Determined to protect his castle and its occupants, a little boy stands guard against enemy knights. This is the context of Sally Gould’s The Brave Knight.
This is a lovely little story about a boy and his dog, and his soft toys, and the depths of the boy’s imagination. The story whisks us away to the boy’s castle, where he rules over his domain (his tree hut). When suddenly he’s confronted by enemy knights (his soft toys and his dog), this brave little knight needs a cunning plan to save his castle.
For me, the best thing about this picture book was the illustrations. Celeste Hulme’s drawings are simple, but wonderfully emotive, and really help to carry this story.
Sally Gould’s writing is spot on for this age group, and the story builds well, and certainly feels like the inner workings of a small child’s mind.
But I couldn’t help thinking that the story lacked something in terms of a concept, or closure, or some underlying theme to build a child’s awareness. Imagination is a wonderful thing, but children already have this in spades. I feel like an extra layer could easily have been added to this story.
That said, it’s a beautiful children’s picture book, and will be read many times.
The Brave Knight – Written by Sally Gould – Published by New Frontier Publishing – RRP $24.99
