Our Review of Britfield & the Lost Crown and Study Guide

We had an opportunity to review Britfield & the Lost Crown as well as the 83 page Study Guide. I'm pretty much game for any and all things English since I'm a dual citizen and just love England. I've been there several times so providing my children an opportunity to learn more about their grandmother's home country, is something I like to encourage. I offered the adventure novel to both my children and they both wanted to read it. For this review, however, I will utilize my 12 year old's thoughts and work. Before I dive into the novel, study guide and more, here is a quick overview of Britfield & the Lost Crown:

• Available in a 394 page physical book (soft cover or hard cover) or eBook.
• Written by C.R. Stewart, a native Californian, he has 20 years of experience in writing.
• An 83 page study guide provides additional opportunities to engage students into a fun learning experience. 
• Provides the reader with an opportunity to learn more about England as they follow best friends Tom and Sarah, orphans, through a mystery that teaches about family, loyalty and friendship. 
• The entire book and study guide are intended to be utilized over eight weeks depending on each student's ability. 
• Britfield & the Lost Crown has already received numerous awards in a short time period to include Book Excellent Award, Chanticleer (5 out of 5), 2019 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Book Awards, Kids Buzz (5 out of 5), Story Monsters and many more!

The Book

The novel begins at Weatherly Orphanage in Aysgarth, Yorkshire, England. Weatherly was an old Elizabethan castle that has all the security built-in to keep those that were suppose to stay in, in and those not wanted, out. Tom, the main character is 12 years old, is liked by the other orphans and has a best friend named Sarah. Sarah is also 12, but is from Scotland. Tom has been at Weatherly all his life and only knows the cold, cruel, poverty of life there. On the other hand is Sarah, who only arrived two years earlier after her wealthy parents died in a mysterious accident. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grievous are the mean, unscrupulous, greedy and nasty owners of Weatherly who employ Mr. Speckle as their shady caretaker. The Grievous' purchased the castle years prior and if the orphanage remains private, the British government will continue to help pay for it. It is in their best interest to keep the orphanage to appear to be running smooth since they pocket most of the money. It was obvious by the appearance of the castle and the children, there was no oversight into their well being. The orphans occasionally sneak out to the Grievous' beautiful mansion to borrow a new book while exchanging an old one and outsmarting Wind the vicious watchdog of Mr. Speckles.

One night after Sarah got in trouble and was sent to the attic, Tom broke her out and the real adventures begin with the only clue to his past, the word BRITFIELD. The journey continues with added characters such as Detective Gowerstone and Dr. Hainsworth. Students feel part of the experience as they are transported across some of the most wonderful and beautiful places in England to which the book brings alive. Who wouldn't want to fly a hot air balloon all the way to Windsor Castle for a glimpse of the Queen? I don't want to give the book away as it has an ending that will reveal itself when you read it. There is another book following their adventures titled Britfield & the Rise of the Lion, Book II due to be released in 2020.

"I really liked how the characters developed through the story. Tom's background was sad but the adventures and mystery kept me wanting to read more," Jamie. 

My daughter LOVED the utilization of Latin at various parts of the novel.

On a side note, if the student wants to learn more about the locations and facts about the novel, the website provides excellent information to supplement from history to maps to glorious photographs. 

Also, students who want to learn more, enter contests, win prizes and collect merchandise can join the Britfield Academy and the Britfield Explorer's Club.

Study Guide

The downloadable study guide provides all the instructions needed to cover 17 chapters of the book with additional resources and answer key sections. Each section of the study guide is broken down to allow for one to two chapters to be read and discussed a week. For my review, I did have my student write her answers on a separate piece of paper because although the study guide is beautifully done with an old English paper appearance, I wanted to get the most out of my ink cartridge. With the answer keys residing in the back of the guide, she was able to complete the questions by working online from the downloaded guide.

Each section provides an opportunity for the student such as:

• Vocabulary with challenges such as finding the correct synonym for the underlined word, word searches, complete the sentence and more.
• Comprehension questions that ensures the student understood what they read.
• Going Deeper requires the student to think a bit further and helps to bring out critical thinking while utilizing grammar skills.
• Learn More with Technology allows the student to utilize research skills by looking up a specified topic and recording/reporting what was requested.

There are some other fun items on the website such as printable creativity quotes, ideas to make one's classroom more creative and much more.

Overall, I like how the study guide provides an opportunity to bring a cross array of educational learning to coincide with reading the novel. The novel is adventurous, fun and full of immense excitement. It's not a Christian based novel but there is nothing that detracts from it being an overall great educational opportunity while encouraging reading. As I always tell my children, knowledge truly is power and reading provides the opportunity. The reader never knows what will happen next which is the marking of good adventurous novel to me! As fellow authors, C.R. Stewart created a thrilling novel that inspired me and my 12 year old to write more. I would recommend the Britfield & the Lost Crown and the study guide.

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Check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, thought by clicking on the (photo) link below: