A Year in a Castle (Time Goes By)

As a classical educator, I tend to keep towards the best samples of writing and art I can find, but sometimes there are other books that have their place.

"A Year in a Castle" skips through the year (meaning it doesn't cover every month) telling a brief story -- moving in, wedding, Christmas, siege, etc -- and asking if your child can find this and that, but also suggesting your child keep his eyes out for the thief, check on what the prisoner is up to, and think about how each of these characters might tell their story of their life in the castle. With the break away sections to peek-a-boo at all aspects of life, it makes it easy to ask your child to tell you stories about the different people, to engage the imagination while introducing basic castle words (such as "bailey") and basic castle life. We had a lot of fun with this one

This book is probably best for the 4-5 year old set as there is a big of explaining to do about some of the pictures (the prisoner in particular is a tough concept for a younger child). There is also a siege and some destruction of the castle which might be upsetting to a more sensitive child (and a very small picture of covered up bodies which my son hasn't even noticed). But the detail is great and my 2 and 1/2 year old loves to look at it even though he doesn't understand much of what's going on. One of the irritating things about it is that the center of the castle, where much of the interesting activity takes place, is right in the center fold of the book. It's impossible to see it in detail because of this.

I ordered this book for my two youngest grandsons, but once I had it in my hands I was so amazed and fascinated that I'm having a hard time passing it on. This is easily the most creative, detailed and totally involving book I have ever seen. The concept of depicting the same view of the castle through successive seasons and events, and following the activities of the people inside and outside the castle, is brilliant! It's such fun to look for specific characters, or to peek into the interior and see how the servants, knights, cookstaff -- even the clever prisoner -- are behaving. There is no award high enough for this level of imagination and production. I am so excited to order other books in this series, but I expect they will be as difficult to give up when they arrive!

I found one of these books in the Library "A Day in the City" and brought it home with in the day everyone of my children 20 years to 6 years had throughly scoured the book to find all the things that were recorded with in, It even entertained myself as I read it and searched the pictures with my youngest. I have since brought home "A Year on a Pirate Ship", "A year on a Farm" and "A Year at a Construction sight." I highly recommend this series of book for any family.

It gets two stars because some of the text is really good for kids. I will use it. But it could have been done much better. Every page has pretty much the same overall view of the castle, just with different things going on. I never imagined that they wouldn't show the castle from different angles and close-ups. It is very hard to keep a child's interest when the scene is so similar on each page.

Unfortunately, the book contains a scene in which a monk is stashing gold and treasures beneath the altar in the chapel. If you don't mind such anti-Christian motives, then disregard this review . If you do, however, care that your children are not infused with subtle bigotry, avoid this book.

I purchased the castle and the construction site book for my 5 yo for Christmas, and they are some of his favorite books. He and I both love that he can look through the book and search for things on his own. I like that we can look together for fun scenes. I also really appreciate that the books are not hardcover. They will be great for a plane ride. In fact, I'm planning on purchasing several more for an international trip that we are taking.

I chose this book after comparing several similar books and their reviews. I was looking for something with a lot of engaging illustrations, to be a fun supplement for my 4th grader who has been doing an in depth study of the middle ages. The whole family has had time and opportunity to look through the entire book more than once. And, while it was interesting the first and maybe second time, I would say it loses its appeal after that. I wish I had found it at our local library and just borrowed it for a couple of weeks. It either needs a story (there is sort of a storyline, but it is not written out on each page, only introduced at the beginning), or it needs much more depth of detail in the illustrations. Maybe it is more appropriate for kindergarten or first grade.

great combination of elements: "I Spy" play, medieval castle (the theme of our son's bedroom) and cross-section displays (which I love). warning: it does contain some violence, as the castle comes under siege. all cartoonish, nothing explicit of course, but you may have to explain warfare and people wanting to hurt each other with pointy weapons. not a problem in our family, with a 4-year old who loves guns and swords.

I got this for my 6 year old son, who is really into knights, kings and castles. He has spent hours reading it and looking it over and acting out what goes on in the book.