The Door in the Wall: (Newbery Medal Winner)

Delightful, low-key, descriptively lean account of England circa the 1330s through the eyes of a handicapped boy. Not the action adventure some readers seem to be expecting, but a non-revisionist slice of life, Middle Ages style. Younger readers will need to be good readers, and patient ones, to reap these rewards. (In fact, that's what this book is about!)De Angeli's short Newbery winner follows Robin, ten year old son of a nobleman fighting in Edward III's "Scottish wars" and one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. Robin's London caregivers are wiped out by the plague, so the care of his delicate health (he has recently been stricken lame) falls to a benevolent monk named Brother Luke. The good brother quietly applies himself to strengthening Robin in both body and mind, emphasizing that perseverance and patience will always result in finding "a door in the wall," a way beyond present obstacles. Robin's lessons include wood carving, reading, writing, singing and playing music, swimming, and walking with crutches.There is no insistent plot to jerk the story forward and no loud, overstated characters to interfere with Robin's quiet development. Robin shares some mild adventures on the road in the company of Luke and a minstrel named John Go-in-the-wynd before all his newfound resourcefulness and skill are called upon in defense of a local castle.Nice, pleasant, quick. Unapologetic about the era's Christian culture and the benevolence of its priests, so probably not very popular among trendy Newbery spokespeople these days. But De Angeli's message of gentle, humble perseverance is actually inspiring.

A delightful, easy read. Highly recommended for both children and adults, though children might be confused by the pseudo-archaic English dialog. The story of a disabled boy, left alone, taken in by a kind monk and, with kindness and caring, who becomes strong in body and even stronger in character.

Thou has found the door in the wall…a good children’s book that includes large doses of adventure, courage and perseverance through what seems like insurmountable difficulties.

This 1949 Newberry winner celebrates a 10-year old disabled boy’s will and fortitude as he fulfills his noble destiny (not the one he expected) while growing in goodness and character. The story is set in the Middle Ages during the plague, and prior to England’s split from Rome. The viewpoint is, as expected, quite narrow and pure by today’s standards. A monk, Brother Luke, physically and spiritually cares for the child and fosters his character growth. He encourages the child to overcome life’s obstacles through dedication and hard work, by finding a “door in the wall.” This is a slow read, well suited for bedtime and winding down, with English vernacular (thee and thou) which if waded through has a great ending, filled with hope. It brings the Middle Ages (during the reign of Edward III) entirely to life. Recommended. My son of the same age at first found it slow, then as the main character grew in kindness, liked it very much.

The kids did not want me to stop reading, and I hardly wanted to put the book down myself. The story is meaningful and very well written. I highly recommend it as a story in and of itself, and as historical fiction from medieval times.

Kids with disabilities, especially ones like Asperger's Syndrome that are only partially disabling, have trouble figuring out what to make of their disability. They often have to choose between being held to a high standard they can't achieve, and getting the "pity treatment" from people who think disability means they can never achieve anything. Their interactions with adults mostly model those two extremes. They don't often get a chance to think about their disability as it is, with its advantages and disadvantages, or get instruction customized to their strengths as well as their needs.Robin, the protagonist of _The Door In The Wall_, deals with the same struggle all disabled kids do-- trying to find what he *can* do in a world where his abilities don't quite match up with the set of qualities his society values. He is taught to strengthen himself in all the ways he can, and eventually he finds a way to use his disability to his advantage: *only* a disabled boy with his skill set could do what he did.My son with Asperger's has really enjoyed this book for the way it portrays disabilities, and after reading it we've had many discussions about how the disadvantages of Asperger's are the flip side of its advantages. (For example, Asperger's trades off the ability to engage in social interaction for the ability to absorb and recall a large body of information; the latter can be a tremendous advantage and perhaps even lead to future employment.) _The Door In The Wall_ has encouraged my son to view himself in a positive light, disability and all, and find activities that play to his unconventional strengths.

For school. Exactly what was needed

Having vaguely remembered enjoying this book as a child, I bought it for my ten-year-old, who loves the story as well. The language in this book is comparatively sophisticated and vaguely archaic ("We broke our fast"), but the story is so gripping that it goes down painlessly.

This book is a good book. I would have given it 5 stars had this book been written for adults. Unfortunately this book is for children and they will probably find the book too slow and with words too difficult to understand.I am not sure if a child alone can understand the book if he/she reads this book by him/herself.If I read this book to children, I would read one chapter at a time, stopping frequently to try to explain what was written, and at the end I would summarize the book with this: The reason why the main character finds his own door in the wall is because he accomplished something that basically anybody else could have done but nobody thought of or tried doing; and of course he did it regarless of his physical limitations.