Out of a man’s experience of life he wrote with a boy’s gusto of what he saw and felt. Kelly it seems, did not write his book for children he wrote it for anybody, and out of sheer interest in sharing what he found in the medieval city of Krakow. Definitely one of the better Newbery Medal titles from the 1920s, I would recommend it to young readers with a taste for historical fiction. Well-written and entertaining, it flowed nicely and kept my attention - I enjoyed learning a little more about Polish history and folklore. The widespread belief in magic and alchemy in fifteenth-century Poland (as seen in such magical folktales as The Magician of Cracow), proves crucial to the story, which revolves around the fate of the Great Tarnov Crystal - a priceless jewel with strange properties.I enjoyed The Trumpeter of Krakow, from the prologue explaining the origin of the broken heynal, to the concluding passages, in which Kelly wraps up his story, and tells the reader what happened afterward. But their enemies have not given up, and soon they find themselves threatened once again.Originally published in 1928, and awarded the Newbery Medal, Kelly's debut novel is an engaging blend of historical fiction and fantastic adventure, incorporating both historical figures - King Jagiello, good Jan Kanty - and legendary ones, like the city's dragon-fighting founder, King Krakus. Here, finding their relations absent, and an audience with the king impossible, the family settle, assisted by the kind monk and scholar, Jan Kanty, and living under an assumed name. Fleeing from the raiding Tatars who attacked their estate in the Ukraine, Pan Andrew Charnetski, his wife, and his fifteen-year-old son, Joseph, seek refuge in the city of Krakow.
Kelly's The Trumpeter of Krakow is an exciting tale of adventure and intrigue for young readers, following the fortunes of the Charnetski family, as they struggle to fulfill a vow made generations before, by one of their ancestors. Set in the chaotic world of medieval Poland, Eric P.
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