Reddit mentions of Castle

David Macaulay wrote a book some years ago called Castle, it contains many descriptions and illustrations of how a fictional castle and a surrounding town is built, It was my favorite book as a child.

It turns out someone filmatized the book.

Wanna read about Castles every time you poop for your whole childhood? I sure did with this book. David Macaulay is the man.

oh man this is bringing back memories...

I forgot he also wrote (illustrated?) those books on castles and underground too

Y'know, I still think David Macaulay's Castle is excellent. Though aimed at young readers, Macaulay's ink drawings continue to fascinate me like they did when I was ten.

Some of those pictures remind me of David Macaulay's work! Link for the uninitiated.

Castle has been with me since the beginning.

This was my castle book that I loved.

I find it has a David Macaulay feel to it. Very pleasing to look at. Nice work!

Since he's been very young he seems to have gravitated towards things with details, drawings and explanations.

I happened to find a book called "Castle" at a yard sale which lead me to find a bunch of other books by the same author (City, Underground, Pyramid, Mill) which I bought as well.

This lead us to all of the amazing Stephen Biesty cross-section books .

We have also really enjoyed the Ken Jennings Junior Genius books - he spends a lot of time reading these books.

The older Magic School Bus books are really great as well for an overview of how things work.

I'll grab any "the way things work/science/explanation" type of book that I see just to throw on his shelf.

We'll often go into his room at night and he'll have half a dozen books spread over his bed, it's super gratifying to see.

For computer games he is into a thing called Algodoo which is sort of a physics-simulator, Poly-bridge, Beam NG (a realistic physics driving game), Sim City, Cooking Simulator, Minecraft (of course). He's dabbled in Scratch a little bit as well.

I don't know that we've done anything specifically to encourage this or if this is just the way he is. I happen to have a pretty broad (but relatively shallow) base of knowledge that lets us talk about pretty much whatever comes into his head - and when I don't know we use google pretty heavily to get the real answer.

I try to dig into the "why's" as much as possible - why advertising exists, why we live where we do, why we have schools, etc, etc. We light stuff on fire in the driveway to see what'll happen and take stuff apart to see what's inside.

We're not "hardcore" about this stuff by any means - but I do work pretty hard to provide the materials that he can discover on his own.

Hope some of that helps :)

Hell Yes!

Unbuilding
City
Underground
Castle
Pyramid
Mill
Cathedral
Mosque

David Macaulay is the MAN. I loved these books when I was a kid love these books!

It's hard to define great nonfiction books because they're not books kids cherish and read for years to come. The books are severely limited by the target age of the reader. Whereas, I'm sure my daughter will still own her Harry Potter set when she's 25-years-old.

1. A Street Through Time (Mostly pictures, but fascinating. There's also A City Through Time.)
   
   
2. Castle part of a series, similar to A Street Through Time, but black-and-white.
   
   
3. The (New) Way Things Work by the Castle author, although maybe too advanced for a 7-year-old.
   
   
4. Stephen Biesty's Incredible series -- Meticulous drawings and small print notes breaking down objects and processes.... the interior of a race car, the architectural sections of a cathedral, how wigs are made, how medieval armor is made, etc.
   
   
5. National Geographic Young Explorers. Specifically, the books from the 1980s found now at thrift stores. It seems every school and library once carried them. Maybe written too young for a 7-year-old, not sure. See if your library still carries the series.
   
   
6. Other multi-part 'How does X work?' books. I have one out-of-print series in mind I'll pull the title from after my kids are at school.
   
   
7. Ranger Rick magazine. Here's a Flash preview magazine. It has no advertising. In comparison, NatGeo Kids is packed with advertising and pop culture articles that have nothing to do with geography or the natural world. Tip: Google Ranger Rick and click the Google Ad to subscribe for $15 instead of $20.
   

Castle by David Macaulay?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0395329205/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_KE42xb7W512SG

Underground is also super interesting and quite relevant.

Sounds like the [David Macaulay series] (http://www.amazon.com/Castle-David-Macaulay/dp/0395329205).

Preface: I'm not a historian, so some of my facts might get a little muddled.

I was under the impression that most farm houses would make their own rudimentary items (spoons, bowls, shoes, etc) during the winter slow months, and purchase "good" items when the money was in during harvest season. They could often barter with others who might make a better candle or shoe than them, trading furniture or food for that. (The start of the mercantile trade at a grass-roots level.)

Typically, the woodcutter, carpenter, and blacksmith might all be near each other, particularly given that the woodcutter doesn't need much space, the blacksmith might be the carpenter, and the carpenter might supplement income by being the woodcutter. (Then again, the carpenter and the jointer were two separate individuals: one dealt with building houses, and the latter with furniture.)

The blacksmith would store much of his stock outside because of space restrictions for his shop, and was also a man of many trades. While much of his work might be that of a farrier (horseshoes a primary function), he would still make or repair tools and common parts. Some fancy parts or raw materials he would need to order, requiring a deal with a tinker or trader.

Means a place for the visitor to stay overnight. Some bakers might expand their shop to double as a store, some towns/villages might have a common room that would double as an inn, some might have a house or two with extra space.

Most would not be able to afford two kilns/ovens, so that would serve double duty for as long as possible.

As for temples/churches, a local abbey might send out a wandering (on a circuit or route) cleric or priest or monk, the bishop of a church in a larger city might do the same, and services might typically last several hours. (If it takes hours to come from the surrounding fields, don't you think they'd want to "get their money's worth"?) Alternatively, some of the folks that still worship the old gods might have a simple meeting place established in the woods, or a small shelter, and hold local celebrations.

There should be a common square (not strictly defined as such) for communal gatherings. Weddings, market day, announcements, visitations from the lord/tax man, etc. Many families might have tables that could be taken apart and set up in the square, so that the party might be public and open.

The middens would be downwind of the village, and the younger might be tasked with taking the buckets down there. Or some of the older folks might do that... depending.

Most villages would be near a source of fresh water, be it stream, river, or well. A simple well would be a back-up, secondary source, however.

(I was a member of ABANA until my budget shrank. I also visit Hale Farm and Village - a slightly post-colonial age visitor center similar to Williamsburg. I have friends who visit (and volunteer) at Williamsburg and other similar museums. I'm also a huge fan of the medieval period, so I collect resources like _Castle_ as well as RPG books dealing with the subject. Again, though, I'm not a historian. Some of my details will not be appropriate for recreations.)

Yup, there's a color version also. The original books came out in 1977. He revised it by adding color and more details to his drawings and published it last year.

Original (1977)
Color (2013)

I also want such a thing.

There is a series of books by David Macaulay I have not read, but have on my wishlist, that might be what we want. Here is one, the Castle one, with more in the related section, including Cathedrals, the Underground, and City planning.

Well, castles aren't scary, but they may be interesting anyway.

You may be thinking of Castle by David Macaulay. It's filled with illustrations diagramming out a castle. You'd need to buy it new, or from a used bookstore. Don't bank on finding a specific book via thrift stores and yard sales.

Castle, by David Macauley, sounds like one of 'em.

I loved this book as a kid:
https://www.amazon.com/Castle-David-Macaulay/dp/0395329205

The cover is honestly how I sort of pictured the front door of Hogwarts.

I'll have to dig around and find my books in my warren of a basement and get you the titles/authors, a lot of them are really, really dry graduate level books for people who made the study of castles their lives. I'm at work for awhile yet, but if my kids give me time tonight, I'll see what I can dig up.

I loved this book as a kid:

https://smile.amazon.com/Castle-David-Macaulay/dp/0395329205/

Shows a smallish English castle during construction, in detail. Floor plans are easy to find, but this also gives some detail of the construction process, which you can use to add detail if they're adding on.

Maybe start them with a single crumbling tower, and enough space around it to build more.

Another option is to start with an adventure where the bad guys are in a small tower out in the boonies. If the PCs defeat the bad guys, the local authority grants the noble one the tower and the lands around it. Now, improve and defend it.