THE KNIGHT WHO TOOK ALL DAY

Mayhew’s irresistibly cheery pictures and puckish font play live up to the promise of this delicious title. A knight longs to impress the princess with his magnificence, but she’s uninterested. He searches long and hard for a dragon to fight, but when one finally turns up, he spends his time sending his squire up and down the 101 steps to the armory for just the right stuff (“I need my SHINING armor, with the CURLY flourishes!”). By the time he’s ready, he discovers the princess has tamed the dragon with a crown of flowers and the local children are riding on its back. Appropriately medieval royalty, peasants and animals dash about in these pages, all rosily painted. In the end, the princess marries the squire and they go off with the dragon as their steed to see the world “and lived happily ever after!” (Picture book. 4-8)