Dragon Was Terrible

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

Review Date: January 10, 2017

Review

Dragon is more terrible than your typical fire-breathing dragon. This dragon steals candy from baby unicorns. He spits on cupcakes. And he even scribbles in books! The horror. The King has had enough and asks some brave knights to tame the dragon. They all fail miserably. And Dragon becomes even more terrible. He burns all the marshmallows in the village. The villagers have had enough. So regular folks try to tame Dragon. They all fail embarrassingly. And Dragon grows ever more terrible. He even burps in church. Finally a boy has an idea. He writes a story. Then he leaves a trail of marshmallows for the Dragon to follow. Dragon does and finds the boy under a tree reading his story out loud. The story is about a brave dragon and a terrible knight. The Dragon loves the story and soon is sitting calmly and quietly with the other children enjoying story time. Dragon has been tamed! The boy and Dragon are now friends. The King is happy. The villagers are happy. Even the baby unicorn is happy. This is a hilarious picture book about a very naughty dragon, some fed-up adults, a clever boy and the power of stories. It is written in a conversational style, complete with witty comments throughout about how terrible the Dragon really is and how fed-up the adults really are. The illustrations beautifully flow with the story. They are done in muted tones of oranges, browns and greens mainly. The illustrations are both simple and detailed in their presentation. You can see the exasperation and anger on the mommy unicorn's face when Dragon steals her baby's candy. You can see the knight's red heart boxers when Dragon pulls down his pants. You even see Dragon's graffiti on the castle walls. In the end it is the power of stories and books that soothes the beast. A lovely and important message about the importance of books. Also, in dealing with the dragon the adults are pictured with angry faces, battleaxes, maces, and swords. Yet in the end, a calm little boy thinks of a more positive way to tame the Dragon. He reads him a story. This shows an alternative, less negative way, of dealing with bad behavior in general. Perhaps teachers and caregivers could use this books as an introduction to positive ways of dealing with bad behavior. This book would work well in both large and small group settings, as well as one on one sharing. This is a sure-fire hit in any setting. Pair with "How to Dress a Dragon" by Thelma Godin and "There Was an Old Dragon Who Swallowed a Knight" by Penny Klostermann for a fun-filled dragon story time. A first purchase for all libraries.

Overall Book Score: excellent