Medieval Britain is a fascinating period to study, yet many school libraries are lacking in stories set during this time. Barbara Henderson – author of The Siege of Caerlaverock – has picked out her top five recommended children’s books set in the Middle Ages.
The Book of Boy is a fresh and unexpected pilgrim tale in which nothing is quite as it seems. Fans of more unusual historical accounts will enjoy this curious and emotional story.
The year is 1350. With Europe freshly recovering from years of devastating plague and violent wars, death was everywhere, and many people looked to religion or superstition to find certainty of a welcome in paradise in the next life. As a hunchback, Boy’s world changes when a strange pilgrim called Secundus requests that Boy accompany him on a pilgrimage across Europe. Boy’s job is to carry a mysterious pack containing the thumb of St Peter. Reluctant at first, Boy soon warms to his role when he realises the pack disguises his hump and makes him look like a “real boy”. As Boy spends more time with Secundus, it becomes clear that the pilgrimage is somewhat unusual. Secundus is engaged in a quest to find a list of particular relics of St Peter and, believing that finding them all will save his soul, will go to any length to recover them.
The Book of Boy is an absorbing read with a fascinating setting and relatable themes of identity, self-acceptance and the deceptiveness of appearances.
This text is an accessible, heavily illustrated and humorous take on life in the Middle Ages and I love the whole Danger Zone series. It will appeal to fans of Horrible Histories and to young readers who will learn without realising that they are learning. An excellent introduction to the topic, enabling children to imagine themselves in a medieval castle.
The granddaddy of them all – what medieval knights and castle game is not inspired in some way by Arthurian legend? This is a compelling collection of the best known Arthurian tales, retold for children and suitable for Upper Primary school.
All the Knight in Training books are excellent, entertaining and exciting young readers in equal measure. The dream team of Vivian French and illustrator David Melling weave their ample magic here: Sam J. Butterbiggins’ only ambition is to be a Very Noble Knight, but he has been packed off to the castle next door. Now he has to put up with his annoying cousin Prune, and the weird creatures his aunt looks after in her Luxury Accommodation for Dragons, Griffins and other Regal Beasts!
In a draughty castle in Scotland in the year 1300, a young laundress called Ada creeps into the tower to clandestinely deliver bread to the captured English noble Colban Graham. Unfortunately, Ada thinks she’s been spotted helping the prisoner by the cruel Castle Commander, Brian de Berclay, and he will want her head to roll. Soon, however, this becomes subsumed into a larger problem – Scotland is at war with England, Lord Maxwell is away with most of the fighting men, Caerlaverock is the first castle over the border, and King Edward is on his way to lay siege with an army of 3,000…
At only 159 pages, and mainly set over one day, this is a story that zips along like one of the arrows fired over the castle ramparts. Barbara Henderson brings the harshness of the Middle Ages so vividly to life, with all the damp and cold and stink that entails.
Fans of historical adventure fiction will love this book. An excellent introduction to the period, breathing life into a period many pupils may know little about.
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yes
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