Thursday, January 19, 2012

What a Cute Little Medieval Book

Good Masters, Sweet Ladies! - Laura Amy Schlitz
Originally published in hardcover in 2007 - Candlewick Press


 While I enjoyed this book quite a bit (eg, the different medieval characters, the illustrations), I kept wondering if children actually enjoy the pedagogic poem that is this "children's" book. But to reiterate, I really, really enjoyed this book.


Amazon descriptionStep back to an English village in 1255, where life plays out in dramatic vignettes illuminating twenty-two unforgettable characters.

Maidens, monks, and millers’ sons — in these pages, readers will meet them all. There’s Hugo, the lord’s nephew, forced to prove his manhood by hunting a wild boar; sharp-tongued Nelly, who supports her family by selling live eels; and the peasant’s daughter, Mogg, who gets a clever lesson in how to save a cow from a greedy landlord. There’s also mud-slinging Barbary (and her noble victim); Jack, the compassionate half-wit; Alice, the singing shepherdess; and many more. With a deep appreciation for the period and a grand affection for both characters and audience, Laura Amy Schlitz creates twenty-two riveting portraits and linguistic gems equally suited to silent reading or performance. Illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by Robert Byrd — inspired by the Munich-Nuremberg manuscript, an illuminated poem from thirteenth-century Germany — this witty, historically accurate, and utterly human collection forms an exquisite bridge to the people and places of medieval England.

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