Tag: dragons

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Egg and Spoon – Gregory Maguire spins a rich Russian fairytale

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

egg and spoonEgg and Spoon, by Gregory Maguire (Candlewick, Sept. 2014). $17.99, ISBN: 9780763672201

Recommended for ages 12+

Gregory Maguire is renowned for creating his alternate versions of fairy tales, most notably, Wicked. In Egg and Spoon, he creates a sweeping Russian fairy tale, encompassing historical figures such as Tsar Nikolai Romanov and Rasputin, and fantasy favorites like Baba Yaga, the Phoenix/Firebird, and the Slavic Dragon, to create a sweeping tale that goes from the impoverished Russian countryside all the way to Saint Petersburg and beyond.

At its heart is a tale reminiscent of The Prince and the Pauper: a young peasant girl named Elena meets a spoiled rich girl named Ekaterina, when Ekaterina’s train breaks down in Elena’s village. Elena’s mother is dying, her brothers have been called off either to military service or employment, and her father is dead. She wants to go to St. Petersburg to ask the tsar to send her brother home to help care for their mother. Fate intervenes, and the two girls swap places, where each learns about the other girl’s life by living her life. Baba Yaga shows up, because the chaotic seasons are causing her distress, and she ends up becoming Ekaterina’s guardian as they proceed to St. Petersburg to ask the tsar what’s going on in the world.

The tale, narrated by a prisoner in the tsar’s tower, looks at magic in the everyday world, and what a stabilizing force it is. There are themes of family, friendship, and morality all at play, with a lot of humor – Baba Yaga is hilarious here – and conflict.

My only concern here is that at almost 500 pages, middle graders may balk at reading this. Teens will enjoy the story, and it’s a book that really should be on every library shelf. This one will win awards, there’s no question. The writing is beautiful and there are some incredible themes explored. A semester-long unit on fairy tales for older students would really be enhanced by using this book, and book groups for all ages will never run out of material to talk about.

 

 

Posted in Fantasy, Tween Reads

Book Review: Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac (Dial Books, 2011)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 10-13

Prince Rashko, a 14-year old prince, is frustrated by his family. They’re so dumb. His parents are kind, but simple; his older brother Paulek, while a near-perfect warrior, is content to let Rashko do all the heavy thinking. They all live in Hladka Hvorka, a castle rumored to have magical origins, and there is peace in Rashko’s parents’ land – until Rashko’s parents disappear, and the Baron Temny shows up, expecting his young hosts to accommodate him and his entourage. The Baron also brings his ‘daughter’ with him as a potential bride for Paulek, who is thrilled to have company. Rashko suspects that neither there is more to both the Baron and his daughter, and works to find his parents and keep Hladka Hvorka in his family’s name.

Running parallel to Rashko’s story is the story of the legendary warrior Pavol, a hero in Rashko’s land. Orphaned when an evil king took his parents’ land and murdered them, Pavol is raised by a husband and wife living in the magical woodlands on the outskirts of the castle, and trained for the day he will avenge his parents’ deaths. This legend eventually converges with Rashko’s story, and he learns that Hladka Hvorka holds even more secrets than he imagined.

Author Joseph Bruchac is Native American and Slovakian, and draws upon his Slovakian heritage for Dragon Castle. The book contains phrases and words in Slovakian, always reinforced in English, and includes a glossary in the back. It is a great way to introduce younger readers to a new language within a fantasy setting.
 
The story is woven like a classic hero’s tale, with adventure and humor in equal parts. Rashko comes across as a bit petulant and stuck-up at times, particularly in the beginning of the book when he spends most of his time lamenting his superior intelligence and his parents’ and brother’s abject stupidity, but he’s an adolescent – he’s written well. He also realizes, as he gets deeper into his family’s background, that there is more to his parents – and possibly, his brother – than he ever thought possible, and this gives him pause.
 
Having two male main characters is a great way to bring this adventure fantasy to male readers; supplemental female characters will not draw any female readers in that weren’t planning on reading it already, but Dragon Castle is a strong fantasy tale that should appeal to boys and girls who enjoy fantasy, complete with evil sorcery, dragons, and castles.
 
Joseph Bruchac’s website focuses mainly on his music and poetry and features .mp3 files for listeners to enjoy. There is some information about his books and schedule available.
Posted in Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Tween Reads

Book Review: Kenny and the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2008)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 9-12

This adorable book teaches children the power of not judging someone (or something) on gossip, and illustrates the potentially destructive power of gossip.

Kenny is a young, bookish rabbit. His parents are farmers, but he’s always got his nose in a book. His only real friend at the book’s beginning is the old badger, George, who runs the bookshop in the nearby village. Kenny visits George to play chess and read in the bookshop, and George often lets Kenny borrow books to take home and read.

One day, Kenny’s father comes home with the news that there is a dragon in his meadow. Kenny runs to his bookshelf and grabs his bestiary, on loan from George, and learns that dragons are vicious, fire-breathing, maiden-devouring beasts. Creating a suit of armor for himself fashioned from pots and pans, he sets out to take a look at the dragon, who ends up being a perfect gentleman named Grahame (“like the cracker, but with an e on the end”) and quickly dispels all myths set forth in the bestiary – in fact, he asks Kenny if he can borrow it, because he loves reading good fiction. Grahame is something of an epicure, enjoying good poetry, music, and food. He spent years trapped in the earth after falling through a fault line, but he never saw the point in chasing maidens and killing knights – his fellow dragons died out because of their taste for terror, and he just wants to enjoy life.

Kenny introduces Grahame to his parents, who also include the dragon in such family activities as picnic dinners where they cook delicious meals just for him. Kenny and Grahame’s friendship is put at risk when other villagers, fearful of the rumored dragon in the land, call for the king to take action. The king calls his retired dragonslayer into service – Kenny’s friend, George Badger. Kenny’s two best friends may have to do combat because no one bothers to learn the truth about dragons – what can Kenny do to save the day?

Tony DiTerlizzi is one half of the duo behind The Spiderwick Chronicles. Kenny and the Dragon, based on the 1898 story The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame, introduces readers to a new group of memorable characters as he peppers tributes to the original story throughout the book. Aside from the tribute to Kenneth Grahame, he names George the bookstore owner/dragonslayer after St. George, who features in the Grahame story; other characters from the original story also find a place in DiTerlizzi’s world.

Placing the story in a fantastic, anthropomorphic world is a wonderful way of bringing this story to a new audience. DiTerlizzi expands on the original tale as a way of getting big ideas across to little people – the town mob, pitchforks and all, is riled up by the mere presence of a dragon, but no one bothers to try and get to know him – all they have is rumor to go on, and that’s good enough for them.

DiTerlizzi illustrates Kenny and the Dragon in the same line sketch format as Spiderwick, bringing Grahame, Kenny, and the rest of their world to life. The sketches bring old fairy tale stories to mind.

DiTerlizzi’s website, Never Abandon Imagination, provides more information about his books and includes links to his artwork, blog and social media connections (YouTube, Wikipedia, Facebook).

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Tween Reads

Book Review: Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (Bloomsbury, 2008)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 10-14

This is a princess-y book for girl who don’t normally like princess book. Creel, the main character, is not a princess, but she is independent and smart; a rags-to-riches character we’ve started expecting from fantasy heroines.

Orphans Creel and her brother live with their poor aunt and uncle, who have enough children of their own. Creel’s aunt leaves Creel to the local dragon in the hope that either a rich noble or prince will save her and marry her – and share the wealth with the rest of the family – or that the dragon will eat her, giving the family one less mouth to feed. Luckily for Creel, Theoradus the Dragon doesn’t want to eat anyone; he wants to be left alone to enjoy his hoard of shoes (each dragon has his or her own preferred hoard).
 
Creel strikes out for the king’s city, Feravel, to find her fortune as a seamstress, taking a pair of slippers given to her by Theoradus and befriends two more dragons, Shardas and Feniul, along the way. Upon arriving in Feravel, she finds seamstress work where her embroidery designs gain notice – as do her shoes. The awful princess Amalia, engaged to Feravel’s crown prince Milun, tries to force Creel to surrender the slippers. She ultimately gets them through Creel’s co-worker, Larkin, who Amalia makes a lady-in-waiting if she can get Amalia the slippers.

Amalia’s desire for the shoes has nothing to do with being fashionable, and her engagement to prince Milun is a sham – her father’s kingdom wants to take over Feravel, and the slippers give her the power to control the dragons. Creel must join forces with the king’s younger son, Luka, to find a way to break through to the dragons and bring peace to the land.

I enjoyed this book because it was unexpected. The heroine was intelligent, self-sufficient, and funny – a wry sense of humor permeates the characters without feeling forced or contrived. Jessica Day George carefully builds up without it ever feeling tedious, and she tightly weaves the various characters, plots, and subplots together to keep  readers on their toes. Just when I thought I had reached the climax of the book, I realized there was more – and I liked it. The author does not take its young audience for granted.
 
Dragon Slippers is the first book in Jessica Day George’s Dragon trilogy, and I may visit Creel, Prince Luka, and Shardas the dragon again in the future wiith Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear. Ms. Day George has written other fairy tales with smart heroines, including Princess of the Midnight Ball, winner of the Children’ Literature Association of Utah’s 2011 Beehive Award and its sequel, Princess of Glass. She keeps in touch with her fans through her blog and her website, which links to more information about the author, her books, and social media. She is also featured on the Mormon Arts wiki.
Posted in Animal Fiction, Humor, Tween Reads

Book Review: Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon (Dial Books, 2009)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Book Review: Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon (Dial Books, 2009)
 
Recommended for ages 8-12

Ursula Vernon’s first book in her Dragonbreath series introduces readers to Danny Dragonbreath, a young dragon who happens to be the only mythical creature in a school filled with reptiles and amphibians. He’s a little rebellious, not a fan of schoolwork, and really wants to be able to breathe fire (if for no other reason, than to stop hearing his father’s motivational speeches). His best friend, Wendell, is an iguana who finds himself sucked into Danny’s crazy schemes when he’d rather be doing something safer, like getting Danny to do his homework.

In Dragonbreath, Danny flunks his paper on the ocean after writing it the morning it’s due and making it up from his own imagination. Luckily for him, he’s got a sea monster cousin named Edward, who he can visit and from whom he can get an ocean tour, so off he goes, dragging Wendell along with him. Can they survive the deep ocean, where giant squids are known to show up without notice? Will Danny pass his Science paper?
 
Dragonbreath is a great book for younger readers that are still getting used to chapter books; the book is written in a half-chapter, half-graphic novel format that readers will find user-friendly, and Vernon provides a copious amount of nonfiction information about ocean life through Danny’s and Wendell’s eyes that will show the kids that learning can be fun.
 
Vernon’s website provides summaries of all the Dragonbreath novels as well as her other titles, as well as updates on author appearances and her artwork.