A Year in a Castle (Time Goes By)

We adore learning about the ways of ancient times and people from long ago and around the world. And we just love this book. Such clever and detailed illustrations, lots going on on every page, the activities of all the different people who spend time there, and what they do, and how they spend a day! Books like this are a treasure.

Kids love this book and I found it interesting too.

I chose this book after comparing several similar books and their reviews. I was looking for something with a lot of engaging illustrations, to be a fun supplement for my 4th grader who has been doing an in depth study of the middle ages. The whole family has had time and opportunity to look through the entire book more than once. And, while it was interesting the first and maybe second time, I would say it loses its appeal after that. I wish I had found it at our local library and just borrowed it for a couple of weeks. It either needs a story (there is sort of a storyline, but it is not written out on each page, only introduced at the beginning), or it needs much more depth of detail in the illustrations. Maybe it is more appropriate for kindergarten or first grade.

My 6yo son loves this book. A medieval where’s Waldo, full of interesting facts and a vague storyline

I ordered this book for my two youngest grandsons, but once I had it in my hands I was so amazed and fascinated that I'm having a hard time passing it on. This is easily the most creative, detailed and totally involving book I have ever seen. The concept of depicting the same view of the castle through successive seasons and events, and following the activities of the people inside and outside the castle, is brilliant! It's such fun to look for specific characters, or to peek into the interior and see how the servants, knights, cookstaff -- even the clever prisoner -- are behaving. There is no award high enough for this level of imagination and production. I am so excited to order other books in this series, but I expect they will be as difficult to give up when they arrive!

As a classical educator, I tend to keep towards the best samples of writing and art I can find, but sometimes there are other books that have their place."A Year in a Castle" skips through the year (meaning it doesn't cover every month) telling a brief story -- moving in, wedding, Christmas, siege, etc -- and asking if your child can find this and that, but also suggesting your child keep his eyes out for the thief, check on what the prisoner is up to, and think about how each of these characters might tell their story of their life in the castle. With the break away sections to peek-a-boo at all aspects of life, it makes it easy to ask your child to tell you stories about the different people, to engage the imagination while introducing basic castle words (such as "bailey") and basic castle life. We had a lot of fun with this one

I gave it to our 6 year old grandson. I was trying to bring the gap from dinosaurs to castles and knights.

I got this for my 4 year old, but I enjoy it too! There’s some specific things you’re given to look for in each picture, but there’s a lot going on and so much detail that you can easily spend a couple of hours pouring over the pages.

My godson was studying castles at school and was thrilled to take this book in to show his teacher

Unfortunately, the book contains a scene in which a monk is stashing gold and treasures beneath the altar in the chapel. If you don't mind such anti-Christian motives, then disregard this review . If you do, however, care that your children are not infused with subtle bigotry, avoid this book.