Castle Diary

“Not many, if any, children’s books on the Middle Ages and castles contain the wealth of information found in this fresh, appealing offering.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

What was it really like to live in a castle? Step back to the Middle Ages with Castle Diary: the Journal of Tobias Burgess. Eleven-year-old Toby’s vivid diary entries offer an insider’s view of day-to-day castle life, including tips on etiquette (where do you spit at a feast?) and exciting descriptions of hunting, jousting, and harvesting. Complete with glossary, index, and detailed endnotes, this is a rich look at medieval life that informs as much as it entertains.

Author Biography

Richard Platt is the author of Pirate Diary, which won the Kate Greenaway Medal, as well as Egyptian Diary, Castle Diary, and Roman Diary. He has written more than sixty nonfiction books for children, including A World of Information, illustrated by James Brown. Richard Platt lives in Kent, England.

Chris Riddell is an award-winning illustrator, a writer of children’s books, and a political cartoonist. He is the illustrator of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver, retold by Martin Jenkins, as well as A Great Big Cuddle: Poems for the Very Young and Honey for You, Honey for Me: A First Book of Nursery Rhymes, both by Michael Rosen. The winner of three Kate Greenaway Medals and a former British Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell lives in England.