THE ONE-STOP STORY SHOP

A knight struggles with no dragon to slay.

The title suggests something other than a knight tale, but his search for a suitable story in the absence of a dragon is a clever device. The fearless knight has set out to slay a terrible dragon, pink in this case, but the dragon has left a note saying he’s gone on vacation, which leaves the knight without a story. So begins the search for a suitable tale of danger. A neighbor takes him to the titular shop, but the shopkeeper is all out of dragons and instead offers him a feisty ferret who becomes the foil for the mishaps across story genres: a space opera, a cowboy tale, a jungle-exploration adventure, and a journey to the bottom of the sea. Other characters join the hunt, particularly a space robot. In each case, the ferret saves the day. In the humorous illustrations, the knight’s depiction echoes the style of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story. The double-page spreads are filled with fun details such as the characters riding sea horses and wearing space suits. Key words are highlighted to build tension. The only human characters depicted are the knight, the neighbor, and the shopkeeper; all are white.

It’s hard not to like a story with a flustered knight, a ferret friend, a bounty of adventures, and a poop joke.