Book Identity Title : The Whispering Knights
Author : Penelope Lively
Number of Pages : 88 pages
Publisher : Oxford University press
Year of Publisher : 2008
Genre : Fiction
Whispering Knights nearly belongs to novella that a novel because it is not 100 pages long. The title of the book comes from the old legend “The Rollright Stones” which is an ancient and mysterious group of very old stones spread in a field. It is located on the border between the countries of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire in England. In fact, each group of stones is from a different time period, reflecting the continuing sacred important of the site. The whispering Nights actually are named for the conspiratorial way in which they lean in towards each other. Local legend has it that they were plotting against their king when they were turned into stone by a witch, along with the monument at the Rollright.
The story entitled Whispering Knights actually isn’t all about the knights itself. It is about the adventure of the three children named William, Susie, and Martha in fighting the witch named Morgan. Appearing of Morgan becomes the event that reach to the conflict of this story.
Summary
The story of this book is about three children who named William, Susie, and Martha. They are doing the witch’s brew in Miss Hepplewhite’s barn, they got the receipt from William’s dad. They thought that it was just a game, only Martha was a little scare about it. In the afternoon, they came to start making the witch’s brew. All the ingredients like the frog’s leg, eye of fish, skin of snake, and others have been prepared before. After they have finished mixing the ingredients, suddenly the three children feel a strong cold wind and the brew start to smell bad, the children saw Miss Hepplewhite in front door. Miss Hepplewhite realized what the children did and told them that this brew could be a little danger because a long time ago in that place Morgan le Fay king Arthur’s sister and a kind of witch life there and with that brew the children awakened the soul of this woman. Actually the barn was one of Morgan places. The day after that, everything has happened to the children. Start with a straw appears in the barn, Susie’s burned cake, and the children’s TV doesn’t work. Morgan hated the children, and people who fight again her. The children then started make tricks to gain Morgan, such made a march with noise voice. Then, one day the children went and climbed up the hill, where the whispering knights were. Whispering knights were a circle of grey stones, half buried deep in the grass in the hill. Actually, some people who do not know might think that whispering knights are real knights, a living thing such people or something. Suddenly the children saw a luxurious car of Mr. Steel. There were Mr. steel and his wife inside. They thought that Mr. Steel’s wife is Morgan. Mr. Steel is someone who had a plan to make a motorway to the Chipping Ledburry but suddenly it changed into through the valley where the villagers’ house and farms were. The children thought that this changing was because of Morgan spell to Mr. Steel. Of course, the villagers protest it. This is what make the three children got such a supported reason to gain Morgan. Every time the children got an idea to gain Morgan, they went to Mrs. Hepplewhite to ask her opinion. Here, Mrs. Hepplewhite always gives the children some information and trick to gain Morgan. Another side, the villager, especially William’s father was busy preparing a petition against the motorway. Later on, the children went to the barn and saw the door widely opened. Suddenly, out of darkness came a figure. Morgan was coming. Both Martha and Susie tried to run away, but Willam kept stay there. He tried to gain Morgan and suddenly she changed into a green cold coloumn. That night Martha was dreaming. She dreamed of a milky green sea, the color of the column stone. She woke slowly when she heard a soft voice called her in her dream. In the morning, the three children, with the two youngest brother of Martha went to the river to do fishing. Martha walked silently along the way. Actually she was thinking about her dream last night, she was afraid that it was Morgan. William was doing fishing while Susie was playing with Martha’s brother. Suddenly, Martha has taken by a woman who is Morgan without her friends knowing. Martha was given a spell by Morgan here. The journey to get back Martha from Morgan is started. William and Susie went to Morgan’s house and took Martha back. Angrily, Morgan tried hard to catch all the children. William and Susie with Martha “in the spell” tried hard to avoid from her. Finally, William got an idea to go to the Stones to get safe place. Morgan kept running to catch the children till she came to the hill where the whispering knights there. The children went inside the circle. The stones were alive and in front of the central stone, a woman with a face of Miss Hepplewhite put out a hand to them, calling them to come closer. Then the stones made an unbroken wall around the children and fought against Morgan. Morgan angrily gained the stones then she was finally lost. The children are safe now. The stones and the strange woman were saving them from Morgan. The children directly went to Miss Hepplewhite house and told her about their struggle in fighting Morgan. They finally found out that the plan of Motorway had been changed. Their village was safe now, but they couldn’t tell anyone that they had saved the future of their village. Even though there was not any one knew about their adventure they had passed, they were still proud of themselves for doing that adventure.
Critical Comment
1. The strength
a. This book is easy to understand. From the beginning up to the end of the story, there are only some difficult words or phrase to understand. Penelope preferred to use simple diction so that reader will easily understand what the story is about.
b. This book has many supported pictures. Some pictures in the book is very interesting that can interest people to read more. Not only that, the supported the story draw some important event in the story, this makes the reader easy to understand.
c. There is a glossarium which help the reader to understand the difficult term. The reader is guided or helped by the glossarium to find out the meaning of the difficult word or phrase.
d. There are some guidance activities that guide the reader in reading this story. It can be found in the beginning of this book. This guidance activities guide the readers in what part they have to start, so that the readers won’t get the wrong part.
e. The font in the Whispering Knights’ book is readable. It means that the font chosen is proper and quite clear to read.
2. The weaknesses
a. This story lack of conflict. The event of this story is flat. I couldn’t found any complicated conflict that can make the reader have curiosity. This story might suitable for the junior or beginning of senior high school students.
b. The ending of the story is can be predicted. The reader can easily guess what will happen in the end of the story. It is lack of something surprising. c. This story is full of bound character. it can make the readers getting bored because there is’t any developing or changing character.
Recommendation
The book of Whispering Knight is a kind of interesting story that can entertain the reader because it can develop their own imagination when read the story. This story is good enough. It has many important values for the reader that they have to brave and confident, they have to believe in their own strength. Based on the strength and weaknesses of this book, we recommend that this book can be read by children and teenagers.
[i have done this review to complete my mid test of book report and review subject, feel free to read it :) ]
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