Book Review of So You Want To Be A Knight?
The Children’s Book Review

Written by Hannah Pang

Illustrated by Takayo Akiyama

Ages 8-12 | 96 Pages

Publisher: Thames & Hudson | ISBN: 9780500652114

What to Expect: History, Culture, Interactive.

Kate, Eddie, and Angus dive into another historical adventure—this time, they’re traveling back in time to see what Knights really got up to! Guided by the real-life guru of all things chivalrous, Geoffroi de Charny, they travel back to fourteenth-century Europe to study knightly etiquette, how to put on armor, jousting, sword-fighting, and—most importantly of all—writing poetry. They may not be the biggest and best knights in town, but with Geffroi’s help, at least they’ll know the essentials—like how to somersault in a suit of armor!

So You Want to Be A Knight is, like the other books in this massively engaging series, a fascinating collection of facts, diagrams, and how-to guides that is sure to inspire hours of fun backyard jousting, crusading, and pillaging (pretend, of course…). To add an interactive element, quizzes, diagrams, checklists, maps, recipes, and wanted-posters lift history from the pages of the book and bring it to life. Best of all, just like all the books in the series, everything is 100% accurate, drawing on expert medieval scholarship and genuine historical sources.

Takayo Akiyama’s energetic, cartoon-style illustrations add even more fun, making So You Want to Be a Knight? an enjoyable deep-dive into some of the coolest history out there.

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About the Creators

Takayo Akiyama is a Japanese illustrator based in London and the illustrator of previous books in the series, So You Want to Be a Roman Soldier?, So You Want to Be a Viking?, and So You Want to Be a Ninja?

Hannah Pang is an editor with over ten years of publishing experience and the author of The Moon and Wilderness.

Michael Prestwich is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Durham. He has written many books including Medieval People.

So You Want to Be a Knight?, written by Hannah Pang and illustrated by Takayo Akiyama, was reviewed by Dr. Jen Harrison. Discover more books like So You Want to Be a Knight? by following our reviews and articles tagged with History, Culture, and Interactive.