Stiefel, Carmen Sweaty Suits of Armor

Stiefel, Carmen   Sweaty Suits of Armor    

Enslow      2011  48p   23.93 978-0-7660-3784-7 

 elm/ms      E-BNes             

     This title gives readers a glimpse at some of the realities of the life of a knight in the Middle Ages.  It  particularly dwells on the yucky aspects like sweating in hot armor, diseases and sieges.  Elementary into early middle school. What was it like to be a knight in the Middle Ages?  You wore very heavy armor no matter what the temperature or weather outside.  Other knights were trying to injure or kill you.  Diseases ran epidemic.  All these yucky details are introduced with clear text and cute cartoon style illustrations.  These illustrations are colorful, humorous and well placed within the text.
The format is very reader friendly.  The text is a good size and easily readable.  Headings help direct the reader, and vocabulary words are highlighted in color.  Additional information is presented in text blocks are designed to look like parchment papers.  Each chapter is introduced with a different color stone wall block background.  This is all very inviting to younger readers.
    The vocabulary words which are introduced in the text are all defined in the Words to Know section.  For further information there are four books and two web sites given.  The index is simple but adequate for the text.
This title will find eager readers among grades 3-6.  Ye Yucky Middle Ages (Enslow) There are four titles in the Ye Yucky Middle Ages series.  Each deals with one element of life at the time with humor and imparts information in a conversational tone. Middle Ages Joan Theal