There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight

Reviewed by: Deidre Walsh - Goodall Memorial Library, Sanford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 13, 2015

Review

A new take on the classic, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". Here we have a dragon who can't stop swallowing things. He's not hungry. He just likes to swallow things. In this cumulative story, with rhyming text, the silliness builds with every page. Each item the dragon swallows is in larger text than the rest of the book, so that it prepares both the reader to pronounce it with more emphasis and for the listener to see how the story is unfolding. The illustrations are done in what looks like acrylic. They are full of lots of colors and amusing detail. For example, right before the knight gets swallowed you can see how clueless he is by the expression on his face and the fact that there are "danger-dragon" signs all over. The illustrations are in perfect harmony with the text, so much so that this could almost work as a wordless book. The text, however, is too humorous, child-friendly, and flowing to not read. Preschoolers and kindergartners will enjoy the silliness and repetition. They will want to join in guessing what the dragon will swallow next. Children will also enjoy making all the burping noises the dragon makes towards the end of the book. My only issue with this book is that the dragon burps up everything but the knight at the end. He wants to keep the knight in his belly even though the repetition throughout the book is that it is not polite. What's more the knight appears quite happy and content to stay in the dragon's belly. I wonder why? Pair this with "Who Wants a Dragon" by James Mayhew and "Again" by Emily Gravett for a fun dragon story time. Or use this book with older students a writing lesson on fairy tale variants.

Overall Book Score: very good