Knight Survival Guide. (Crabtree Connections). Anna Claybourne. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7877-6 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7855-4 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Civilization, Medieval-Juvenile literature. Knights and knighthood-Europe-History-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Robert Groberman. **** /4
	Want to Be a Knight? (Crabtree Connections). Paul Mason. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7867-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7845-5 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Knights and knighthood-Europe-History-Juvenile literature. Civilization, Medieval-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Robert Groberman. **** /4
	King Arthur’s Tale. (Crabtree Connections). Anita Ganeri. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7872-1 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7850-9 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Arthur, King-Juvenile literature. Britons-Kings and rulers-Juvenile literature. Great Britain-History-To 1066-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Robert Groberman. *½ /4

excerpt:

Fighting Talk
A knight’s main job is to fight, so you will need top sword skills to beat your enemy. You will also need to train for battle.

Take that! You will fight with a heavy sword. If you can lift it:
Swing if from side to side.
Use it to slash and bash! (From Knight Survival Guide.)

The Crabtree “Connections” series has added three books about medieval times and the experience of being a knight.

      In Knight Survival Guide, Anna Claybourne offers very specific information about the development of a young boy planning to be a knight. With the information laid out in short paragraphs, in lists and on coloured squares, readers learn that a seven-year-old boy leaves home to become a page in a lord’s castle, and, at 14, he can become a squire and later a knight. The colour, photographs on each page give the young reader exact illustrations of these historical times. The weaponry and armour are shown in use and not as museum pieces. Perhaps most interesting is the reference to French knights and to female knights.

      Paul Mason’s Want to be a Knight? shows readers the castles where the lords lived and the actual job that a page did at the age of seven. If he was good enough at cleaning and doing all the jobs no one else would do in the castle, by the time he was 14, he could become a squire. The photographs of squire armour for a young boy will fascinate young readers. Mason’s explanations of warhorses and chivalry, using language understandable to a grade 1, make this a book of great interest.

      Anita Ganeri’s King Arthur’s Tale tries to retell the Arthur legend in the form of a fact book, using fact boxes, short paragraphs and photographs as illustrations. The author tells readers in a fact box that “We know about Arthur from stories that were written long ago.” The rest of the book treats the story as true, and for children this young, such an approach can be confusing. The story is retold in a straightforward way, but events happen without clear previous reference. At Arthur’s death, “he told a knight called Bedivere to throw Excalibur back into the magical lake.” The only previous reference is to a “magical lake” where Arthur went with Merlin to see the Lady of the Lake. I am not sure that a young child will follow a narrative as complicated as King Arthur in this format.

Knight Survival Guide - Highly Recommended.
Want to be a Knight? - Highly Recommended.
King Arthur’s Tale - Not recommended.

Robert Groberman is a grade two teacher at Kirkbride Elementary School is Surrey, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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