In addition their very sympathetic French teacher is found at the end to be a gentlewoman fallen on hard times. The class divide is certainly there, as the children are quite callous in their treatment of Eliza the maid. This classic is still read and loved today, but in places it shows its age, as well as the prejudices of the author and her time. (My daughter really enjoyed the events of the plot, but found it hard to figure out what was going on much of the time, amid the verbiage.) These aspects make for a slowish read-aloud, and would probably be more amusing for an older child reading on his/her own.

The only thing that slowed us down when I read it to my daughter (aged 5) was a general wordiness – especially in the character Gerald, who habitually speaks as if narrating his own adventures – and the slang from the time. As The Enchanted Castle is now over a hundred years old, elements of it may be foreign to children today, particularly the details about boarding school life and the general freedom the children enjoy to roam the countryside. This is the story of a group of children who encounter a magic ring and, without really understanding all the rules of the magic, fumble their way through some amusing and some nearly-disastrous adventures. This book is a good choice for anyone looking for ‘Harry Potterish’ reads that aren’t as violent or scary as the Rowling series. Statues that come to life, burglars, fairground conjuring tricks, secret passages, headless ghosts… the children’s exploits finally end with a true-life romance blooming right under their noses. However just as the magic they’d seen all turns out to be fake, they stumble across a ring that actually can make Mabel invisible, and the real magic adventure begins in earnest. It comes complete with a hedge maze with a sleeping princess at the centre… who turns out to be the housekeeper’s daughter Mabel, playing pretend. Three siblings – Gerald, Kathleen and Jimmy – are at loose ends one summer vacation and discover what seems to be an enchanted castle. Interests: magic, castles, treasure, siblings, mystery, adventureĪlso by this author: Five Children and It, The Railway Children, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, The Book of Dragons Age: (read to) 6 + (read independently) 8 +

The enchanted castle book