THE STORY OF GUMLUCK AND THE DRAGON’S EGGS

Confusion reigns when Helvetica the raven lays a clutch of eggs in a temporarily unoccupied dragon’s nest.

In addition to tracking Gumluck the wizard’s most contagious yawn as it travels across the land, this second series installment provides further doses of noodle-headed wisdom. Both feathered narrator Helvetica and huge, fire-breathing Viridian lay claim to a trio of eggs in the latter’s treetop nest. Mistakenly believing that these are dragon eggs, sweetly naïve Gumluck declares that there’s nothing for it but to have a competition to see who makes the better dragon; Viridian will pick the tests, and Helvetica, the judges. None of the four tests go off quite as planned, but by the time they’re over, even Viridian is ready to admit that the real question is who makes the better mother. The answer is plain, and so by the time the yawn has at last returned after many unusual adventures, everyone finds a satisfying resolution to the conflict. Along with tucking in brief but cogent exchanges on such philosophical topics as how caring people can be careless at the same time, Rex adds sheaves of finely detailed drawings featuring comically caricatured figures—including a light-skinned Gumluck—and a dragon who’s clearly a nod to Kenneth Grahame’s The Reluctant Dragon, illustrated by Ernest Shepard. Bedtime and the insight that friendship and magic have much in common bring this outing to a cozy, dozy close.

Magic through and through.