by E. Nesbit
I first encountered the author E. Nesbit when my mother read Five Children and It to us as bedtime stories. It wasn\’t until a few years ago that I stumbled across The Complete Book of Dragons, while browsing in the public library. This book contains eight story stories about dragons, first published in The Book of Dragons, plus one newer story. They\’re all fun adventures, in a variety of settings with protagonists ranging from princesses and knights to ordinary children. Sometimes the dragons are evil, sometimes good, sometimes in between. In one, a dragon escapes from the pages of a storybook and ravages a town. In another, a dragon purrs to calm a baby. There are some traditional kinds of tales where brave heroes seek out the dragons for battle, and other more curious ones about dragons treated kindly, or doing good deeds themselves (or just being greedy, as in the one who ate a herd of hippos!). All with the lively flair and originality of Nesbit\’s writing. Good reading, if you like fantasy! I would say this book is written for ages 8-12, but I enjoyed it just as much myself.
Rating: 3/5 ……. 198 pages, 1900