Kenneth Graham's The Reluctant Dragon

retold by Robert D. San Souci
illustrated by John Segal

This is the Reluctant Dragon book I found browsing, that made me look for the original. And it is nearly cut in half. The length, I mean. But the text is lifted so easily that the story still reads seamlessly. Having read the first one so recently I recognized passages immediately and could tell where parts were missing- conversations cut short, detailed descriptions just not there. It lost some of its whimsy and charm, but still a good story. The boy has a name here; he's called Jack. He doesn't express glee at the dragon's prospect of a fight, which I noticed right away. Not much else stood out to me as being different. The pictures are charming but rather small, however there are several on each page and the font is one of those that makes you read slow and careful, holding the book perhaps a little closer than usual, which makes you see those bitty pictures up close too. Well, I enjoyed it and so did my seven-year-old who read it after me. But I still prefer the original, it has just that much more character that's missing a bit here.

rating: 3/5 ........ 40 pages, 2004