The Castle in the Attic

Introduction

The Castle in the Attic, by Elizabeth Winthrop encouraged me to try to find some more of this author’s books. Before I read this unfamiliar book, I thought that it wouldn’t appeal to me, so I decided not to read it for a while. Then, I finally didn’t have anything to read I started to read this book. Suddenly, it appealed to me and I kept reading. This is basically what happened in this book; One day William, a ten year old boy receives a large stone castle, given to him by his beloved caretaker with a small lead knight called Silver Knight or Sir Simon. One miraculous night, right before William went to bed, he took out the Silver Knight and as soon as he touched him it came alive! Then, Sir Simon showed him a token that could shrink things. The day that William’s caretaker or Ms. Phillips was to leave, William hid the chivalrous knight in a puny case with the coin and then shoots the shrink-beam to stop the caretaker from leaving. Then William puts the caretaker in the castle and she lives there. One day Sir Simon wants to reclaim his kingdom and William, who had already shrunk himself decided to go with him. One day they come to a forest where there are many apparitions and Sir Simon gets tricked by an apparition and William goes to town by himself. Many unfamiliar people tell William that he shouldn’t go to the evil wizard - or Alastor but he does anyway. When he goes to Alastor he signs up to be a fool and one day when Alastor has an audience, William decides to destroy Alastor by taking the other coin and facing the mirror. William does that and then goes back to Ms. Phillips and they grow tall again.

I recommend this book for children in grades 3-5.