The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Danna Smith (review)

A young girl delights in following her father, the castle falconer, as he takes a hawk and hound out on a hunt. Her semi-cumulative, partially rhymed verse, set in large font, supplies a narrative accessible to a young audience, while boxed insets in smaller italicized font provide scene-by-scene descriptions and explanations of the sport of falconry and how trained birds bring down their prey. Ibatoulline’s lush, painterly spreads work in harmony with the text, tantalizing viewers with visual details of the garb and accouterments (both bird’s and falconer’s) of the sport, and immediately supplying answers as quickly as a listener can formulate a question. The delicate, feathered object that engrosses the girl’s attention, for example, is presented in the verse as a hood to hide the hawk’s eyes “so he’s not afraid of soldiers who roam ’round the castle”; a small box on the opposite page explains, “A hawk’s hood is made of soft leather. It is slipped over the hawk’s head, covering its eyes to keep it calm. . . . The fancy feathers on top are not only for decoration; they are also used as a handle when removing the hood.” An author’s note augments the text with further information on the social context of medieval falconry, the types of birds used exclusively by members of various social strata, and the range of contemporary requirements for practicing falconry. An index, a list of adult books, and a trio of websites are included.