Dragonbreath: Curse of the were-weiner is the third book in the Dragonbreath series by Ursula Vernon. In this book Vernon uses not just the typical black, white and green, but also uses red in her comic-like illustrations. The books starts out as the first two books in the series did with Danny dreaming. This time he was daydreaming about being in the “dark creepy woods. There was something wrong with the trees, but Danny didn’t know what it was.” He was calling for his pal Wendell, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly Danny is awoken by Wendell thankfully before anyone heard him saying Wendell’s name and saw him “flailing” his arms. Danny and Wendell were only on the school bus, not a scary adventure… but not for too long. Danny and Wendell never know how to stay out of trouble and seem to have the worst luck with school lunches. At lunch that day Danny realizes that there is something strange about his hotdog. It wasn’t like normal hotdogs it was large and bright red. “Danny poked it a few times and thought he felt it twitch.” He hands it to Wendell. Wendell looks at it thinks it looks a bit strange, and goes to hand it back to Danny, but it bites him. How would anyone ever believe the boys if they told them the school lunch hotdog bit Wendell! The Next day the boys meet at the bus stop as usual, but Wendell looks under the weather. He is itchy and is growing hair on his back. Oh No! Something must be horribly wrong. The boys noticed Wendell isn’t the only one with these problems. Many of the other school kids have the same symptoms. With the help of Wendell as a distraction; Danny sneaks in to the lunchroom refrigerator and stumbles upon the “Were-Weiners: Product of Transylvania”. He snags a pack and they call the 1-800 number on the back of the package. They are notified that the were-weiners had gone feral and the “incubation period for lycanthropy [werewolfism] is three days.” They must find the ‘Alpha Wurst’ or all the children affected would be under his control. AAahhh!The two stake out a plot. Danny remembers that “potato salad and hot dogs are mortal enemies” and they must find the monster ‘Potato Salad’ to help them fight the ‘Alpha Wurst’. Danny spends the night at Wendell’s house and they sneak out on search of the ‘Potato Salad’. They remember that the potato salad was last seen heading down into the storm drain. They venture down into the storm drain and meet a rat who they hope can lead them to the ‘Potato Salad’. The rat leads them around and Danny realizes the dark woods he was dreaming about on the bus was actually the dark storm drain with the “things he thought were tress weren’t trees at all―they were the dark marks of water dripping down the walls, spreading out to form patterns like branches and tree roots”… Danny turns around to tell Wendell and sees that Wendell’s eyes are now red and he is being possessed by the Alpha Wurst. Oh No!!Does Danny lose his friend Wendell to the feral ‘were-weiners’? Do Danny and Wendell find the potato salad? Does Danny fire breathing abilities come back when he needs them? And are they able to defeat the ‘Alpha Wurst’ before it is too late?? You will have to find out in this cute, suspense filled funny chapter book by Vernon. I believe this is a great beginning chapter book for even the reluctant readers. The comic like illustrations and the use of red and green in contrast with the normal white and black comics is a great addition. It is a quick read and will keep the young reader interested and wanting more. It was a typical day at school for Danny Dragonbreath and his best friend, Wendell. Well, typical that is if you are a dragon like Danny and an iguana like Wendall. Anyway, they are at lunch and Danny is looking closely at the hot dog he just bought in the school cafeteria. It looked a little weird to him - it was really really red. As red as blood. He hands it to Wendell to look at and that's when the hot dog bites Wendell! Now that's really weird. As they are deciding whether or not to go to the school nurse to patch Wendell up, the school bully, Big Eddy, grabs the hot dog and takes it. And that's a typical happening in the school cafeteria. After that the school day goes on as usual. BUT the next day, Wendell isn't feeling so great. He's tired, itchy and he's starting to grow hair on his back. He and Danny need to get to the bottom of this, so they sneak into the kitchen of the school lunchroom to investigate the weird hot dogs the school is serving. And this is what they find in the freezer - (pag. 46). Oh no, does this mean Wendell is going to turn into a hot dog? A were-weiner at that? Howling at the full moon and craving ketchup? Fortunately there is a phone no. printed on the weiner pkg that states: "In case of missing product, damage, or lycanthropy, call 1-800-WURST-R-US. Lycanthropy? What's that? Were-wolfism. Also lucky is that the nice man at the weiner factory told the boys that in order to kill the Alpha-wurst (that's the head were-weiner) they would need to stick it with a silver skewer. (Like this one!) So off they go on a mission. First they need to get some help from a former enemy - the monster potato salad who now lives in the sewer. But after traveling into the smelliest, stinkiest, grossest place they've ever been - they have some allies in their battle. And what a battle it is, b/c half the school has been infected by the were-weiners and they have to do the bidding of the Alpha Wurst. It's one little dragon boy against a giant hot dog with sharp teeth, not to mention the crazed lunch ladies who are working w/ it. Find out how Danny saves his best friend from becoming a howling hairy red-eyed BFF on a bun.
What do You think about Curse Of The Were-wiener (2010)?
Reading with the boys right now. I love the humor in these sweet little books.
—copacetic
I wouldn't think about if hot dogs are alive and that it will bit you
—jijiji
This would be a good choice for Wimpy Kid fanatics.
—Aswstudent
