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Summary
The Castle Corona
Author Notes
Sharon Creech was on born July 29, 1945 in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. She was in college when she took literature and writing courses and became intrigued by story-telling. Later, she was a teacher (high school English and writing) in England and in Switzerland.
Her novel Walk Two Moons received in 1995 Newbery Medal; The Wanderer was a 2001 Newbery Honor book and Ruby Holler received the 2002 Carnegie Medal. In 2007, Heartbeat was a finalist in the Junior Division (4th to 6th grades) of the Young Reader's Choice Awards, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Library Association. She has written over 15 fiction novels for young readers.
She is married to Lyle Rigg, who is the headmaster of The Pennington School in Pennington, New Jersey, and have two grown children, Rob and Karin.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
colorfully adorned with intricate designs that loosely recall illuminated manuscripts, Newbery Medalist Creech's (Walk Two Moons) protracted fairy tale traces how two orphaned peasants come to rub elbows with royalty. "Long ago and far away," Pia and her younger brother, Enzio, discover a leather pouch marked with the king's seal. Before they can understand the meaning of the objects inside, the two children are whisked off to the Castle Corona to become "tasters" for a king fearful of being poisoned. There Pia and Enzio become acquainted with a spoiled princess and two young princes (one dreams of being a poet; the other wants to become a mighty warrior). As befits the genre, the author uses broader strokes than usual to define her characters. Members of the royal family are hopelessly out of touch with their subjects and busy themselves with tradition. Country folk and castle servants are more grounded and resourceful. Nonetheless, as royalty and peasant children intermingle inside the castle walls, perspectives broaden and the complexity of individual personalities comes to light. The playful tone and gentle criticism of aristocracy can be engaging, in much the same way that Creech's warmth and easy humor work well in her slice-of-life novels, but the fairy-tale genre raises expectations that go unmet. Readers may pine for a liberal sprinkling of magic and a more exciting climax before the conventional happily-ever-after ending. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) A king and a queen, three royal children, two peasant children, and a hermit are the main characters in Creech's lush fairy tale. Pia and Enzio, the peasant children, long for the rich life the royal children lead, since their own consists of hard work and hunger under a cruel master who refers to them as ""dirty beetles."" None of the castle inhabitants, however, are much pleased with his or her own circumstances, either: King Guido hates his itchy gold robes and wishes he could take a nap; Queen Gabriella sits on her gilded throne and wonders why her life is made up entirely of trivialities; and the two princes and the princess are bored and restless as well. The story begins when a mysterious rider in black drops a pouch adorned with the royal seal; Pia and Enzio find it and must decide what to do with it. Creech weaves her many characters into a delicate tapestry, with precise language and recurring motifs of birds and snakes, echoed by Diaz's small color pictures at the beginning of each chapter, which repeat as well. It's disappointing that after over 300 pages, the ending contains no real surprises and is even a bit ""muddled,"" as the princess says. Still, the book's physical prettiness and Creech's always-evocative writing make it a pleasant foray into a fairy-tale world where life is rendered into story. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
In a departure for Creech, whose previous novels have all been set in the present day, the Newbery Medal winner offers a good-hearted, gently comic fairy tale set in feudal Italy. Using parallel stories that eventually dovetail, Creech introduces the Castle Corona's sheltered, slightly ridiculous royal family and Pia and Enzio, orphaned peasant children from the nearby village. Brief, cleverly paced episodes reveal that several fixtures of castle life the king and queen's respective hermit advisors, and the court storyteller subtly engineer Pia and Enzio's appointment as royal food tasters, for purposes linked to a stolen pouch found by the children early on. The novel's many characters are more allegorical than flesh-and-blood, and the hasty revelations at story's end don't entirely satisfy. But the engaging, puzzlelike plot will attract readers, as the novel's heady themes, from wisdom to empathy to the fate-changing power of story, prompt them to deeper thought. Diaz's full-color chapter-heading artwork and ornamental flourishes lend the novel substantial aesthetic appeal.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2007 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Creech has created a story in the style of a classic fairy tale, but one without fairies or witches or magic. It does have two orphans, Pia and Enzio, whose master calls them "dirty beetles"; a king and queen with three children-each of whom is a caricature of a typical royal offspring; two hermits; and a storyteller. Stories are important royal entertainment, but they also fill (and fuel) the imagination of the orphans, the royal siblings, and even the king himself. When Pia and Enzio find a stolen pouch filled with an odd assortment of items that seem to belong to the king, they are drawn into an adventure that brings them to the castle, where instead of being thrown into the dungeon as they feared, they are made tasters to His Highness. The king's imagination has run wild since he heard that a thief is on the loose in his kingdom, and it was suggested that he might be in danger. Since Pia and Enzio have not been taught to behave as servants, they don't. It's all a good-natured, rollicking romp with all of the parties learning a great deal about themselves, and, in the end, the Castle Corona is a livelier and more interesting place. Creech plays with the fairy-tale form and makes it her own, exaggerating here and there, using creative language, and poking fun at stuffiness and pretension. Diaz's illustrations capture the feeling of medieval illuminations, and their formal stiffness is a perfect counterpoint to Creech's satisfying tale.-Barbara Scotto, Children's Literature New England, Brookline, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Guardian Review
"Long ago and far away . . . " It takes only a few words to transport the reader to the world of fairytale where castles command the landscape, kings and queens rule the roost, peasants are commonplace, wishes drive the adventure and dreams really can come true. It takes a storyteller of imagination and skill to create such a world afresh. Sharon Creech is a modern writer with a mythical sensibility. The good news is that the story-traveller is in safe, playful and wise hands. Pia and her brother Enzio do not know, and nor does anyone else, exactly how old they are. She is certainly the elder, in her early teens perhaps, and he a gangly pre-teen. If they lived in the contemporary world, he'd be at the upper end of junior school and she on her way in the secondary system. But there is nothing like school for these two. They serve a rough and demanding master who puts them to work at home and on his market stall. They know nothing about their parents and dream of inhabiting the glittering Castle Corona, wearing fine clothes, having an easy and luxurious life. The inhabitants of the castle, King Guido, his Queen Gabriella and their three children, two princes and one princess, who do indeed live a luxurious life, experience a degree of dissatisfaction that would surprise the peasants. They too have their dreams, of adventure, of freedom from constraint and duty. In the order of things, neither peasant nor royal is given the opportunity to discover what lies beneath the surface of each other's lives. They are in their place. But then a thief flees from the glittering castle with a leather pouch upon which is printed the king's seal. When it is lost, Pia and Enzio discover this pouch. And therein, thereupon, lies the tale. The order of things is disturbed, as suspicion and unease permeate the castle and the nearby village where the peasants live. Inventories are examined, doors are knocked upon, as the search for the much-feared thief gets under way. The king consults his hermit for wise counsel. The queen enviously plans to hire her own hermit. And then the king is warned about the threat of poisoning. He must employ a taster to check his food. The hermit suggests that two tasters are better than one. And so Pia and Enzio are seized from their master's hovel to "taste" the full range of the royal menu before it passes the royal lips. Now that the peasants inhabit the castle, along with two mysterious hermits, one male, one female, the story turns on its axis and everything begins to shift. There is a simplicity to this novel that is deceptive. Creech weaves together all the strands of her unexpected tale with subtlety and wry humour. In the encounters between the king and his hermit, she deftly balances irony and sincerity. "A thief," the hermit calmly muses, "wants what he does not have." The king's bemused respect for such pieces of advice leave the reader wondering, just as his majesty does, whether you are wise enough to get it while also having the niggling doubt that this is simple common sense. The accounting by the Ministers of Inventory for the diverse items that have gone missing from the castle during the heat of the search for the undefined something that thief may have taken is highly entertaining. Among the things that have vanished are a silver creamer lid, 11 eggs and a cow. The characters are all drawn with sympathy and a sharp eye for their frailties. This is a fairytale without extreme wickedness or bold heroism. The archetypes, queen, king, peasant, hermit, are transmuted into recognisable human beings, brought down to earth. Each one learns a little more about themselves, each other and life as the events unfold. If wishes come true they do so in ordinary and practical ways. The violence that characterises many an old folk yarn is missing in favour of a quirky originality. One could quibble that there are moments when a greater sense of danger might add a little more edge. But this is a minor reservation about a delightful book. The narrative progresses like a picturesque and finely drawn puzzle that is satisfyingly pieced together and ends, tongue gently in cheek, "Mostly happily, most of the time." Diane Samuels's plays include How to Beat a Giant . To order The Castle Corona for pounds 11.99 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875. Caption: article-fairy.1 The inhabitants of the castle, King Guido, his Queen Gabriella and their three children, two princes and one princess, who do indeed live a luxurious life, experience a degree of dissatisfaction that would surprise the peasants. They too have their dreams, of adventure, of freedom from constraint and duty. In the order of things, neither peasant nor royal is given the opportunity to discover what lies beneath the surface of each other's lives. They are in their place. But then a thief flees from the glittering castle with a leather pouch upon which is printed the king's seal. When it is lost, Pia and Enzio discover this pouch. And therein, thereupon, lies the tale. The order of things is disturbed, as suspicion and unease permeate the castle and the nearby village where the peasants live. Inventories are examined, doors are knocked upon, as the search for the much-feared thief gets under way. The king consults his hermit for wise counsel. The queen enviously plans to hire her own hermit. And then the king is warned about the threat of poisoning. He must employ a taster to check his food. The hermit suggests that two tasters are better than one. And so Pia and Enzio are seized from their master's hovel to "taste" the full range of the royal menu before it passes the royal lips. Now that the peasants inhabit the castle, along with two mysterious hermits, one male, one female, the story turns on its axis and everything begins to shift. - Diane Samuels.
Kirkus Review
Long ago and far away a royal pouch was dropped in the woods; King Guido became afraid of thieves and poisoners; the peasant children Enzio and Pia became tasters for the king's family; and the contents of the pouch they found revealed their true identities. This lengthy original fairy tale is immensely satisfying both in its telling and its presentation. Each of the three sections begins with a full-page color illustration and each chapter with decorated initial letters and a miniature suggesting the subject. Heavy paper and relatively large, leaded type are two of many sumptuous details that continue throughout. Told in a comforting storyteller's voice (perhaps that of Pia, inspired by the royal family's Wordsmith), the tale unfolds leisurely, with considerable attention to the royal surroundings. Characters are clearly delineated, with the suggestion that all of them, the king and queen, the heir, the spare prince and the spoiled princess, as well as the peasant children, have grown and changed as a result of the events described. A treat for fans of the genre as well as a captivating introduction to it. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Castle Corona, The MOB Chapter One A Discovery A young peasant girl and her brother kneeled in the smooth gray stones on the edge of the river, filling wooden buckets with water for their master. "What if we built a raft," the girl asked, "and sailed down the river?" "Ho!" the boy said. "What would we find?" "That the river winds round and roundâ€"" "And up and downâ€"" "â€"until it reaches the Castle Corona, it does!" This was a familiar game for the pair, and they would have gone on longer, speculating about the white horses and the golden goblets and the jewels that they would find in the castle, but they were interrupted by a fierce pounding of the earth: horses coming fast along the path behind them. Through the trees they saw a black horse, ridden by a black-cloaked rider. The rider's whip slapped with hard thwacks against the horse's side. A few minutes later, more horses followed, ridden by the King's Men, their golden medallions shimmering on their red cloaks. "Halt! Thief!" one rider shouted. "Halt, in the name of the King!" " Ooh! " whispered the boy. "A thief?" "A thief ?" "And if they catch himâ€"" "They will slice off his headâ€"" "â€"and chop him to bits!" The pair snatched their buckets and hurried up the bank, crossing the path which the riders had taken. They had just entered the woods beyond when the girl said, "Lookâ€"in the leaves." There, amid last autumn's brown leaves, was a leather pouch with the King's seal on it. "Dare we?" whispered the boy. "Here, back in here," the girl said, snatching the pouch and leading her brother into a thicket, where they paused and listened. All was quiet. Castle Corona, The MOB . Copyright © by Sharon Creech . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech, David Diaz All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
