Knights & castles 50 hands-on activities to experience the Middle Ages

Gr. 3^-6. This large-format paperback offers information and ideas for activities related to the Middle Ages. Illustrated with cartoonlike drawings in blue and purple as well as small reproductions of medieval and later works of art, the book has an accessible look. The tone of the writing is light and engaging, and the information is presented in small dollops. Readers will learn, for example, a little about Charlemagne, medieval table manners, and what "Ring Around the Rosy" has to do with the Black Death. Overall, the book gives a theme-park view of the Middle Ages, simplified and sometimes superficial. Still, the point of the book is not information, but action, and the authors have come up with many good ideas for children's activities related to the Middle Ages. There are illustrated directions for making a castle, a catapult, a knight's helmet, and rose petal bread. A short script of "St. George and the Dragon" is included, along with directions for stage fighting. A useful resource for libraries where teachers seek activities with a medieval theme. --Carolyn Phelan

Gr 3-6‘Neither a history nor a craft book but a synthesis of both, Knights & Castles makes a lively introduction to the Middle Ages. Children are invited to travel back through time and imagine life in the past. Each chapter explores a segment of medieval society (the feudal system, the life of a noble, the role of the church, etc.) and provides a selection of related activities and craft projects (e.g., make an hourglass, build a catapult, a recipe for Rose Petal Bread). Food, living conditions, and the constant warfare and its subsequent influence on how people lived and played are described. The underlying theme is that the Middle Ages was a period characterized by extreme opposites, as the ideals of the time were often in strong contrast with the realities. The text is written in a breezy tone and illustrated with a combination of line drawings and blue- or purple-ink reproductions of medieval art and woodcuts. The format is a little cluttered, but not to the point of confusion. Fun and educational, this is a worthy addition.‘Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.