The White Stone in the Castle Wall

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Young Tommy is a poor lad living in the Toronto slum called Cabbagetown.
When he hears that Sir Henry Pellat, a man “who owns all the lights in
the city,” is paying a silver dollar for every large field stone
delivered to his property, Tommy hauls a huge rock to Sir Henry’s
house. Alas, Tommy’s stone is white and the contractor has orders to
buy only grey stones. Disheartened, Tommy takes refuge in Sir Henry’s
garden where he is befriended by a kindly old gardener. The gardener
turns out to be Sir Henry himself who not only buys the stone but also
gives Tommy a full-time job as a gardener.

Sheldon Oberman’s yarn about how one mysterious white stone came to
be included in the famous Casa Loma is charming and believable. Les
Tait’s beautiful drawings, each based on a real Toronto building,
complement Oberman’s tale perfectly.

Ironically, this story is a medieval fairy tale set in the context of
Edwardian Toronto. Less than a hundred years ago, Cabbagetown kids like
Tommy survived (or didn’t) on the whim of robber barons like Sir Henry
Pellat. The harsh reality of the era is accurately reproduced in
Tait’s illustrations. Tommy’s tarpaper shack stands in sharp
contrast to Sir Henry’s palatial horse stables. The result is a pretty
book that invites deeper discussion. Recommended.