Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 12 years and 9 months old. Please keep that in mind as it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information.

The whole world knows and loves this book. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.

As a slight change to my regular WIJFR posts, this one should be WIAFR (What I Almost Finished Reading).

It’d been a while since my daughter and I had read a book together so back in Mid-May we started “The Once and Future King” by T. H. White.

Part 1, “The Sword in the Stone,” chronicles the Wart’s (Arthur’s) childhood and tutelage under Merlyn. She laughed at the wizard’s antics (sewing his beard into his scarf, blowing himself to Bermuda, etc.) but was slightly confused by the concept of his living backwards in time. As the Wart was changed into different animals (hawl, owl, ant, fish, etc.) by Merlyn for his lessons, she enjoyed hearing about the adventures and problems he had (I’m sure if we keep reading she’ll make the connection between the meaning of those lessons and the situations that occur later on). She even caught some of the references to other literature, like Robin Wood (not Hood!) and Maid Marian (obvious) and Queen Circe (not-so-obvious, and even though she knew of her through the Percy Jackson novels I was still impressed). Next to Merlyn and the Wart, I think her next-favorite character was Archimedes, Merlyn’s trusty owl. Of course, the book ends with the Wart pulling the sword out of the stone and becoming the King of England (spoilers! ;-)) which pleased her as well.

“The Once and Future King” is actually a compilation of five of T. H. White’s earlier works, so I guess you could say we actually finished “The Sword in the Stone” and then stopped there. We got a few chapters into Part 2 (“The Queen of Air and Darkness“) but I felt that the content and language was a bit above a 10-year old’s comprehension level so suggested we stop and finish it later. She protested, but I think that’s the right decision for now. Instead, it’s time to show her the old Disney movie!