Come to the castle! A visit to a castle in thirteenth-century England

Linda Ashman

Book - 2009

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Subjects
Genres
Stories in rhyme
Picture books
Published
New York : Flash Point/Roaring Brook 2009.
Language
English
Main Author
Linda Ashman (-)
Other Authors
S. D. Schindler (illustrator)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
unpaged : col. ill. ; 23 x 29 cm
ISBN
9781596431553
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

What's bored royalty to do? If you're the Earl of Daftwood, you throw a party complete with a grand feast and jousting. And if you're the Earl of Daftwood's staff, you groan and fret because nothing is more troublesome than a party. Using various rhyming schemes, Ashman begins with the Earl and then shifts the point of view to his various underlings as each describes their preparations, and in doing so give a sense of what it was like to live in a thirteenth-century English castle. The rhymes have an appropriate leisurely pace energized by clever couplets such as this sentiment from the Cleaning Servant: Scatter the rats. Now it's perfectly clean / Or at least good enough; we're not serving the Queen! The intricate artwork portrays the revelers as a bit grotesque and uses ornate framing and lettering to surround such humorous cutaways as the bedrooms of various social classes and the long drop-tunnel leading to the Gong Farmer (the guy who scoops the poop). Quirky, sarcastic, and rather educational, too.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2009 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-5-In the vein of Laura Amy Schlitz's Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Candlewick, 2007), Ashman offers voices of several characters within the castle of a bumbling earl as he decrees that he will hold a tournament and a banquet. What this actually means is that his staff will plan the events and suffer the consequences as they clean up after the visiting nobles. The story is straightforward; what is interesting here are the multiple perspectives in rhyming poems that drive the narrative and the humorous artwork filled with period details. Schindler fills the pages with color, from the illustrations themselves to the illuminated borders and drop-cap letters that echo medieval texts. Ashman's poetry holds together well, only occasionally dropping the meter. Endnotes offer historical facts about the roles of each of the characters, from the steward to the "gong farmer," whose job was to clean the privy. In fact, the gong farmer is the most captivating character in the book: his poem and illustration are laid out length-wise to show the drop from the privy to where the mess eventually ends up. While for a younger audience and not as useful in a classroom context as Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!, this book presents more details to expand on the period, and browsers will be enchanted by the illustrations.-Alana Abbott, James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

This picture book in verse depicts life in a medieval castle, the grandeur and filth, indulgence and hard work. Perspective shifts from person to person, earl to herald to servant. The text's humor and specific detail are echoed in Schindler's ornate pictures, done in the style of an illuminated manuscript. A closing note explains more about medieval life. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Wit meets historical accuracy in a pitch-perfect mix of laugh-out-loud text and entertaining image. When the Earl of Daftwood decides to plan a tournament, everyone from the Steward to the Gong Farmer (also known as "Privy Lord") is going to say what they think of itand little is good. Told in rhyming monologues, the story of the tournament contains facts about life within a 13th-century English castle's walls. A knight bemoans the uncomfortable clothing he must wear: "I see little, hear nothing, itch and perspire. / I pray I don't rust before I retire." Schindler's pictures are clever odes to the illuminated manuscripts of yore. Whether he's bedecking his curlicues with a cook's questionable ingredients or turning a jester into a letter, these pictures are all worth examining closely, at times approaching Brueghelian riot. Sadly, no bibliography appears at the end, although the author's note refers to what must have been considerable research. In spite of that, this simpler version of Laura Amy Schlitz's Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (2007), illustrated by Robert Byrd, remains an informative delight bound to find its audience. (Informational picture book. 5-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.