Worth a gander for the art, at least.
A select gallery of dragons and related creatures of myth and legend from every continent except Antarctica.
Kenny goes for grandeur in his 36 full-body portraits, loading his digital brushes with shimmering, saturated colors and posing his writhing subjects flying, swimming, or coiled threateningly over hills or heaps of treasure. Though some, like Fafnir, Quetzalcoatl, and Typhon, will likely be familiar to many younger dragon lovers, there is an unusual number of less-renowned monsters: the Mekong River’s Phaya Naga, for instance, as well as the eyeball-loving Boitatá of Brazil, the Mississippi’s Piasa Bird with its creepily human face, and the Swat River Valley’s Apalala—said to be benign and so an outlier in this otherwise ill-tempered gathering. Caldwell’s accompanying notes are rather less magnificent. Along with leaving her sources of information unmentioned, she offers only terse assortments of descriptive observations, perfunctory mentions of prominent legends, and individual fact boxes that don’t always capture the thrill: Nidhogg, for example, the serpent gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil, has “teeth that can chew through trees.” (Well, so do beavers.) There is no backmatter beyond an unlabeled world map strewn with tiny images that underscore the geographic diversity of this scaly assemblage. Despite this diversity, the aesthetic of the art throughout will be familiar to lovers of European-based fantasy regardless of any given beast’s culture of origin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Worth a gander for the art, at least. (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68188-739-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Weldon Owen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite missteps, this satisfying follow-up will leave readers hoping for more magical adventures with lovable Jax and...
Jaxon and his friends deal with the fallout from the theft of one of the baby dragons in his charge.
As this sequel to Dragons in a Bag (2018) opens, Kavita, the titular dragon thief, introduces elderly Aunty to stolen baby dragon Mo. Thankfully, Aunty knows someone in Queens who can help return Mo to the realm of magic. Meanwhile, and in alternating first-person chapters, Jax is trying to find Kavi and Mo, as Mo’s siblings have grown ill as a result of the separation, as has Ma, Jax’s magical mentor and grandmother figure. Jax again teams up with his best friend and Kavi’s older brother, Vik. A third is added to their crew with “huge” Kenny, “the biggest kid in [their] class.” (Unfortunately, much is made of Kenny’s size, which feels gratuitous and unkind.) Eventually the trio finds Kavi, Aunty, and Mo, who’ve been abducted by a magical con artist. All’s well that ends well when Sis, the powerful guardian of the magic realm, shows up, but readers may wonder why the narrative decides to grapple with her choice not to intervene in injustice in our world. Her argument that human-caused problems are for humans to solve feels undeveloped, especially in the face of a massive injustice like the trans-Atlantic slave trade (mentioned during the climax and at no other point). Jax is black; Vik, Kavi, and Aunty are Indian American (though Aunty has African ancestry as well); and Kenny is white. The rest of the cast is diverse as well.
Despite missteps, this satisfying follow-up will leave readers hoping for more magical adventures with lovable Jax and company. (Urban fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7049-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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