Build! A Knight's Castle: Paper Toy Archaeology

Product is described accurately and vendor service was very good.

This would make a fun gift since it’s a book and toy in one. My kids — who have some interest in archaeology, history, the Middle Ages, knights & princesses, and so forth — really liked how they could build their own mini castle — and then attack or defend it. My son compared it to a popular “Defend the Castle” mobile game that he enjoys, but “in real life.”I appreciate how it offers my kids a crash course in archaeology, with interesting facts they hadn’t known before. The book portion had a brief, yet interesting overview of what and why people in the Medieval era lived and fought as they did, and what those activities look like to modern archaeologists when doing a dig. It’s fun while being educational, and my kids are really enjoying it!

A few weeks ago, my kids and I had the chance to attempt to put together a paper castle, complete with knights and catapult. Our attempt, was... well, unsuccessful. I had high hopes starting in, but those hopes were quickly dashed when I realized how much patience it would take to put it all together.The castle was a part of a book, Build! a Knight's Castle: A Paper Toy Archaeology by Annalie Seamon, published by Storey Publishing. Earlier in the fall, I reviewed Storey's book for children wanting to be a pet doctor. That book was very easy for my kids to use and assemble. But, a castle is obviously much more complicated...The book is rated for ages 8 and up. My 7 1/2 year old gave up very quickly. My 10 year old successfully pushed in the tabs on several pieces--and I actually learned a thing or two from her. But, she didn't have the patience to see it through. So, I helped my 7 1/2 year old to put together parts of it. I think the book would be best for a 9 or 10 year old with help as needed.For the boy who loves David Macaulay's book Castle and other detailed books about medieval times, this would be a fun book. The book comes from a different point of view since it is looking at the castle from an archaeologist's perspective. My son read the information about the castle with great interest. I liked that the author explains the conclusions and gives the support for the archaelogical conclusions you can make about the past based on what remains.The pieces of the castle all punch out very easily. With this, I was very pleased. What I wished for, though was a clearer list of how to fit the pieces together. I think it was the author's intention that kids would work as an archaeologist might and figure out how the pieces fit together. But, it would have been nice to have a cheat sheet for parents to give the child clues or an inserted sheet in the back with a decoder or something like that for when the child needs help.If you have a child who regularly likes to put together paper projects like this or loves castles, then I can imagine he/she would enjoy this book (or if you're a modeler who can help him/her a lot). My children are unfortunately not as patient as I thought they were. My son can build enormous lego sets, but paper is a different matter. I learned that from this book.Please note that I did receive a complimentary copy of this book for review from Storey Publishing.

Child: Father dearest look at this wonderful book.Father: What a wonderful project that we can do together.Child: We shall have a gay old time building the castle.3 hours later.Child: Why is father burning down the house?Mother: It was the only option left.So, that may have not been exactly how it happened. The book part of this isn't bad. It talks about the different parts of a castle from an archaeological perspective.The paper castle, though, is terrible. It requires inserting flimsy paper tabs into tiny slots. If it doesn't work the first time and the tab bends or splinters, good luck. The bigger tabs seemed to hold better, but the smaller tabs bent easily and then wouldn't stay inserted. Tape helped. The instructions were not that clear but you could figure out what went where.Get this if you have a lot of patience and dexterous fingers, otherwise skip it.

I don't know how the makers of this product can live with themselves. I want my 3 hours back! Worst instructions EVER for assembling these paper craft toys which aren't easy to begin with. We got this book as a gift. My son was excited to build a castle with me, and it was all fun and games until the pieces kept coming out and the castle kept going askew. Absolutely hate this thing. That said, the information and the graphics before this heinous project were wonderful. Otherwise, they need to add a couple more pages on how to design this thing.