesn't seem to have been subject to much consideration, maybe because of availability of the artist.

[Becca Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own 4 copies of Canterbury Tales and they sit on my shelf intimidating me. I finally allowed myself to pick up this gorgeous youth edition (gorgeously illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman) and read it allowed to my children. From the prologue my 3 daughters (ages 7, 9 & 11) and I were entranced by the humorous and thought provoking tales. I kind of want to reread this edition and I also kind of want to just pickup Chaucer and see if I can tackle it a page at a time.

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this rendition of some of the Canterbury tales. Of course, I read the original but it's good to see that they have a mini version for young readers to appreciate these great stories and advance to the original work in their near future. This author did a great job describing the characters through their conversational prologue at the beginning of each tale guiding herself with the character descriptions from the original source. She kept true to the stories with a more modern language although emitting large portions of the tales but maintaining its authenticity. The illustrations are truly a work if art. I recommend this book to older children she to the nature of the stories.

[Heaven Ashlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be completely honest, I read (and analyzed) most, if not all, of the original Canterbury Tales in college but I couldn't tell you anything about it besides the fact that it's a bunch of people traveling together and they all tell a story.

So I picked up this short illustrated version from the library because I thought "why not". It was short, easy to understand language while still encompassing paragraphs that would leave a person breathless reading out loud. It was obviously edited slightly for a younger audience, but not as much as one would expect.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chaucer for children? That is why we purchased this book at the recommendation of our homeschool curriculum. This book contains four of the tales, with their prologues and introductory material. The stories are:
* The Nun's Priest's Tale
* The Pardoner's Tale
* The Wife of Bath's Tale
* The Franklin's Prologue

The idea of teaching these stories at the dialectic (junior high) level intrigued me. My (admittedly limited) exposure to Chaucer had inclined me to see his admirable writing as full of mature themes. Satire, irony, and innuendo clothe a discerning criticism of society, class, faith and church.

Cohen's adaptation successfully captures Chaucer, and reveals I do remember some things accurately (oh, joyful encouragement!). Beautiful period illustrations complement the text.

However, even with the guidance of our home school curriculum, I just could not find our dialectic students ready for the material. We are in the early side of dialectic, maybe later junior high or high school? I suspect they might prefer a text with an increased number of the Tales, and these adolescent readers are sensitive about the large book format. To an adult, it says "coffee table", but to a teen it says "juvenile". Myself being of the adult persuasion, I found Cohen's effort a wonderful refresher in Chaucer. A palatable read to enjoy with a nice, hot drink. It's a lovely book that simply didn't work for our purposes, which is probably more the fault of the home school curriculum (who I generally adore).

Therein lies the quandary. What is the market? The serious student of Chaucer will want more Tales, regardless of the lovely presentation, and the introductory student, likely to appreciate the period illustration, will require less of the mature themes. But if you want a gorgeous presentation of a few Tales to enjoy occasionally, or impress your literary friends, this may be the perfect version for you!

[Elizabeth Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my full review on my blog: https://izzyreads.blog/2020/08/10/can...

When I purchased this book on Amazon, a year ago, I thought it was all the Canterbury Tales and the original version. Not a version that is made for young readers to understand and get a general idea of Chaucer. This is my fault! This is all a me problem and not the book problem.

I found that the way the prologues are done to be awkward. They mention tales that the reader will not read in this bind up, I found myself being confused by this. I know that I did not go into too much detail about what the tales are actually about but when they are around ten pages long I feel like there is not much that I can say without spoiling it.

Should I find a copy of the actual Canterbury Tales to read it? If so, do you have a certain one that you recommend? Again, everything here is a me problem so I felt like I should just give the book an average rating of a three star.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit too wordy for the kids' attention span. clear, modern language makes Chaucer more readable today, but definitely meant for a more older audience than my 11, 8, and 6 year olds.

[Carfig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prose retelling of four tales: The Nun's Priest Tale, in which a rooster doesn't heed his hen's dream warning danger; The Pardoner's Tale, in which three gamblers try to beat Death at his own game; The Wife of Bath's Tale, in which an errant knight must discover what women want most (to rule over their husband/lover); and The Franklin's Tale, in which a faithful wife makes a bargain with a besotted squire. Nicely phrased in the last tale: Love can't be restrained by domination. When one person tries to rule the other, love flies out the window. Love is as free as a spirit. Women naturally want liberty. They don't want to be tied down like slaves, and neither, to tell the truth, do men."

It seems like something is lost in the prose form, and some editing of the pardoner's rants would be nice, but the prose reads well and is definitely easier to understand than the original poem.

The illustrations make the book, of course.

[Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adult desiring a reintroduction to the Canterbury Tales before digging into the full version, I appreciated this. However, it's hard to know how or when to use this with students.

It's a long, beautifully illustrated picture book, but the themes are mature. There's rape, abuse, marriage troubles, etc. as well as satirical comments about religion and the above-mentioned topics. Four of Chaucer's stories are included (with individual prologues):
-The Nun's Priest's Tale
-The Pardoner's Tale
-The Wife of Bath's Tale
-The Franklin's Tale

I read this with my high schoolers and while it appeared juvenile and probably felt so to them due to format and illustrations, the text does not seem appropriate to read with kids younger than high school. This makes it very difficult to rate.

For my personal use, I would rate it with four stars. But due to its ambiguity for students' use, I'll leave it with three.

[T.J. Puritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent retelling of the Canterbury tales for younger readers. The true essence of each of the four stories has been captured by Cohen. we actually read this along with the more traditional versions of the stories and the meanings of each of the tales were preserved. I never had to read this in school so it was interesting to find such a controversial book having been written in the 14th Century. The Wife of Bath - WOW! Thankfully, Cohen does an excellent job of glossing over the more adult details of her story. However you use this book, whether with younger children or just to get a better understanding before leaping into Chaucer’s original, it is quite fun! The tales are like Aesop’s Fables with humans.

[Rachel N · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assigned by our homeschool group, I went into reading this story blindly with my 11yo, having never read any Chaucer myself. I give 3 stars only because the subject matter seemed too mature for an elementary student. There's a lot to unpack - drunkenness? Deception and trickery by an old woman to marry a younger? Wooing another man's wife and the wife nearly giving in to the temptation while her husband is away? I definitely see the value with an adult or a high schooler and the real discussions that could ensue, but a little much for the target age of this edition.

[Megan]

CURRICULUM: RR/Classics

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shelved at the library as a juvenile book, but it’s not. Only “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” (Chauntecleer) would I share (like an Aesop) or “The Pardoner’s Tale” (folklore- your sins will find you out)

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great retellings, had to edit a bit for the age of my boys, better suited to slightly older.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellie read for AO Y7...KRB 3/10/21
Jacob read this last year.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lively Chaucer retelling for the modern reader. Thankfully not as bawdy and many laughs.

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrated version of the classic Canterbury Tales. My kids and I read this in our Classical Dialectic homeschool literature studies.

[Emilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit, I was kind of dreading having to read this as a family read-aloud for the boys’ school, but it actually wasn’t too bad!

[Laura Battle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to Chaucer. Lively illustrations and wee done translations.

[Kevin Demel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't find any of these tales interesting

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking Day Finland 2025

[♥♣Mary♦♠ If She So Pleases · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is charming and will make a great addition to any library. Now, I don't recommend this particular book for easily influenced and emotional small children because of the mentality they had then about say... women, wife beating, rape, submission, domination, sex, food, and drink. Try explaining that to your children. The author retold the tales in a contemporary way to help readers enjoy the tales more than the actual language. Her purpose was also to motivate people to read the original. And since the original was written in around the late 1300's, I do recommend the original book to everyone. I grew to really appreciate the original book when I was in high school and was fortunate enough to have read it with the aid of a brilliant English teacher.

The pictures are beautiful and I really like the boarders around the pictures because they resemble the ones old illustrators used to make. The illustrator even went to Canterbury to make it as real as possible.

[Andrea M · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have to read this, read the edition selected and translated by Barbara Cohen. It is true to the original, yet understandable. This book has only four of the tales: The Nun's Priest's tale, the Pardoner's tale, the Wife of Bath's tale and the Franklin's tale. Suitable for children, which can't be said for the original version.

[Britnee Grantz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose this book because in High School I had to read the original book by Geoffrey Chaucer. Curious as to how the book had been created into a children's book. I thought the book was good however I thought the illustrations were to busy for young readers because I know I had a hard time focusing on the words rather than the pictures.

[Jewel Mcroberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this version with the 7th/8th graders. The prose was understandable and actually beautifully written. The illustrations were fantastic. I would highly recommend this as a read aloud to elementary students or independent read for 6th and up. An excellent introduction into the Canterbury Tales!!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate the fact that the author didn't want to dumb down these stories too much, I did find myself "editing" while reading aloud in a couple chapters. The spirit of the tales comes through clearly. The illustrations are beautiful.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice introduction to a few of Chaucer's better-known tales. Appropriate for upper elementary and junior highers who are not quite ready for the original verse.

[Lindalee Stahlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the SCA for a while. There was a weekend based on The Canterbury Tales. I was the only person who actually read them before the weekend.

[Foundling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trina Schart Hyman is one of my very favorite illustrators, and she does a wonderful job with the telling of some of the Canterbury Tales. This is well worth adding to your library!