Tag dragon

This is NOT a Fairy Tale

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This is NOT a Fairy Tale
Will Mabbitt and Fred Blunt
Puffin Books

Dad and his story sabotaging daughter, Sophie, return in a sequel to This is NOT a Bedtime Story; now though, the time honoured fairy tale is under attack and all because Grandad couldn’t keep his eyes open long enough to finish the story.
No matter, Dad is on hand to take over, or rather attempt to; but he’s reckoned without the creative interjections of the opinionated subverter of narratives sitting right beside him.
Let the imagination roll… and roll it surely does.
Sophie’s having none of your pathetic princess stuff: her young royal female is the one wearing the armour and she’s all for using the latest mod cons – a combine harvester transformer for instance – to save time and perform heroic deeds involving dragons.

Fast paced, metafictive mayhem is the order of the day in this deliciously bonkers book.
Yes there IS a prince – a slumbering bald one whose fate it is to be rescued …

(although he does inadvertently have moments of less inert, even momentarily useful and agonisingly ROAR worthy activity, where dragon’s bums are concerned). YEOWCH!

Giggles aplenty guaranteed. The super-crazy team of Mabbitt and Blunt have scored another ace with this one.

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The Prince and the Pee

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The Prince and the Pee
Greg Gormley and Chris Mould
Nosy Crow

Deeds of derring-do really cannot be done if you’re crossing your legs.
When you’ve got to go, you’ve just gotta go – right? Not so in this hilarious tale of holding on against the odds.
Prince Freddie is summoned from his holiday by his trusty steed, Sir Rushington. Crumbly Castle is under attack from a dragon and there’s no time to lose.
Off they go and before long, Freddie gets that tingly “I need to pee” feeling which is made decidedly worse by the rhythmic ‘Up and down’ motion of the horse’s gait. Distractions fail to distract from the constant urge and suddenly, down comes the rain

and inevitably its plinkety plink serves to exacerbate the need.
Several stops later, all abortive on account of an ogre, then a princess in a tower and finally a long queue at the loo …

they reach their destination with the prince now absolutely desperate.
There before him stands a very large, very fearsome dragon; but there’s no stopping the young prince who charges forward completely surprising the dragon, over the drawbridge, through the castle gates to find the privy.

His long-delayed micturition not only brings relief to the prince, but saves the day by extinguishing an unexpected conflagration.
Gormley’s deliciously suspenseful telling is guaranteed to have audiences in fits of laughter and Chris Mould’s illustrations are utterly brilliant. He captures to perfection the diminutive prince’s journey and his ever-increasing discomfiture.
There’s the sight and sound of water, the up and down motion in the saddle while riding Sir Rushington and the false hopes of some relief every time he thinks he’s found a likely spot to go; all ratchet up the pressure on the poor prince’s bladder.
Priceless!

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Potion Commotion

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Potion Commotion
Peter Bently and Sernir Isik
Scholastic Children’s Books
There are echoes of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Magic Porridge Pot in this rhyming tale of magic and mayhem. With warnings of a dragon in the vicinity, Mum pops out shopping leaving young Betty alone in the house. A risky thing to do, you’re probably already thinking; all the more so when Betty decides to mix up a culinary treat for when Mum comes home. Into the pot goes pretty much everything the young miss can lay her hands on …

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then she utters Mum’s cooking spell, stands back and waits.

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Before long the cauldron is bubbling and spilling all over the floor and out the cottage door but there’s no way Betty can halt its progress– she’s forgotten the words of the stopping spell her mum uses. Goo foams, froths and flows onto the road and through the whole town. Luckily Mum arrives in the nick of time. She halts the gloop in its tracks but then what should also fly along but the dragon and it’s ready for a human feast.

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Can anything be done to avert disaster?
Lively cartoon style illustrations and Bently’s fast-flowing narrative together create a recipe for a diverting read aloud for Hallowe’en or any time of the year.

I’m Hungry

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I’m Hungry
Jorge Martin
Jonathan Cape
Jorge Martin provides a cracking debut with his story – in more ways than one. Set on a distant island, it starts with a baby dragon’s emergence from its egg; she’s a very hungry baby dragon whose overwhelming thoughts are to fill her tummy. Her first encounter is with a crab wanting a game of footie.

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You can guess what happened to that little chap. Next, our Baby Dragon comes upon a cockatoo; he’d like a story …

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That certainly isn’t on the dragon’s agenda however, so off flies the cockatoo. But he’s not the only one with wings; and before long, his fate is the same as the crab’s …

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Baby Dragon continues rampaging around the island scoffing each and every animal; make that almost every one …

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Even she meets her match here.
All alone in the aftermath of her chomping, Baby Dragon suddenly notices someone is coming her way; someone who, having heard Baby Dragon’s story, does a bit of rapid thinking, followed by a bit of strategic paw waggling, after which the population of the island increases once more: Baby Dragon has a lesson in appropriate dragon diet, makes an apology – or many – and fun ensues for everyone. Oops! Did I say everyone? …
Baby Dragon, despite her all consuming habit, is a lovable creature and one I envisage that will find many new friends among the young children who hear her tale. My listeners certainly were charmed and demanded an immediate repeat performance.
A promising new talent: Jorge Martin has populated his story with a host of deliciously winsome characters; his arresting spreads exude humour and I was reminded a touch of early David McKee in some of them.

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