A Medieval Castle

Children's Literature

Life in a castle wasn't as gracious as the pre-Raphaelites imagined, at least according to this lively and informative book. In the first chapter, the author quotes a book on medieval manners that admonishes diners: "Pick not thine ears nor thine nostrils...Pick not thy teeth with thy knife...Spit thou not over the table...." It also mentions household items including scratchy straw that was used as toilet paper, along with the more predictable information. The first chapter is filled with interesting information about life in a castle, from the ways rooms might have looked to what happened at mealtimes and celebrations as well as what the lords and ladies wore. Surprisingly, everyday clothing was almost identical for noble men and women. Next the book describes the lives of those who make up a castle's community, from nobles to servants to peasants. In the chapter on amusements, the reader learns the difficult steps of training a falcon along with other interesting details about hunting, jousts and tournaments and making merry. Finally it tells about the castle at war—how it was attacked and how it was defended. The book is filled with interesting detail and its bibliography reflects use of primary and scholarly secondary sources. Although most unfamiliar words are defined within the text, a glossary is included with words printed in boldface that are defined in the text. Both books and Web sites are included on a list for further reference. 2003, KidHaven Press/The Gale Group Inc,
— Janet Crane Barley

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-The writing in these overviews is straightforward and a bit dry, although the layout is attractive, with a good balance of color illustration to text. Pilgrims asserts that "King Henry VIII ruled England in the 1600s." He died in 1547. While this is the only outright factual error, the treatment of the Pilgrims' relations with Native Americans is portrayed as mutually sympathetic and understanding from the get-go. The text presents the Euro-American view only, with no clear articulation beyond assertions of the Indians' great friendship for the settlers. The almost exclusive use of romanticized illustrations adds to the unwarrantedly rosy view of life in the New World. This is a pity as a reasonable amount of solid information is packed into four chapters. Still, with books like Marcia Sewall's The Pilgrims of Plimoth (Atheneum, 1986) and Kate Waters's Sarah Morton's Day (Scholastic, 1989), this title can be bypassed. Some of the same general quibbles apply to Castle. The lot of the serfs is only briefly addressed with a passing mention that their lives were brutish and short. The bulk of the four chapters focuses on the life of the nobility, presented in a pleasantly sanitized form-it all seems like life now, just with no flush toilets or cars. The illustrations do enhance the text, but cannot bring it up to the level of Christopher Maynard's Days of the Knights (1998) or Christopher Gravett's Castle (2000, both DK).-Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.