My son is showing an interest in "knights in shining armour" (I guess in kids books, you can't have knights unless their armour shines :) ).

What are good books on knights and/or arms & armour that are appropriate for a 6-7 year old?

Thanks!

I remember liking a book called "The Knight and the Dragon" by Tomie Depaola when i was a kid.

Joel,
Thanks! I'm also interested in non-fiction books that could teach him more than some of the fiction books he's seen (that include 40 pound helmet references...).

I have one of the DK Eyewitness books on Arms and Armor, that would be really fun for a a kid that age. Lots of good pictures, and little blurbs to read. They other books in the same series covering a variety of topics including knights, castles, vikings, medieval life, and more.

Check out Knights & Castles by Miranda Smith. An inexpensive and fun book for little ones.

ISBN: 0753462281

Definitely try Oakeshott's "A Knight...." series, my two older children (9&7) love them.

The Illustrated Book Of Knights by Jack Coggins. This was a key book for me when I was seven. It is filled with wonderful illustrations, in color and black and white. The writing may be just a little complex for a seven year old, but he will get the gist of it. Or you can read it to him and he'll look at the pictures. This book was written in 1957, so it may be a little outdated (bad on weapon weights) but I still highly recommend it as an introductory book on the subject.

A non-fiction book I have come across is In the Time of Knights by Shelley Tanaka. It seemed to try to correct some bad info out there, in a kid friendly way.
As far as fiction goes, my favorite in childhood was St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges.

'The Making of a Knight: How Sir James Earned His Armor ' by Patrick O'Brian looks inteesting.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Making-Knight-James...pd_sim_b_3

Quote:

Follow James on his fourteen-year passage from page to squire to knight. An exciting battle, a lavish feast, a rowdy tournament, and a courtly romance are all illustrated with elegant oil paintings. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly O'Brien (illus. of A Pirate's Life for Me!) travels back to the age of chivalry, tracing the gradual metamorphosis of an English boy from lowly seven-year-old page to 14-year-old squire to a knight at 21. Despite the workmanlike prose, the narrative form works well here to hold interest and provide cohesiveness to the many nuggets of information served up. Readers learn about tournaments, feasts, 15th-century manners and customs, and the training in archery, sword-fighting and horsemanship (as well as in reading, writing and music) typically required of an aspiring knight. O'Brien crafts an intriguing visual mix, alternating full-page oil paintings with smaller vignettes and captioned close-ups?of horses, weaponry, falcons and the like. The artist uses light and shadow to good advantage, creating high drama (e.g., shafts of sunlight stream through an unseen window onto the kneeling youth as he is knighted), and he invests the pages with a sense of movement, from banners and flags streaming in the wind to the dust kicked up by thundering hooves. A robust blend of pageantry, derring-do and a wee bit of romance. All ages. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 4-Readers follow young Sir James to knighthood in this informative picture book. He begins his journey at age seven as a page, working his way up to squire and, after proving himself brave in battle, a knight. Children step into the world of the 1400s, complete with kings, queens, ladies, castles, and silken flags flying. As the boy learns about serving the king, chivalry, weapons, and suiting up for battle, youngsters are treated to captionlike asides that add details on life in the Middle Ages. This book has it all: battles, lavish dinners, jousting, and even romance. It is generously illustrated with detailed oil paintings. O'Brien has done his research; the story and illustrations fittingly portray England of yore. One minor protest: female characters haven't much of a role in this book other than as romantic objects. Still, youngsters clamoring for tales of knights will be pleased to find this accessible volume and may be encouraged to do further reading.

I don't remember the exact title, but I do remember my mother reading a King Arthur book to me and my siblings that I was particularly fond of. She also got us a Eyewitness book entitled "Knight" and another called "Arms and Armor", both of which I have on my shelf still and have some nice pictures of various implements.

So... Yeah, my mother can't complain too much about my sword collection, she started the whole mess in the first place. ;)

Knights by John Howe is a good one... Very well-researched, thoughful imaginings of William Marshal, Richard the Lionheart, etc, as well as some nice pop-up visualisations of the famous myths- St George wears fourteenth-century armour, complete with an arming chain on his helm, stuff like that.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knights-John-Howe/dp/0531094561

Speaking of St George, I quite like this one as well- the armour is a bit made up but the visual style of the book is really interesting, very Breugel-esque.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saint-George-Dragon-G...the+dragon

TC

I'm afraid I'm going to do something dreadful, and recommend a work of fiction...even worse, I'm going to recommend one that has 15 and even 30 lbs. swords!

But in all seriousness, there is far more to a knight than the arms and armour, so how can one possibly pass up on T.H. White's The Once and Future King? If nothing else, the first two parts should be fine for kids (even if the end does get a bit on the bleak side).

The Dark Age legends, King Arthur, Robin Hood, etc..... are available in so many versions and were the start for me 50 years ago with my fascination with the legendary times, weaponry, honor, and values of these past cultures. There is no substitute, in my opinion..... at the age of 6-7 I was a voracious reader of all of that sort of thing I could get my hands on, a insatiable fascination that continues to this day. I didn't get to The Once and Future King until I was a little older.... Marion Zimmer Bradley tells these tales very well also, The Mists of Avalon has always been a favorite of mine as well. In my case the assumption that I would have been better off with a "child's" book at that age would have been an inaccurate one indeed. But my mother had taught me to read at the age of 4, not all children get that....