Knight's Castle

By Edward Eager and N. M. Bodecker

Book two in the series called "truly magic in a reader's hands" by Jack Gantos, Newbery Medal winner for Dead End in Norvelt.

If the old toy soldier hadn’t come to life, Roger would never have discovered the magic.

And that would never have happened if he and his sister, Ann, hadn’t been sent to stay with their bossy cousins for the summer. And that wouldn’t have happened at all if their father hadn’t gotten sick and gone into the hospital. But all of that did happen, and now Roger, his sister, and their cousins find themselves in a bygone world of chivalry and knighthood, of Robin Hood and Ivanhoe.

In this knightly realm they can make a difference—and perhaps even save the person they most need to save—if only they are smart and brave enough, if only they are true to their hearts.

This funny and gentle classic series is an enjoyable read-aloud and also a strong choice for independent reading. For fans of such favorite series as The Penderwicks and The Vanderbeekers.

Enjoy all seven of the middle grade novels in Edward Eager's beloved Tales of Magic series!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 31, 1999
• ISBN: 9780547892580

Edward Eager

Edward Eager (1911–1964) worked primarily as a playwright and lyricist. It wasn’t until 1951, while searching for books to read to his young son, Fritz, that he began writing children’s stories. His classic Tales of Magic series started with the best-selling Half Magic, published in 1954. In each of his books he carefully acknowledges his indebtedness to E. Nesbit, whom he considered the best children’s writer of all time—“so that any child who likes my books and doesn’t know hers may be led back to the master of us all.”

Reviews for Knight's Castle

[thestartrekkie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good fantasy from the Magic Books for anyone who is like a Knight and wants to build a Castle.

[mutantpudding · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Didn't make a lot of sense as far as the plot went, but easy to read and pretty funny. I only ever read Half Magic and Magic by the Lake before and didn't really know these other books in the series existed.

[kaitanya64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ann and Roger must stay with their cousins in Baltimore for the summer while their father is in the hospital. They, along with their cousins Eliza and Jack, discover that the toy castle in Roger's bedroom not only appears to be a portal to another place and time, but that in that place, the children have substantial influence and responsibility. They find it's not easy to be heroes, but that with pluck and perserverance, they can change circumstances and situations for the better. We enjoyed reading this book as a family. While clearly set in an earlier time, it was not dated. The themes of responsibility and sibling love and rivalry were fresh and realistic.

[pitjrw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My third grade teacher read this to our class. She always read to us immediately after recess. In retrospect it seems like an effective strategy for letting a bunch of 11 year olds calm down without placing unrealistic expectations on our abilities to be attentive to the building blocks of education. I had a vivid memory of how much I enjoyed the story and her reading it to me but little memory of the details of the plot or even the title of the book. I also do not remember if I had actually read Ivanhoe at that point or not. Even then I was a voracious reader and loved tales of knights. In any case Ivanhoe either already was or was to become one of my childhood favorites as well. It was not until 50 years later that I discovered this was the book of my memory.

[ashleymiller-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

According to Goodreads, Knight’s Castle is the second book of this series. I don’t believe it makes any difference in which order you read these first few books. However, I enjoyed reading Half Magic first and would have preferred to read Magic by the Lake afterwards just because the characters are the same. If you don’t mind a change of characters back and forth than I would just read them in the order Goodreads has listed. The only detail you miss if you skip this book is that Martha and Katherine are the mothers of the children in this book.

I thought Knight’s Castle was an okay book. I liked others in this series much more, but it would be a great book for anyone who really likes castles and the medieval era. I didn’t much enjoy the medieval speech much either and their was a lot of it. I’m not sure if younger children would even be able to understand the speech very well.

I really enjoyed the characters and thought they were well described right away, especially Roger and Ann. If you ever read Half Magic their mother is Martha. Also, their cousins, Jack and Eliza were well described and they are the children of Martha’s sister Katherine. It was very interesting to know that they are the children of the characters from the first Tales of Magic book. However, their parents don’t play much of a role in this novel. I was looking forward to hearing more about the adventures of Martha, Katherine, Jane, and Mark, but I wasn’t entirely disappointed. I just get so familiar with a set of characters that I enjoy reading about them again, and it is harder to start over with new characters.

The plot was pretty interesting and I will say that I believe this novel is written more for younger boys than girls, whereas Half Magic was pretty gender neutral. There are a lot of battle scenes (not too gruesome, but a part did mention heads being chopped off) and discussions about witches, magic, relationships, and marriage. Nothing that should be too inappropriate for younger children. Always reading the book yourself before giving or reading it to your child is always a good idea.

One of the great things about the story are all the literary references that Eager throws into his novel. In this book Ivanhoe and Robin Hood are part of the story. If a child likes these particular characters or wants to know more about them it’s a great way to get them to read more books.

Overall, it was a good book and I did enjoy it, but it’s not my favorite. I believe that it would be a great book for a younger boy, or anyone who enjoys great adventures and loves castles and knights!

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is in the "modern" sequence of the two interlocked generations of childrenin his first four fantasy novels, and involves the children getting into Ivanhoe, which was delightful for me since by the time I read it (rather later than I read some of the others in this series) I had already read Ivanhoe and shared the children's feeling that Ivanhoe should have married Rebecca instead of Rowena (socially impractical as that would have been in the real period of Ivanhoe).

[schant-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought I'd read this as a kid but couldn't remember so bought it on-spec. It was the one i'd read and was really good fun.

[satyridae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm pretty sure that this book is part of the reason I never read Ivanhoe. The noble work. It's a fun romp, a mash-up of all sorts of classics and tropes. The kids are the second generation of our friends from Half Magic. The magic is different, of course. Magic is always different. Not as great as I remembered, but still a ripping good tale.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Roger and Ann’s father finds out he is ill, the family must travel with him to Baltimore while he receives medical treatment. Roger and Ann move in with their cousins, Jack and Eliza, and spend their days playing with a knight’s castle and toy soldiers. Roger’s older toy soldier comes alive and with a bit of magic he sends Roger into an unknown land. The children soon all travel into the world they’ve built with their toys and they must learn to navigate the territory which holds Robin Hood and Ivanhoe. I was strongly reminded of the Narnia book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Eager’s series is fun because each book holds adventure and life lessons for the kids. Start with Half Magic and then keep reading!  

[jennorthcoast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was one of my two favorite books as a child, with its time travel, wonder and fantastic plot. Always worth re-reading.

[bexaplex · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Four cousins are transported to a yeomanly land of knights and castles populated with their own action figures. I have a feeling this would make a lot more sense if I'd ever read Ivanhoe.

[owan_17 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Imagine your a child again, playing with dolls or toy guns, imagine those houses for your dolls, and castles for your nights. Imagine one night you wake up to find the knights in your castle walking around, doing things, imagine --Knight's Castle!Beautifully well-done, to be read again.