The Hawk of the Castle : A Story of Medieval Falconry

A girl and her father live in a castle, and every day they go out with the hawk and their dog. The dog and the hawk work together to hunt quail and other small animals. There are bells attached to the hawk’s talons so the owner hears where the hawk is, to locate both it and its prey. They also use little tiny helmets to make sure the hawk isn’t scared of things in the castle and leather gloves so the hawk’s talons won’t hurt them when it lands on their arms. After the hunt, the hawk bathes in a pan of water and then, with the owners, it goes to where it lives, in a room with a carved perch, and goes to sleep.

I like this book. Falcons, hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey like that are very interesting, and I liked learning about how people trained and worked with hawks to hunt. I like the illustrations, and I liked the rhythm of the words. It is written as a beautiful poem, and it is really enjoyable to read, to listen to the rhythm and the words, and to enjoy the story and the pictures.