The Castle in the Attic

The Castle in the Attic is a fantasy novel for middle-grade readers by Elizabeth Winthrop. Published in 1985, it tells the story of a young boy whose toy castle comes to life and draws him into a heroic adventure in which he must rescue his own nanny from a mistake he made.

Widely considered a children’s classic, the book and its sequel, The Battle for the Castle, were nominated for two dozen honors. The Castle in the Attic won the California Young Reader medal and Vermont’s Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award. Winthrop descends from the Alsop family of journalists, a family that made a name for itself in American journalism beginning in the 1930s. She has written more than 60 books for children and adults.

The book includes a floor plan of the castle drawn by Trina Schart Hyman.

This guide uses the 2012 Holiday House eBook edition of The Castle in the Attic.

Plot Summary

Mrs. Phillips has been William’s nanny since he was an infant. Now 10, he’s stunned to learn she’s leaving to return to England. He tries to prevent it by stealing a picture and a pin passed down from her family, two items she holds dear and wouldn’t leave without. He relents and returns them, and she presents him with a parting gift—a large toy castle, complete with drawbridge, banners, rooms, furniture, and weapons. Now resting in his family’s attic, the castle has been in her family for generations, but she believes he should have it.

The castle contains one toy soldier, the Silver Knight. It’s two inches tall, but when William takes it from its box, it comes to life. William befriends the tiny man, who calls himself Sir Simon of Hargrave. The knight explains that an evil wizard, Alastor, stole his castle and its lands. When Sir Simon tried to fight Alastor, the wizard used magical medallions to turn the knight into a leaden soldier and remove him to the toy castle. Sir Simon stole one of the wizard’s tokens and still has it.

They try out the token on various objects. William brings a pair of sow bugs to Sir Simon, who finally figures out how to work the token. The sow bugs become tiny, and the knight eats them. William also brings bits of food from the kitchen for Sir Simon.

Both William’s friend Jason and William’s father visit the castle; each time, Sir Simon hides, and William gets the visitors to leave quickly. The knight miniaturizes a mouse and kills it, and William helps him light the kitchen fireplace and Sir Simon roasts the rodent.

William realizes he can keep Mrs. Phillips with him if he miniaturizes her. On the day she leaves, he brings the knight with him in a pouch while he escorts Mrs. Phillips to the bus. The knight zaps her with the token and she becomes two inches tall. William takes them back to the castle. She refuses to speak to him, and William realizes he’s done a terrible thing.

He decides to join them in the castle, where together they might find the remedy for their small size. Admiring William’s courage, Mrs. Phillips helps Sir Simon train the boy for the upcoming quest to retrieve the remaining medallions.

Inscribed on the castle wall is a riddle about a knight who tests his sword, a squire who arrives at the castle, a lady who does needlework, and the fulfillment of a quest. Mrs. Phillips embroiders an image of William and Sir Simon on a journey. The next day, boy and knight leave the castle in search of Sir Simon’s ancestral homeland.

They pass through an enchanted forest whose animal noises so distract them that they become separated. William gets through the forest and arrives at Sir Simon’s lands, now controlled by Alastor. They’re dried out and unproductive, and the people suffer while the wizard basks in the castle, surrounded by gold and the bodies of people he’s turned into lead.

An old, bent over man begs William to retrieve a single apple from atop a tree. It’s a difficult climb, but William succeeds. The old man bites the apple and is transformed into a tall young man named Dick who thanks William for releasing him from a years-long curse imposed on him by Alastor. He tells William about the wizard’s search for a court jester, and William realizes that he can enter the castle and get close to Alastor by applying for the job. Dick gives the boy critical advice on how to get past the dragon that guards the castle gates.

William travels across a ruined landscape from which residents are escaping. He confronts and overcomes the dragon, converts its loyalty to him, and enters the castle, where he meets Alastor and shows off his acrobatic ability. Alastor hires him, then makes William view a gallery of people whom the wizard has turned into lead. Among them is Sir Simon. Alastor forces the boy daily to perform exhausting gymnastic feats for the wizard’s amusement. Sir Simon’s original nursemaid, Calendar, distorted into an old, bent woman by the wizard’s evil magic, serves as Alastor’s chief aide.

One day, William completes a gymnastic routine with a kick that knocks Alastor down, and William steals his magic necklace. Alastor thrusts a mirror into the boy’s face—it reflects the unbearably dark truths of anyone who looks into it, devastating and immobilizing them—but William already has faced his worst impulses, and the mirror has no effect on him. He snatches the mirror from Alastor, aims it back at him, and the wizard crumples in agony. Calendar grabs the necklace and aims its medallions at Alastor, turning him into lead and making him disappear.

William hugs the leaden statue of Sir Simon, which transforms back into the living knight. The boy touches the other statues and brings them, too, back to life. The enchantments that hobble the country disappear, and the people, rejoicing, return to a land that’s verdant and plentiful again.

Carrying the medallion that reverses miniaturization, William returns to his attic castle, where he discovers the miniaturized leaden statue of Alastor. He and Mrs. Phillips transform each other to their normal sizes. She pockets Alastor, intending to drop the shrunken wizard into the sea during her return to England. William sees her off and returns home, looking forward to life with his parents.