The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, is a very popular–and old–book, that most of you probably already know about.  I recently re-read it on our Kindle, and I rather enjoyed it this time.  (The first time that I read it, in the 1st grade, it scared me.  Of course, that was around the time that I was constantly scared of stuff like that.)  It was first published in 1890, and has been re-written more than once so that younger readers may understand it better today.

An excerpt of the story may go something like this:

Ichabod Crane is certainly an interesting man.  He’s tall and lanky, long-armed and long-legged, and well-learned–in some ways, that is.  He looks quite a lot like a walking scarecrow, really, but enough about his looks.

He is the schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow, and possesses the talent of song.  He can often be heard walking home after dark by the small town, singing Psalms in the night.  The songs are to ward off evil creatures and spirits–fore Ichabod is really a rather superstitious sort of man, to say the least.  Of course, all that the Psalms really do is make him feel a bit better as he walks home.

And then there is the beautiful Katrina.  Katrina is the girl that Ichabod yearns for, but he isn’t the only one.  Many men have tried to win Katrina’s heart, but none have yet succeeded.  And many men are still trying when Ichabod joins in.

Then, of course, there is the trouble of Brom Bones.  Brom Bones, is a sort of bully, or ruffian of Sleepy Hollow.  He also wants Katrina’s hand in marriage.

Lastly, there is the ‘Headless Horseman’.  The Headless Horseman is something like a ghost that the small town believes comes out of his grave to ride back to the place where he lost his head.  And somehow, this headless being manages to interlope it’s way into Ichabod’s story.

Why I liked this book: The details were rich, and the story entertaining and fun to read.

Why I didn’t like this book: Despite the fact that it used to scare me when I was younger, I now rather like this story, and hope that you do too.  So I don’t really have anything that I don’t like about it.

😉