THE FORGETFUL KNIGHT

A forgetful knight goes to battle against the dragon that stole his horse.

In clever and catchy rhyming verse, the narrator recounts the knight’s quest to find the dragon. Except—the narrator can’t exactly remember the story so must constantly stop to try to work it out, the resulting improvisations creating a hilarious narrative that veers in absurd directions. “At last he found the dragon’s cave, / and strode right in, for he was brave. / Not brave, I mean he was quite scared. / Go in the cave? He never dared! / He grabbed his phone, he dialed home. / Said, ‘Mommy, help! I’m all alone!’ ” Eventually, the knight rescues his horse from the dragon’s belly, and then: “He BASHED the dragon on the head. / The dragon BASHED him back. They’re dead. / The end.” But wait! “Hang on,” the narrator revises again, assuring readers that the dragon didn’t really die but received a scolding, had a good cry, and mostly avoided eating pets after that. As for the knight, well, that bashing cost him his memory, and he is the narrator. Blunt’s whimsically detailed mixed-media illustrations employ a Fractured Fairy Tales aesthetic, depicting a carrot-topped white child knight and comically nonfearsome dragon; they suit the tone of the text neatly and greatly add to its comic effect.

Kids will love this quirky quest and its uproariously unreliable narrator.