I absolutely loved reading this book because it was so interesting. I loved this book because of the plot. The plot was fantastic because the author organized the poems according to castles in various countries. I really was engaged in the book because I got to learn about castles from various countries, what they looked like, and why they were built. For example, the Himeji Castle in Japan was built for war while the Hearst Castle in the United States had no battles or soldiers slain. The second reason why I loved the book was because of the illustrations. The illustrations were beautiful with much detail. They went over the gutter, which made me feel like I was involved in the poems and actually at the castles. The main idea of the book was for readers to learn about various castles throughout the world. ( )

J. Patrick Lewis and Rebecca Kai Dotlich revealed the history of famous castles through poems. The last pages contain vital features in a historical time-line. Kings, princesses, knights, dungeon’s prisoners and other main characters of the medieval times are mentioned in the introductory poem. Thus, our mind is easily set to a time frame of when the first castles in Europe were built. The poems virtuously speak of the long history of the Bodiam Castle, the Tower of London, the Durnstein Castle, the Himeji Castle from Japan and many others. The extravagant and modern Californian Hearst Castle from 1919’s is used as a contrast to some of the gloominess from the far past presented in other castles. As for the ending, the poem of the castle in the Air involve old a Viking legend and the mythical side of the castles. Dan Burr’s vivid paintings magically enhance the motive for reading the Old Stone Poems. Young readers, age 9 to 12, would be inspired to explore this ever fascinating topic. ( )