John Ronald's Dragons+ The Story of J.R.R. Tolkien

Reviewed by: Jeri Fitzpatrick - GNGMS, Gray, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 10, 2017

Review

This book is a great read aloud to help students understand how authors find their stories. John loved dragons and being outside. John and his cousin Mary invented their own language. This later became Elvish. During WWI, John was on the battlefield, and he invented another language to block out the sounds. John went to college and became a professor. ..." one day ...when grading papers...he wrote In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.He didn't yet know what a hobbit was...but he followed it anyway." In the back of the book, is: an author's note, Illustrator's note, a catalog of Tolkien's dragons, quotes from Tolkien's scholarly writings on dragons, and a bibliography.

Overall Book Score: excellent