The newest Dragonbreath book by Ursula Vernon appeared on our radar, so the library delivered it to my son's shelf. And then I read it as well, a week or so after both boys gave it a thumbs up. Although No Such Thing as Ghosts (Dragonbreath)
doesn't carve much new territory, it delivers on its promise of a clever and funny story told in a seamless blend of pictures and text (not a graphic novel, but a book where the illustrations advance the story as much as the words do) with strong and consistent characters.
The new character is Christiana, a girl from Danny and Wendell's class. She's a crested lizard with a science background matching Wendells and a stubborn streak as long as Danny's. She's also a confirmed skeptic who refuses to believe Danny is a dragon and who provides much needed common sense when the three lock themselves in a haunted house while trick-or-treating. In modern Scooby fashion, the initial rational explanation proves insufficient, and the kids have to handle some actual supernatural beasties. I especially like the kid-level tone, which has the same intensity of feeling when the children confront losing their Halloween candy as when they face off against possibly lethal monsters. I also appreciated a much lower level of girl-cootie comments; the boys have matured a bit since their outing with Suzi and the ninja frogs. We'll probably keep grabbing these as Vernon keeps writing them.
doesn't carve much new territory, it delivers on its promise of a clever and funny story told in a seamless blend of pictures and text (not a graphic novel, but a book where the illustrations advance the story as much as the words do) with strong and consistent characters.The new character is Christiana, a girl from Danny and Wendell's class. She's a crested lizard with a science background matching Wendells and a stubborn streak as long as Danny's. She's also a confirmed skeptic who refuses to believe Danny is a dragon and who provides much needed common sense when the three lock themselves in a haunted house while trick-or-treating. In modern Scooby fashion, the initial rational explanation proves insufficient, and the kids have to handle some actual supernatural beasties. I especially like the kid-level tone, which has the same intensity of feeling when the children confront losing their Halloween candy as when they face off against possibly lethal monsters. I also appreciated a much lower level of girl-cootie comments; the boys have matured a bit since their outing with Suzi and the ninja frogs. We'll probably keep grabbing these as Vernon keeps writing them.
No comments:
Post a Comment