Book Review: The Legend of Sleep Hollow by Washington Irving

Length: 33 pages
My Rating: ****--4 Stars

 Amazon Description: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving was first published in 1820 while the author was living abroad in England. The action takes place in the eponymous glen in New York State, known for its spooky goings on, and follows the rivalry of Ichabod Crane and “Brom Bones” Van Brunt for the hand of wealthy Katrina Van Tassel. When gawky Ichabod botches his chances of asking Katrina to marry him during her family’s autumn party, his dejected ride home becomes of the stuff of legend – and nightmares. Irving’s classic is an early but exceptional example of specifically American popular fiction.
 
My Review:
Such a fun, descriptive story, especially for this time of the year (Halloween/autumn). I've seen the Disney cartoon version of this story and thought I would try reading the book. I was pleasantly surprised--Irving does such a great job with words--I could visualize everything very well. Loved the descriptions!! I enjoyed it so much that I thought I would read it aloud to my younger two kids. This was a little harder to do than I imagined. It was very wordy and the language was hard for them to understand. I still enjoyed reading it again, but I had to basically interpret almost everything for them so they knew what was going on. I guess my point is, even though it almost seems like a children's book (maybe because of the Disney cartoon), it's probably more for an older reader--teen on up--because of the prose.

You can purchase it on amazon by clicking here .