The Door In The Wall - A Review

We finished The Door In The Wall  by Marguerite de Angeli this afternoon.  I must say that I enjoyed this book more than Laura.  The Old English troubled Laura a little since it was different.  She listened to the story, and said it was okay, but I know that it isn't one of her favorites.  I am content with that because she listened, asked questions, discussed the story, and tried to grasp the time period and storyline.  Not every story we read will be a hit, but it still can hold a lot of little treasures.

The Door in the Wall is the story of boy named Robin, son of Sir John de Bureford.  Expecting his life to be one typical of a nobleman, he is surprised when he becomes ill, loses the use of his legs, and is left abandoned when his caretakers become ill with plague.  A monk named Brother Luke rescues Robin and decides to care for him.  From monastery to a castle, Brother Luke and others teach Robin how to "find the door in the wall".

The spirit of Robin is memorable.  At first, a spoiled boy, he treats others horribly and feels sorry for himself.  As he spends time with Brother Luke, you see him change into a young man with courage and strength despite his disability.  The story gives such a great example of learning to be positive and doing your best.  It also shows such wonderful friendships with Brother Luke and John-go-in-the-Wynd, the minstrel.

I am glad that we took our time with this book.  Laura would have tuned it out if we hadn't broken up the story in smaller bits as scheduled in Heart of Dakota.  For a kid that hasn't had a lot of exposure to the Old English style of speaking, I often had to stop and explain some of the phrases.  By the end of the book she had caught on pretty well.  I tried to make it fun by speaking in my best (probably terrible) English accent for the speaking parts.  She just thought that was silly, but it did help her to get into the story.