Adventures in the Middle Ages

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.

The Binkerton kids are bored. Their friends have all left on exciting
summer vacation trips, but Emma, Josh, and Libby are stuck in the city
because they do not have enough money to go anywhere. Then they discover
the Good Times Travel Agency. At first they hesitate to go inside—from
outside, the store looks dark and creepy—but when they finally enter
they discover a funny little man named Julian T. Pettigrew who, although
eccentric, seems harmless enough. It turns out that Mr. Pettigrew is in
the time-travel business. He is so excited to have customers (the last
one was in 1819) that he even forgets to charge them for his services.
Before they know what is happening, the three kids are traveling back
through time to experience ancient civilizations firsthand.

In Adventures in Ancient Egypt, the kids suddenly find themselves
knee-deep in the Nile in the year 2500 B.C. They have arrived just in
time to help build one of the pyramids and Josh is conscripted into the
Pharaoh’s construction army. While Emma and Libby search the markets,
temples, and palaces for their brother, Josh hauls limestone blocks.
When Libby and Emma finally rescue Josh, they still have to overcome
tomb robbers and palace police in order get home.

In Adventures in the Middle Ages, Mr. Pettigrew helps Josh fulfil his
ambition to become a knight. The kids get a first-class ticket to the
Middle Ages, but instead of landing as nobility, Emma, Josh, and Libber
discover they are peasants. Josh takes his siblings to the nearest
castle, but when he announces himself as a knight, the soldiers assume
he is the new court jester. Unfortunately, Josh’s singing is so bad
that the entire Binkerton clan is demoted to the kitchen. Eventually,
Josh does get a chance to train as a knight and soon discovers that
medieval warfare is not as much fun as he imagined. Narrowly missing
being hit by boiling water and catapulted cows, the kids hastily return
to the 20th century.

Both books combine hilarious fictional storylines with nonfiction
sidebars to produce narratives that are both hysterical and historical.
Each book concludes with a one-page overview of the era on which the
volume is based. Linda Bailey’s fictional characters are perfectly
matched by the slapstick comic-book style of Bill Slavin’s
illustrations.

Although the second book concludes with the Binkertons swearing off
time travel forever, Mr. Pettigrew gives the reader a knowing wink.
Hopefully, he is right. These books—and any future volumes—are sure
to hook young readers with their humor while administering a painless
dose of real history. Highly recommended.