Along with Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three, this story was instrumental in establishing my childhood love of fantasy literature. I remember my mother reading it to me, and later reading it on my own. I loved each and every page, and not just because of the story itself. The main character was someone I identified with on several levels, the most significant being his abiding love of gymnastics (a passion of mine from age 5 until age 17).
Ten-year old William Edward Lawrence has been cared for all his life by Mrs. Eleanor Phillips, an English widow who is preparing to return home at the end of the month. Having no children of her own, as a parting gift she bequeaths to William a scaled-down, fully functional stone model of a medieval castle, complete with a figure of a knight in silver armor, that has been in her family for generations. While dreading the departure of his beloved caretaker, William is given the biggest shock of his young life. At his touch, the figure of the silver knight mysteriously comes alive and reveals an incredible story: Sir Simon (the knight) was cheated of his kingdom by an evil wizard who murdered his father and turned Sir Simon into a lead statue. Eventually, using magic stolen by Sir Simon from the wizard himself, William enters the enchanted kingdom of the Silver Knight and embarks on a quest to defeat the tyrant wizard once and for all.
In addition to my personal gymnastics aspect, William was a character who was very easy to relate to. His feelings of anger, sadness, courage and even social awkwardness are things that all children go through at some time or another. In addition, what little boy doesn't enjoy stories of knights, castles and magic?
Overall, The Castle in the Attic is a touching, poignant and very human story about the joys and sorrows of growing up. You could even say that it was my very first introduction to the classic "hero's journey" archetype so important to my later storytelling interests (Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings ect... ect...). I would highly recommend this story to any child with a love of fantasy, or an adult who wants to recapture some of that sweet, literary magic they enjoyed in their own childhoods.
