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!

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

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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.

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The Oregon Kids: Runaway Whiskers

Richley, B. (2017). The Oregon Kids, Volume 2: Runaway Whiskers. Self-published.

Children's Book / Illustrated / Life Lessons / K-3

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4 out of 5 Stars
Blurb: In Runaway Whiskers, the values of honesty and responsibility are exemplified. Autumn finds a pet rabbit and is reluctant to return it. Will she be honest and return in? Johanna is the owner of the rabbit, Whiskers. It was her responsibility to care for the rabbit and close the cage door. When Whiskers runs away because the cage was left open, she is heartbroken.

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HALL WAYS REVIEW: With The Oregon Kids: Runaway Whiskers, Bob Richley has given kids, parents, and caregivers another great story that delivers excellent lessons including the Golden Rule of treating others as you'd like to be treated. Just as in The Big Catch, volume one of the Oregon Kids series, in this second volume, siblings Billy and Autumn return to show readers sympathy and empathy illustrated through theirs and the new characters' behaviors. Even better, readers are shown responsible solutions to the problems at hand. 

In addition to the great writing and editing, one of the things I love about Runaway Whiskers is that the glass is shown half full -- it's optimistic! Yes, there are some sad parts, but it's overwhelmingly positive and shows unexpected perks of acting responsibly. It does cross into a parenting nightmare zone by implying that by doing the right thing, Autumn is rewarded with her dream coming true and her getting a pet rabbit -- YIKES. This underscores the importance of why parents and caregivers should read books together, so these kinds of situations can be talked about and addressed on the spot, and kids can be reminded that sometimes doing the right thing is a reward unto itself.

Illustrator Hilbert Bermejo is back and provides crisp and clean lined illustrations to carry the book along. The strongest point of the illustrations is the expressions he puts on the characters' faces - readers will get all the feels. The cover really draws-in readers and the pages will keep them engaged. And I LOVE the new larger, 8"x 10" format that will be easy to locate when kids want to re-read the story. (And they WILL want to re-read the story!)

New larger 8x10 format on the left!

I shared both books with a younger reader, and he observed that it appeared that Billy's eyes had changed from the first volume to the second. (My young friend is half-Korean, and he thought that in The Big Catch, Billy looked like he may have been Asian, too.) I don't know if this was an intended change in the art or not, but kids like to be able to see themselves in the stories they read, and my friend felt disappointed by the change in book two. Adding in (or keeping) diverse characters would be a great way to have these stories make a connection with more readers. 

The Oregon Kids books are great, bite-sized stories that are both educational and enjoyable for all. I look forward to more books and life lessons coming in the series. Thank you to the author for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BOB RICHLEY grew up in the Chicago area and now lives in beautiful Colorado. Growing up Richley would often go camping in the Rocky Mountains. It was these childhood camping trips and especially his visit to Crater Lake in Oregon that was the inspiration for events in the Oregon Kids series. Richley is a parent, who has volunteered for years in children’s ministry. Teaching children good values and the grace of God are his passions. His stories, originally written for a single mom to help her raise her children, are a way to fulfill this passion. Richley has always loved children, wanting all children to be raised with love and grace. It is his hope that his stories will be one of many tools that parents will use to teach and to raise their children with Godly values.

  
Connect with Bob on his  AUTHOR PAGE, where you'll find Oregon Kids coloring pages and all of Bob's social media links!  

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The Oregon Kids: The Big Catch

Richley, B. (2017). The Oregon Kids: The Big Catch. Self-published.

Children's Book / Illustrated / Life Lessons / K-3

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Blurb: Reading with your child builds intimacy with your child and a love for reading. It could be a great time to discuss moral character and values. 
In The Big Catch, the value of being selfless and giving to others is exemplified. Billy and Autumn are brother and sister. At the beginning of the story, Billy is selfish and prideful. He sees his sister as a bother and burden. All that concerns him is fishing and catching the biggest fish. At the end, however, Billy shows compassion for his sister, Autumn, allowing her to catch the biggest fish. The Big Catch is meant to be read with your child. It gives parents an opportunity to discuss Billy's character and presents a good example for teaching values of giving, being selfless, and sacrificing. 

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HALL WAYS REVIEW: At just twenty-two pages, The Oregon Kids: The Big Catch is the perfect length to keep young readers engaged.  Author Bob Richley gives readers a well-designed and well-written story with plenty of talking points for adults and children to share as they read together.

Readers will likely recognize themselves when they’ve been frustrated, impatient, self-centered, or clumsy like main character Billy in The Oregon Kids. Children with siblings (or cousins or playmates) will relate to either having the tag-along younger sibling or being that tag-along younger sibling who just wants to belong.  The importance of empathy and sympathy comes about in a natural way, showing readers how good it feels to make someone else happy.

The illustrations are crisp and simple, yet when it’s important that a certain emotion is being conveyed, the expressions on the characters’ faces speak volumes. The illustrator, Hilbert Bermejo, uses a colorful but somewhat muted palette that is pleasing but not distracting.  The layout is designed well with plenty of white space to make the pages less intimidating to young readers, but I would have preferred a larger and/or bolder font.

The Oregon Kids: The Big Catch is a promising start to a new series that offers quick, bite sized lessons on values and virtues. I look forward to the next book, The Oregon Kids: Runaway Whiskers (currently being illustrated). Click here for a preview!

Thank you to the author for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BOB RICHLEY grew up in the Chicago area and now lives in beautiful Colorado. Growing up Richley would often go camping in the Rocky Mountains. It was these childhood camping trips and especially his visit to Crater Lake in Oregon that was the inspiration for events in the Oregon Kids series. Richley is a parent, who has volunteered for years in children’s ministry. Teaching children good values and the grace of God are his passions. His stories, originally written for a single mom to help her raise her children, are a way to fulfill this passion. Richley has always loved children, wanting all children to be raised with love and grace. It is his hope that his stories will be one of many tools that parents will use to teach and to raise their children with Godly values.

  
Connect with Bob on his  AUTHOR PAGE     

RELATED:

CLICK FOR HALL WAYS REVIEW