\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Knight-and-Dragon-deP-300x243.jpg\") <\/td>\n | In Tomie DePaola\u2019s The Knight and the Dragon<\/i> (Puffin, 1998), a cluelessly innocent knight and dragon realize that they\u2019re supposed to fight each other \u2013 so each resorts to how-to books, then to solitary practice. The dragon makes fearsome faces in the mirror and swishes his tail; the knight accumulates a stock of armor and weapons. The fight, which it\u2019s clear nobody is enthusiastic about, is a flop; and the pair are saved by the arrival of a friendly medieval librarian with books that show them how to share their real talents. For ages 4-8.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Knight-at-Dawn-204x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Mary Pope Osborne\u2019s The Knight at Dawn<\/i> (Random House, 1993), second in the Magic Treehouse series, Jack and Annie travel to the Middle Ages, where they encounter a castle, a feast, and a moat full of crocodiles, narrowly escape being hanged, and ultimately meet a helpful knight in shining armor. For ages 6-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n | Also see Osborne\u2019s Knights and Castles Fact Tracker<\/i> (Random House, 2000), an illustrated 128-page non-fiction companion to The Knight at Dawn<\/em>, filled with the real info on castle life. Included, for example, are accounts of castle architecture, medieval festivals and fairs, and medieval battles and sieges.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/knights-of-kitchen-table-195x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In the first of the books starring the slapstick Time Warp Trio, Jon Scieszka\u2019s Knights of the Kitchen Table<\/i> (Puffin, 2004), Joe is given a magical book as a birthday gift from his wizard uncle, and he and his two best friends are transported to King Arthur\u2019s Britain, where they are disastrously mistaken for heroes. For ages 7-9.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Sword-in-Tree-207x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Clyde Robert Bulla\u2019s The Sword in the Tree<\/i> (HarperCollins, 2000), young Shan and his mother, son and wife of Lord Weldon, are driven from their lands by Lionel, Lord Weldon\u2019s unscrupulous brother. Shan hides his father\u2019s sword in an old oak tree to keep it out of Lionel\u2019s hands and heads for Camelot, to ask King Arthur himself for justice. For ages 7-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Castle-Corona-300x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Sharon Creech\u2019s The Castle Corona<\/i> (HarperCollins, 2013) is a medieval fairytale, featuring Pia and Enzio, a pair of peasant children who have found a stolen pouch stamped with the king\u2019s seal, King Guido and Queen Gabriella and family, who live in luxury in the glittering Castle Corona, and the king\u2019s hermit advisor. By the end of the book, each \u2013 from their various stations in life \u2013 has come to understand the other a little better, and all ends \u201chappily, most of the time.\u201d For ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Igraine-the-Brave-224x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Cornelia Funke\u2019s Igraine the Brave<\/i> (Chicken House, 2006), Igraine wants to be a knight like her famous great-grandfather. On her twelfth birthday, she\u2019s given a magical suit of armor \u2013 which, disastrously, results in her parents being turned into pigs. Igraine and her brother are left to defend their castle from the evil Osmond the Greedy, protect their family\u2019s horde of magic books, and deal with the pig spell. For ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Knights-Castle-eager-202x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | In Edward Eager\u2019s Knight\u2019s Castle<\/i> (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1999), four kids \u2013 via magic, a toy castle, and an army of toy soldiers \u2013 are transported back to the days of Ivanhoe. Much of it is tongue-in-cheek \u2013 for example, the kids can change events in the magical world by re-arranging and adding things to the castle in the real world \u2013 and the action doesn\u2019t quite tie up as Sir Walter Scott had intended. A delightful read for ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Adam-of-Road-214x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n The Adam of Elizabeth Janet Gray\u2019s Newbery-winning Adam of the Road<\/i> (Puffin, 2006) is the son of Roger, a wandering minstrel; along with dog, Nick, the two travel through 13th<\/sup>-century England. Then Nick is stolen, Roger disappears, and Adam sets out to find them \u2013 which isn\u2019t easy. For ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Door-in-Wall-204x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Marguerite de Angeli\u2019s The Door in the Wall<\/i> (Yearling, 1990), originally published in 1949, young Robin had assumed that he would become a knight like his father \u2013 until an illness makes him unable to walk. His father is away at war, his mother is serving as lady-in-waiting to the queen, and \u2013 fearing the plague \u2013 the servants abandon Robin, leaving him helpless and alone. He is saved by kind Brother Luke from a nearby monastery, who teaches Robin to swim, to make and play a harp, and to find his \u201cdoor in the wall\u201d \u2013 that is, if you keep trying in the face of challenge, eventually you\u2019ll find a way to succeed. Good book and great message for ages 8-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Castle-in-Attic-204x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n In Elizabeth Winthrop\u2019s The Castle in the Attic<\/i> (Yearling, 1994), William is given a gift of a wonderful model of a castle, guarded by a little silver knight, Sir Simon, said to be under a spell. Magically, William and Mrs. Philips, the housekeeper, enter the world of the castle where \u2013 after many adventures \u2013 William manages to defeat an evil wizard and get the pair of them home again. For ages 9-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n | In the sequel, The Battle for the Castle<\/i> (1994), William and his best friend Jason return to the castle, this time to battle an army of demonic rats.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Castle-Diary-227x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n By Richard Platt, Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess<\/i> (Candlewick, 2003) is the (imaginary) 13th<\/sup>-century diary of eleven-year-old Tobias, a page, in which he describes everyday events and special occasions \u2013 a tournament, a visit from an earl. Illustrated. For ages 9-12.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Kid@Crusades-284x300.jpg\") \u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n | What if kids had kept blogs at different periods in history? Laura Scandiffio’s Crusades<\/em> (Annick Press, 2009) is that of 12-year-old Hans, growing up in the Holy Roman Empire. For ages 9-12. (Great project: invent historical kids’ blogs of your own!)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Good-Masters-209x300.jpg\") <\/div>\n<\/td>\n By Laura Amy Schlitz, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!<\/i> (Candlewick, 2011), set in 1255 and subtitled \u201cVoices from a Medieval Village,\u201d tells the story of 22 different medieval characters in short, wonderful vignettes \u2013 among them Hugo, the lord\u2019s nephew, Mogg, the villein\u2019s daughter, Simon, the knight\u2019s son, Piers, the glassblower\u2019s apprentice, and Giles, the beggar. Highly recommended. For ages 10 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Catherine-Birdy-202x300.jpg\") <\/td>\n | Karen Cushman\u2019s Catherine Called Birdy<\/i> (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012) is the irreverent diary of 14-year-old Catherine, a nobleman\u2019s daughter and proto-feminist, unhappy with the suitors her father produces for her. The book begins \u201cI am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by my family.\u201d For ages 11 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n| \u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n | Other novels by Cushman set in the medieval period include The Midwife\u2019s Apprentice<\/i> (1995), Alchemy and Meggy Swann<\/i> (2010), Will Sparrow\u2019s Road<\/i> (2012), and Matilda Bone<\/i> (2000).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/book_of_boy-230x300.jpg\") <\/b><\/td>\n | By Catherine Gilbert Murdock, The Book of Boy<\/em> (Greenwillow, 2018) is the story of the strange hump-backed Boy who links up with a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus and ends up traveling across Europe, attempting to find (and steal) the seven precious relics of Saint Peter. Imaginative, unforgettable, and a multiple award-winner. For ages 9 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Badger-Knight-211x300.jpg\") <\/b><\/b><\/td>\n | In Kathryn Erskine\u2019s The Badger Knight<\/i> (Scholastic, 2013), 13-year-old Adrian is both small for his age and an albino (\u201cpuny, sickly, and pale as milk\u201d) \u2013 but nonetheless, even though his father wants him to become a scribe, Adrian wants to be an archer. When the Scots invade England, Adrian runs away to join his best friend Hugh \u2013 and finds that war is not as simple or as straightforward as he had believed. A coming of age story for ages 10-13.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rebeccaruppresources.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/the-inquisitor-s-tale-201x300.jpg\") <\/b><\/td>\n | In Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale<\/em> (Puffin, 2018), travelers gather at an inn in France one night in 1242 to hear the tales of three magical children. A richly researched adventure for ages 11 and up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |