What do You think about The Book Of Dragons (2004)?
In the biography of Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers, Edith Nesbit is referenced a few times (Pamela always liked being compared to E. Nesbit). That reminded me of how much I enjoyed reading E. Nesbit books - Kirsten Van Steenberg had turned me on to Five Children and It when I was in college, and during my early years in San Francisco, I read through the SFPL's collection of Nesbit books. I highly recommend them - they are simply delightful, and her biography is fascinating as well. I chose this one to re-read because it had always delighted me, and it still does.
—Paul
The Book of Dragons contains eight short stories by Edith Nesbit that have a dragon or dragons as the main plot element. Originally published in 1900 for British children, modern American readers may find many of the references charming or confusing. However, Nesbit's imagination and writing skills are well represented in these children's stories. Being in the Public Domain, this and many other books by Nesbit are now freely available online through sites like Internet Archive, Amazon, Google Books, and others."The Book of Beasts" tells how young Lionel inherits a kingdom and find the in the palace library a magic Book of Beasts where the animals fly off the pages when viewed in daylight. All goes well until he gets to the page with a dragon.In "Uncle James, or the Purple Stranger" Princess Mary Ann lives on a topsy turvy island and plans to marry Tom the gardener when she grows up. However when a dragon crash lands on the island, her evil Uncle James devises a plot to rid the island of the dragon and Mary Ann that Tom must find a way to stop."The Deliverers of Their Country" tells the story of two young siblings Effie and Harry who respond to an invasion of dragons by attempting to waken England's ancient hero St. George the Dragonslayer.In "The Ice Dragon" George and his younger sister Jane go out in their backyard one cold wintery night to see the fireworks. In the northern sky they see something much more amazing, the Aurora Borealis, and decide to go get a closer look by going to the North Pole.A mean-hearted king imprisons his daughter in the Lone Tower on "The Island of the Nine Whirlpools" which is guarded by a dragon, a griffin and dangerous whirlpools. Can she be saved by an observant young man with a talent for maths?In "The Dragon Tamers" John the blacksmith is so poor that he lives with his family in the ruins of an old castle. One day he awakens the dragon that lives in the dungeon beneath the ruins.When her parents die a young princess is imprisoned by her evil cousin so he can rule the land. Then "The Fiery Dragon" attacks the kingdom, and the princess with the help of a pig herder outsmart both the prince and the dragon to set things right."Kind Little Edmund" is a boy with an inquiring mind who wants to learn things no one else knows. His quest leads him deep into a dragon's lair where he must figure out how to trick the dragon to save his village.
—Orion
Another Literary Birthday Challenge title, The Book of Dragons is a delightful collection of eight short stories by E. Nesbit. I know many people have read and loved her work for years, but this is only the second title of hers I have ever seen. I still find it hard to believe I never discovered her in my youth, but I can always make up for lost time. To paraphrase what used to be written in the unexplored areas of ancient maps, Here There Be Dragons: a red dragon who escapes from a book, a purple dragon who changes life forever in Rotundia, a plague of green dragons with yellow wings, a dragon made of ice, an old white dragon with a beard, a rust-red armored dragon with a furry secret, a shining fiery dragon, and a huge yellow dragon. A couple of these were described aslooking more like worms or centipedes, but they were all called dragons so we shall cut Ms. Nesbit a little slack and accept that they really were all dragons. Competing against the various dragons were such clever children as Edmund (he is a boy who likes to find things out, which is not the same as learning things), Lionel (who really should never have opened that lovely book he found), and more than one Princess: Mary Ann (who loved her little pet rhinos, but most especially loved her tiny elephant), and Sabrinetta (who had a heart of gold). I completely enjoyed these stories: Nesbit's wonderful imagination tickled me more than once. A Prince with a pack of hunting hippos! The real reason for England's famous wet weather! (Which I refuse to reveal even as a spoiler, you'll just have to read it for yourself) The true beginnings of all cats! (Ditto.) If you need to read something light that will make you laugh, cheer, maybe say 'Ick' a time or two, then curl up with your pet elephant (doesn't everyone have one?!) and take a little safari off the edge of the map into Nesbit's dragon lands. And don't be afraid of anything during your journey. Remember the words of our hero Nigel: "My Princess," he said tenderly, "two great powers are on our side: the power of Love and the power of Arithmetic. Those two are stronger than anything else in the world."
—Debbie Zapata
