Rating: 3/5 ....... 198 pages, 1900
Feb 5, 2010
The Complete Book of Dragons
by E. Nesbit
I first encountered the author E. Nesbit when my mother read Five Children and It to us as bedtime stories. It wasn't until a few years ago that I stumbled across The Complete Book of Dragons, while browsing in the public library. This book contains eight story stories about dragons, first published in The Book of Dragons, plus one newer story. They're all fun adventures, in a variety of settings with protagonists ranging from princesses and knights to ordinary children. Sometimes the dragons are evil, sometimes good, sometimes in between. In one, a dragon escapes from the pages of a storybook and ravages a town. In another, a dragon purrs to calm a baby. There are some traditional kinds of tales where brave heroes seek out the dragons for battle, and other more curious ones about dragons treated kindly, or doing good deeds themselves (or just being greedy, as in the one who ate a herd of hippos!). All with the lively flair and originality of Nesbit's writing. Good reading, if you like fantasy! I would say this book is written for ages 8-12, but I enjoyed it just as much myself.
Rating: 3/5 ....... 198 pages, 1900
Rating: 3/5 ....... 198 pages, 1900
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Okay, now I have to see if the library has it. My daughter is an absolute dragon nut.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure she'd love it!
ReplyDeleteI've been so curious about Nesbit. We own a few titles, but haven't gotten to them yet!
ReplyDeleteI was never the biggest fan of E. Nesbit, (as compared with some of the other fantasy authors I liked as a kid), but this was by far my favorite thing of hers. I liked the story about the prince (king? duke? some sort of nobility, I think) who let the dragon out of the book, and had to work out how to recapture him. Am I remembering that right?
ReplyDeleteJenny- You're remembering about as much as I. It's actually been several years since I read the book. I remember being charmed and entertained, but not much of the details beyond what I've mentioned here.
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