We've spent the last year reading through books on the Middle Ages with my 9 and 11 year old. Of the dozens of books we read, this was the favorite for all of us. Such a heart warming story and it gives you a window into many aspects of medieval life. If you have a more sensitive kid, this one is not as intense as some others we read.

This is a good story of an ll year old boy, son of a minstrel, himself also a minstrel. While searching for his father from whom he became separated, and his dog which was stolen, he has many adventures. Those adventures, the people he meets, and experiences he has all give a good description of life in 13rh century England. The story is positive, the experiences extensive, giving a broad view of English medieval life and the various classes. It takes place in real locations that can be found on the map in the front of the book. I marked it only 4 stars because it is not a Christian book, per se. While the morals are good, it doesn't have any message of Christ's redemption or talk of Christ being in a person's life. There are a couple of negative remarks about the church, and people in the church, which are realistic. If I were writing a review for a secular entity, I'd give the book 5 stars. It has a copyright of 1942 and earned the John Newbery Medal. The fact it was written so long ago is a positive, in my view, because it retains virtue seen in former years. A more recently written book would likely be more "earthy."