A beautifully rendered, comforting, gentle lesson in overcoming fears.
Dragons are real. Dragons are terrifying. Dragons are everywhere.
The unnamed protagonist, pale-skinned and clad in purple boots, brown corduroy knickers, and a red jacket, seems to be surrounded by dragons. They roam wild, showing their sharp teeth, hovering over everything, waiting to smother. In the beginning the protagonist appears very small, posed against a castle backdrop with large, menacing dragons looming in deep mists of purples, soft browns, and greens. But then the child starts noticing some anomalies. The mist lifts, colors brighten, and lines sharpen. The castle is gone, replaced by a school setting. The dragons are closer to a child’s size and have hands instead of claws. Some are wearing mismatched socks, devouring food in a cafeteria, making noise in the library, and even creating music. Soon many have human bodies and faces, diverse in skin tone. The protagonist becomes part of the group, playing together and challenging the few dragons that remain, even daring to be dragonlike when necessary. In a perfectly seamless blending, the text is spare and beautifully descriptive, focused entirely on dragons and their characteristics, while the illustrations depict the action and the child’s changing reactions. Sharp-eyed young readers will catch on quickly as they are led in entirely unexpected directions, interpreting the child’s circumstance as anxiety on the first day of school or perhaps at a new school. Children and their grown-ups can choose this one again and again when faced with new situations.
A beautifully rendered, comforting, gentle lesson in overcoming fears. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-48148-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn.
A young owl achieves his grand ambition.
Owl, an adorably earnest and gallant little owlet, dreams of being a knight. He imagines himself defeating dragons and winning favor far and wide through his brave exploits. When a record number of knights go missing, Owl applies to Knight School and is surprisingly accepted. He is much smaller than the other knights-in-training, struggles to wield weapons, and has “a habit of nodding off during the day.” Nevertheless, he graduates and is assigned to the Knight Night Watch. While patrolling the castle walls one night, a hungry dragon shows up and Owl must use his wits to avoid meeting a terrible end. The result is both humorous and heartwarming, offering an affirmation of courage and clear thinking no matter one’s size…and demonstrating the power of a midnight snack. The story never directly addresses the question of the missing knights, but it is hinted that they became the dragon’s fodder, leaving readers to question Owl’s decision to befriend the beast. Humor is supplied by the characters’ facial expressions and accented by the fact that Owl is the only animal in his order of big, burly human knights. Denise’s accomplished digital illustrations—many of which are full bleeds—often use a warm sepia palette that evokes a feeling of antiquity, and some spreads feature a pleasing play of chiaroscuro that creates suspense and drama.
A charming blend of whimsy and medieval heroism highlighting the triumph of brains over brawn. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-31062-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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