FICTION

Dragon Was Terrible

by DIPUCCHIO Kelly
illus. by Greg Pizzoli. 40p. Farrar. Sept. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780374300494. POP
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 2—An unruly dragon with a bad attitude stomps on flowers, scribbles in books, and snatches candy away from baby unicorns. The king recruits knights to deal with the problem, but they all fail miserably. In response, the dragon ramps up his nastiness and toilet papers the castle and pops birthday balloons. A clever boy, with superb fairy tale-writing skills, saves the day by luring the dragon with a trail of marshmallows and then captivating him with a story he can't resist. Funny details abound in Pizzoli's cartoon illustrations, from royal posters tagged with "Dragon Was Here" graffiti to the not so scary dragon trying to feign readerly disinterest by shuffling a deck of cards and surreptitiously peeking around a tree. The witty, conversational-style narration interjects timely comments ("HEY, WAIT…What about the reward?").
VERDICT In this laugh-out-loud picture book, the powers of storytelling triumphantly tame the beast.
Reviewed by Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada
A village is plagued by a dragon so offensive people ask: "Who does that?!" When all the king's efforts to stop him fail, a clever boy with a love of reading enacts a unique tactic to tame the savage beast. Alongside this testament to the power of the written word, Pizzoli's illustrations employ bold, flat colors and expressive eyes to comedic effect.
 , Jul 01, 2016

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