Dragon Was Terrible

Dragon Was Terrible
By Kelly DiPucchio
Pictures by Greg Pizzoli
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2016.

There is a terrible dragon that is causing trouble in the land. After a bad streak of dragon terribleness the King had enough (the dragon TP’d the castle for heaven’s sake!). The King sent out a proclamation announcing a reward for the person who can tame the dragon. A lot of knights try to tame the dragon, but with no luck. So the people in the village decide to ask for more help. Still nothing works. Finally a boy with a feather cap decides to do something—only it isn’t what everyone else tried. And soon the village (and the dragon) finds something that they all can agree is quite the opposite of terrible. This is a clever story that talks about the power of action and stories. And with the fact that the dragon is “terrible” in ways that are somewhat modern (“[H]e burped in church. Loudly. Honestly, that’s terrible and rude”) adults will chuckle along with all the kiddos that they read this story to.

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