The Castle in the Attic facts for kids
First edition cover
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| Author | Elizabeth Winthrop |
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| Illustrator | Trina Schart Hyman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Fantasy |
| Genre | Children's Books |
| Publisher | Holiday House |
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Publication date
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August 1985 |
| Pages | 137 |
| ISBN | 0-8234-0579-6 |
| Followed by | The Battle for the Castle |
The Castle in the Attic is an exciting fantasy novel for kids by Elizabeth Winthrop. It was first published in 1985 and has cool illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. This book has won several important awards, like the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award. It also won the California Young Reader Medal, showing how much young readers loved it. The story is about a boy named William and his amazing adventures with a magical castle.
Contents
Exploring the Castle's Magical Story
The story begins when William gets a super realistic model of a castle. His family's kind English housekeeper, Mrs. Phillips, gives it to him. She explains that the castle has been in her family for many years. Inside the castle is a small, toy silver knight made of lead. Mrs. Phillips says this knight is under a special spell.
The tiny knight, named Sir Simon, suddenly comes to life! He starts telling William amazing stories from long ago. Sir Simon talks about his kingdom and an evil wizard who rules it. William is very sad because Mrs. Phillips is planning to leave. He desperately wants her to stay.
To stop her from leaving, William uses a magic token. Sir Simon tells him it belongs to the wizard, Alastor. William uses the token to shrink Mrs. Phillips down to the size of the castle's inhabitants. But there's a big problem: William and Sir Simon don't have the other half of the token. This means they can't make Mrs. Phillips big again. Mrs. Phillips becomes very sad because she is stuck small.
William's Quest to Fix a Mistake
William learns about an old legend. It says that if there is a lady, a knight, and a squire, they can go on a quest. This quest can stop the evil wizard Alastor. William decides he must become a squire to fix his mistake. He wants to help Mrs. Phillips return to her normal size.
If William shrinks himself on purpose, he will return to his own world at the exact moment he left. However, Mrs. Phillips will lose all the time she spent small in the castle. William asks Sir Simon to shrink him, and he enters the castle. He is now ready to join his two friends on their adventure.
Mrs. Phillips and Sir Simon spend a whole week training William. They teach him everything a squire needs to know. After their training, Sir Simon and William leave the castle. They step out into Sir Simon's time, ready for their quest.
Facing Dangers in a Magical Land
As they travel through a magical forest, Sir Simon sees something tempting. It's an illusion of his old horse, Moonlight. Sir Simon had warned William that leaving the path would make them lost forever. But he can't resist. Sir Simon leaves the path and disappears.
William is now alone but manages to get through the forest. He meets an old man by an apple tree. William helps the old man by getting a specific apple for him. When he eats it, the old man turns into a young man! He reveals he was under a spell. The young man, named Dick, is very thankful. He tells William how to defeat the dragon guarding Alastor's castle.
William bravely defeats the dragon. He then pretends to be a fool looking for work to enter Alastor's castle. The guards hide the secret that William defeated the dragon. Alastor accepts William as his new fool. To William's horror, Alastor reveals he has turned Sir Simon into lead again. Sir Simon is now a statue in a gallery with Alastor's other victims. Alastor also turned Dick's son, Tolliver, into lead. Alastor thinks he has defeated the threat from the legend, not knowing it's William.
Defeating the Evil Wizard Alastor
William learns from Sir Simon's old nurse, Calendar, what he needs to do. He must get Alastor's special necklace with his magic tokens. He also needs to defeat Alastor's mirror. This mirror reflects what's truly inside a person.
When Alastor appears, William uses his gymnastic skills to knock him down. He grabs the necklace. Then, William faces his own fears in the magic mirror. After seeing his fears, he turns the mirror on Alastor. The evil wizard cowers in fear from his own reflection.
Calendar uses a lead token from the necklace. She turns Alastor into lead and sends him far away. This defeats Alastor and breaks all his spells, except for the lead spell. William is celebrated as a hero and the new ruler of the kingdom. But William has a different idea. He brings Sir Simon and all the other lead victims back to life. This way, Sir Simon can take his rightful place as ruler.
William returns to the castle in the attic with the other half of the magic token. He and Mrs. Phillips both return to their normal sizes. Mrs. Phillips then leaves, taking the token and the lead statue of Alastor with her. She plans to drop both into the ocean, making sure Alastor can never cause trouble again.
