Don Quixote

Don Quixote wants to put the world right. Sancho wants to keep him safe.

Armed with a lance and everything he has learned from books about knights, Don Quixote rides out to defend the weak. He has courage to spare. What he lacks is the ability to tell a giant from a windmill, or a noble rescue from a terrible mistake.

Beside him rides Sancho Panza, a farmer who was promised an island and finds himself looking after a man almost everyone laughs at. Sancho knows his knight gets things wrong. He also knows that Don Quixote asks what he thinks, listens to his answers, and treats him as someone who matters.

That friendship is at the heart of this illustrated chapter-book adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. As the knight's blunders meet the deliberate cruelty of people who should know better, the comedy becomes more painful. It is easy to see why Don Quixote is ridiculous. It becomes harder to join in the laughter.

Written for readers ages 6-10, this abridged retelling follows both the adventures and the conversations between the knight and his squire. It gives young readers a flawed hero to argue about: someone whose wish to help can cause harm, and whose friendship can make another person feel valued. Courage, loyalty, and kindness become questions about what these two people actually do.

Twenty-two black-and-white illustrations accompany the narrative. A foreword introduces Cervantes, pronunciation guides help with Spanish names, and an afterword explores the friendship and the story's lasting influence. Read independently or together, with room to talk about when to stand by a friend and when to tell them they are wrong.

Ages 6-10 - 84 content pages - 22 black-and-white illustrations - Chapter book

Content note: Includes beatings, deliberate cruelty, death, and grief.

Also available for Ages 0-4 and Ages 3-7.