Read it to my six year old and loved it as much as he did. The "hydrophobia" scared him pretty good, but the rest of it was fine for him. If he were more sensitive I might hold off another year or two.

The language and prose were excellent. It was a very easy book to read aloud. The depiction of the time and place were as well. We paused a few times to find pictures or more information on the Internet.

I'll put this in my top 5 kids books so far.