Squire & Knight

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for Squire & Knight through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated. 🙂

Squire & Knight brings us two very different heroes – one with lots of brawn who gets all the glory, and the other, a thoughtful, nerdy type that most people ignore.   Can they solve a problem in a rather mysterious town?   Will they conquer the enemy and solve the mystery?

Basic Details for Squire & Knight

Title: Squire & Knight
Author: Scott Chantler
Series: Squire and Knight, book 1
Publisher: First Second
Pages: 176
Intended Audience: grade 4-6
Genre: graphic novel, fantasy, folklore, medieval times, legends, fairy tales, comic, magie
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
Available formats: Hardcover, Kindle, paperback
Received: paperback

About the Author and Book

The Author

Scott Chantler is a local boy!   He works and lives out of Stratford, Ontario.  Wow…he’s just a hop, skip and a jump from me.  🙂  A critically-acclaimed, Eisner-nominated cartoonist who spends time on Instagram. 

The Book

Two protagonists: Squire a nerdy, rather under-appreciated under study to Sir Kelton, a brawny, inept knight.   The two mismatched heroes find themselves coming to the rescue of a small town where things aren’t quite what they seem.  Sir Kelton rides to the rescue while Squire stays behind to read and problem solve.   Between the two of them, can they rescue the town? 

Digging Deeper

Graphic novels can be fun ways to read a story, providing images to help tell the story, and breaking the story down into less words for people who struggle with too many words on a page. 

First Second does a good job with their graphic novels making the text easy to read while moving the story along nicely.   They provide good colour, show emotion and action well, and overall.. it’s a good read in bite sized pieces. 

Don’t you just love the colour?   So bright and one that draws you in.  I love that not every page is filled with text, and sometimes the illustrations tell the story. 

You’ll also enjoy the character and setting development.  I can totally… if I believed in dragons and magic … see this world being plausible.  People do foolish things sometimes when they are put into difficult situations and that’s precisely what happens here.  The dragon who barters made me laugh! 

My Recommendation

Such a classic story between good and bad, and brawn vs brain.  Which is better?   Who will win out in the end?  You’ll meet a squire, a knight, a wizard, a dragon, an unusual dog, and lots of townspeople. 

Everyone will have different ideas about just what the problem is…and how to solve it.  You’ll have to read how creative solutions were found.   

Do I think middle schoolers would enjoy Squire & Knight?   Of course!   Who doesn’t love a story with wizards and heroes?   We all need to have some heroes in our lives!