Mystery of the White Knight (The World of Sir Kaye Stories)

MYSTERY OF THE WHITE KNIGHT

by DON M. WINN

Cardboard Box Adventures Publishing

Audio Book Publish Date: March 15, 2018

BOOK BLURB: Who is the White Knight?  He ruins fields so nothing can grow, burns down entire villages, and terrifies the people of Knox. People say it’s the new queen’s fault—that she’s a bad ruler. They want to take her throne away and give it to someone else. But she’s only been ruling for one month! When disaster strikes, can her nephew Beau save the throne for the queen and solve the mystery of the White Knight?

The World of Sir Kaye stories are short, easy-to-read chapter books featuring beloved characters from the Sir Kaye the Boy Knight series in their own standalone adventures. Each story can be enjoyed by itself or as a supplement to the official Sir Kaye the Boy Knight four-book series. Look for more stories to come throughout the year!

Click to Buy Audio:

AMAZON    AUDIBLE

Click to Buy eBook:

AMAZON     BARNES & NOBLE

For Print Copies:

Print copies may be ordered directly from the author. Bulk discounts available. Please contact author@donwinn.com

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

✪✪✪✪✪

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audio book review. I am a super-fan of all four books in author Don Winn’s Sir Kaye the Boy Knight (SKTBK) series and enthusiastically read and reviewed them all (links at bottom of this post). The characters are excellent, the plots unique and exciting, and the lessons on morals and values are subtle yet impactful.  Upon finishing The Eldridge Conspiracy, the final book in the series, I was a little sad to part ways with that cleverly crafted world and those kids who live in it.

I am THRILLED that Winn has created the World of Sir Kaye Stories chapter book series that takes readers back into the world of Sir Kaye and his friends. The first installment, Mystery of the White Knight, is centered around Beau, the nephew of the newly crowned Queen of Knox. The book can easily stand alone, but readers familiar with the SKTBK series will remember Beau as one of Sir Kaye’s best friends and will know the back-story of how Beau ended up in Knox.

“Bobbin laughed like a crazed little goat.”

In Mystery of the White Knight, readers meet six-year-old Bobbin, who is richly written so that listeners not only visualize how he looks (snot-nosed and all), but also gain insight into his feelings and quirks – like keeping a piece of poop from each of his favorite horses! Both Beau and Bobbin suffer from a lack of confidence and their places within vastly different social statuses in the kingdom, but the message is clear that when ordinary people watch out for others, “then they are just as good as kings.”

The audio book is a short listen at just an hour and thirty-seven minutes – and even shorter when listened to at 1.25x speed, which was better for those of us accustomed to faster-paced conversations. I can see how the audio (at regular speed) would pair nicely with the print book so young and/or struggling readers could get the full experience and help they need to fully enjoy the story.  Stephen Marsden returns and earns high marks as narrator. Rather than trying to give each character a distinct voice, Marsden reads naturally – like an adult would conduct a read-aloud for children – which works much better than the narration style of the SKTBK books.

With plenty of action and adventure, the wonderfully descriptive passages of Mystery of the White Knight will keep readers/listeners entertained and engaged. This is a fabulous start to what I hope becomes only one of many new medieval adventures to come from Don Winn.

Thank you to the author for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Don M. Winn is a multiple award-winning children’s author of eleven picture books and four children's novels. His Sir Kaye the Boy Knight® series of novels for independent readers include The Knighting of Sir Kaye, The Lost Castle Treasure, Legend of the Forest Beast, and The Eldridge Conspiracy.  Don's picture books include: The Higgledy-Piggledy Pigeon; Superhero; Twitch the Squirrel and the Forbidden Bridge; Shelby the Cat; Space Cop Zack, Protector of the Galaxy; and many others.

Don has been writing for over 20 years. After beginning with poetry, Winn  moved on to writing children’s picture books. Almost immediately, his growing young readers begged for chapter books, which led to the creation of the Sir Kaye series. As a dyslexic himself, who well knows the challenge of learning to love to read, Winn's goal is to write books that are so engaging they will entice even the most reluctant or struggling reader. Don's articles on dyslexia have been featured in TODAY Parenting, the Costco Connection Magazine, MD Monthly, Latin Times, Fostering Families Today, and many others. Winn lives in Round Rock, Texas.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

WEBSITE    AUTHOR FACEBOOK    SIR KAYE FACEBOOK

YOUTUBE   TWITTER    LINKEDIN    GOODREADS

RELATED:

Click for Hall Ways Review

Click for Hall Ways Review

Click for Hall Ways Review

Spine Chillers: Hair-Raising Tales, Book One ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Review & Excerpt!

Pearce, Q.L. (2016). Spine Chillers: Hair-Raising Tales. Glass Apple Press.

Children's / Short Stories / Scary

✪✪✪✪

BLURB: The town of Saltlick Bluff is famous for an urban legend. Does the spirit of a young girl wait on a misty cliff-hugging highway for her ride to the prom?

In the house on Beech Street a terrible tragedy occurred. Now neighbors won’t look at the place as they pass. Those who live nearby draw their blinds and shutter their windows after dark. What are they afraid of?

Hale Hallow Woods seems sinister and menacing even in the light of day. Does a thirst for revenge beat near its dark heart?

The answers lie within these pages, just waiting to send a chill up your spine!

ADD TO GOODREADS

PURCHASE

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ 

HALL WAYS REVIEW: Author Q.L. Pearce has written lots of books, but Spine Chillers: Hair Raising Tales, Book One, is my first -- but it won't be my last! These seven tales, all contemporary in realistic settings, are satisfyingly spooky with excellent and unexpected twists. And what a fabulous, eerie cover!

Each of the stories has a unique and distinct storyline and its own brand of creepiness. Readers will encounter plenty of paranormal activity but also some of the unseemlier aspects of human nature (including revenge, selfishness, and greed) that heavily contribute to the mood of the stories. The characters behave in realistic ways (with just one exception for me), so readers will likely feel they'd react in the same ways to the situations. Careful readers may catch the surprises, but they may just as easily be misled. Several of the stories have things happening on more than one level. 

The writing is good and the voices and dialogue of the characters are natural -- author Q.L. Pearce is a gifted story teller. The book would benefit by further editing, as I did find numerous punctuation errors. It's doubtful most readers would notice them, but especially in books aimed at younger audiences, it's important. 

Due to the scare level, I'd recommend this to middle grade audiences, though brave younger readers can definitely handle the writing level. Also, it's an ideal choice for the reluctant reader since the stories and book itself are very short but fully engaging. Sensitive, attentive readers should be aware that one story implies a household with domestic abuse happening. 

Thank you to BAM! Literature for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give. 

EXCERPT: The House on Beech Street

Jason stepped inside. The air within was tainted with an odor that made him gag.

“What is that smell?” he asked putting his hand to his face.

“What smell?” Mike responded. Thomas just shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you know the story of the Carlson’s?” The woman didn’t wait for an answer before she continued. “They were a typical family. The little girl, Anisa, took ballet lessons. The boy, Junior, played baseball. Some people said he had the talent to go far as an athlete … that is … if he’d lived.”

The group entered the kitchen. The table was set for five as if the family would be sitting down for breakfast any minute. Jason noticed a pitcher’s mitt on one of the chairs.

“He was a lefty,” he said to no one in particular.

“Mr. Carlson’s mother slept in the spare room. She was an invalid and needed a lot of care. Mr. Carlson and his wife had quarreled about it that fateful morning and he’d left early. When he came home he found his wife in that very chair.” She pointed to the one at the end of the table. “He’d brought her flowers and wanted to apologize. It took him a few moments to realize she was dead. It seems she had taken a handful of sleeping pills with her tea. The police found the rest of the family in the basement along with a cracked, bloody baseball bat.”

“What happened to the dad?” Mike asked.

“They found him two days later hanging from the tree in the backyard. He’d left a note that said he wasn’t alone in the house. The neighbors claimed they heard noises late at night … screaming. You’ll notice that the houses on both sides are now empty. No one wants to live near this place.” She paused and looked in the direction of the front entrance. “Sometimes I can’t wait to leave.”

Motioning for the boys to follow, the woman moved from the kitchen into a dimly lit hallway. She opened the first door on the left. “This was the grandmother’s room.” Jason was hit with a wave of a smell like rotting fish.

Excerpt from Spine Chillers, by Q.L. Pearce
Copyright © Glass Apple Press 2016.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Q.L.Pearce is the author of more than 120 books for young readers, from picture books to YA, as well as film tie-in books for the Fox animated film Titan AE and the Universal animated series Land Before Time. Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala Sa (Carolrhoda Books, with co-author and illustrator, Gina Capaldi), received several awards including a Carter G. Woodson Book Award gold medal from NCSS and a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award gold medal. Her fiction includes the popular middle grade series, Scary Stories for Sleep-Overs (Price, Stern, Sloan). Q believes strongly in the value of scary books for young readers. When asked what credentials she has which qualify her as an expert in this area she replies, "I was a child once. That was very scary."  Connect with Q.L.:

LINKEDIN        YOUTUBE     FACEBOOK     WEBSITE

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE       TWITTER