Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

Written by: Mary Pope Osborne

Illustrated by: Sal Murdocca

Published by: Random House Children's Books in 2003 in NY

Genre: Fantasy

Age: Grades 2-3

Summary: In this book Jack and Annie receive another letter from Merlin. This time he wants them to go back to Camelot and restore order to an old castle. In this adventure they take a sorcerer, named Teddy, who is Morgan's apprentice, along for the journey. Together the three of children discover a "haunted" castle and discover that the Diamond of Destiny was stolen form this family, which turned them into ghosts. Jack, Annie, and Teddy's mission to restore order requires that they visit the Raven King, a boy whose wish to turn into a raven failed and turned him into half boy, half raven. Jack, Annie, and Teddy all become ravens and fly to meet him. Unfortunately Teddy is captured and Jack loses the diamond! In the end, order is restored to the castle, but you will have to read to discover how!

Response: One thing that I was somewhat disappointed in with this novel was that it lacked the information in bold print that I found so useful as a history connection in Carnival at Candlelight. That work provided a great deal of insight into the land of Venice, Italy and I expected this book to provide lost of information about All Hallows Eve. However, I was pleased to find that the author's note a the back of the book did connect this story with the author's study of stories from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. Fr example, she says that the Raven King's right-hand "man," Rok, was inspired by Roc from The Arabian Nights and that the children turning into animals was inspired by tales from Ireland and Wales. She also says that the people of the British Isles have "an awe and respect for sacred stones" (112), so that, along with a special stolen in Scotland called the "Stone of Destiny" gave her the idea for the "diamond of Destiny."

After re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone last week, reading this book made me wonder why Haunted Castle on Hallos' Eve was not challenged just as fervently as the Harry Potter series. In this work Teddy says "'My father was a sorcerer...And my mother was wood sprite from the Otherworld'" (17), "'Annie talks to birds and animals in her own language'" (21), there are floating bones, a spinning wheel and chess pieces that seem to move on their own, and invisible people. Although I do not particularly agree with banning/challenging books, it would make sense to me if parents questioned this book, perhaps even more than the Harry Potter series, because it is geared toward a younger and much more impressionable audience and yet has many similar elements as J.K. Rowling's books.

One of my favorite scenes of comedy in this work is when the children first arrive at the castle doors and Teddy is fervently trying to conjure a spell that will open the doors, while Jack and Annie wait. After a moment, Jack says "Are you sure they're even locked?" to which Annie replies "Let's see" and opens the doors! I just loved that!

There is a lot of onomatopoeia in this story, particularly after the children become ravens. Ms. Osborn writes that they spoke in raven, so she makes a point to write much of the dialogue, while they remain ravens, in both languages. I can just imagine reading this part of the book out loud to a class and how hard it would be to read "'GRA-QUORK!' she croaked. That's okay! [that they were all turned into ravens] This is fun! 'QUORK?' Jack squeaked. Fun? 'GRO-JAH!' croaked Annie. 'KAH-SPREE!' Come on, Jack! Let's fly!" without laughing!

Teaching Connections: This work could be read during the week leading up to Halloween when students' minds are already on spooky stories, etc. (This book is not scary at all, so that would not be an issue to take into account with younger children.) I think that reading this book during that time of year would be wonderful because the teacher could teach students about the history of All Hallows Eve and the evolution of the holiday.

Another way to use this book in the classroom is to use something that the author stated in her note at the end of the book to create anactivity for students. Mary Pope Osborne gets much of her inspiration for her writings through her research of history. In the author's note she says that "Creating something new from something old allows us to link hands with people of the past" (113). It would be a great idea for students to find something old around their house and make something completely new out of it! They could even write a short synopsis about how they transformed this item. Their imaginations are the only limits to this assignment!

(Image retrieved from http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/13390000/13392148.JPG on 19 April 2008)