Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: dragon

  • Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

    Our Family Dragon: A Lunar New Year Story

    Our Family Dragon is a great way to explain Chinese New Year customs to children. Beautifully coloured, this picture book tells the of excitement and planning that the family experience and exactly what they do. The young boy who tells the story is filled with anticipation and delight as he prepares to welcome in the Dragon!

    As the reader turns the pages, we see that the family have hung red lanterns and decorations, to bring plenty into the house. They have cleaned the house and thrown out rubbish to get rid of bad luck. So much food is cooked, spring rolls, noodles, dumplings, rice, and vegetable dishes.

    All the family get together and sing songs and stay up to see the New Year in. There are fifteen days of celebrations, with new clothes. Red packets of money are given by the elders. The group go to Chinatown to see the colourful dragon that dances down the lanes.

    Every page is filled with joy and delight, which the illustrations reflect cleverly. All the customs and traditions are explained for young and old to appreciate. 2024 is the Year of the Dragon and this clever story will ensure that children understand the importance of this year for Chinese people.

  • The House on Pleasant Street

    The House on Pleasant Street

    The House on Pleasant Street is a brightly coloured and detailed picture book that captures the eye immediately. It shows Pleasant Street, but with a most unusual house and weird characters around it. A rather forlorn looking boy is staring hopefully down the street. You see, Alby has just moved into the district with his embarrassing Dad and strange Mum. We know how hard it is to meet new neighbours, and develop new friendships, but when your pet is a dragon…….!

    Fortunately, it is the eve of Halloween. Alby decides to go trick or treating and his Mum insists that Dad go as well. Things go smoothly until Dad interferes and Alby is forced to use Delia, his new pet, to complete a trick. Surprisingly this really impresses the local kids, who all want to discover more about the newcomer and his family.

    The artwork creates an atmosphere that enhances the story. The expressions on faces says it all. The details shown are humorous, such as the banister of the staircase being made of leg bones, and dad looking like a cool vampire.

    Lucky for Alby, his involvement in the Halloween celebrations, cement his relationships with the neighbours. This is one strategy for developing new friends. It is also a great way to share a story with others.

  • The Dragon and Her Boy

    The Dragon and Her Boy

    A cataclysmic upheaval on the streets of London sees Stick, one of the child tumblers who perform to earn a few coins, fall into a tunnel under the street. Sparrow and Spud his friends, along with Mr Punch and Judy are all gone and in his frantic search, Stick comes across a dragon who has been also stuck in the tunnel; a dragon who is in none too happy about being stuck! She unlike Stick has been there a while!

    From the dragon’s perspective Stick looks like he could be her next meal, even if he looks a bit too skinny, but after all she reasons, something is better than nothing. Stick thinks maybe Sparrow and Spud have been eaten by the dragon, but by the time he and the dragon get out of the tunnel, he realizes more kids than just his friends are missing!

    He has the dragon with him, who is every vocal about many things. She gets shot in the foot by guards on the prowl, and as if things are not bad enough, they go on to be terrible, if not worse. One of the other street boys, Turnip-Tom, has a family who farm in the country and so they decide to go there in search of all the children who are missing. People everywhere were blaming the dragon, or dragons, for eating them all. Dragon is not too happy about this but does admit to eating a couple. She really prefers to eat crumpets!

    But as the plot unfolds, it seems that Stick and the dragon have a special connection; he is the only one who can hear her speaking, others believe it is just roaring, which as it turns out, proves to be the one thing that saves him from a plot even more terrible that you could ever imagine.

    In The Dragon and Her Boy, Penny Chrimes has created a fast paced romp through medieval times, old worlde English and all, knights, dragons, hero’s, villains, serious villains along with a heap of fun to return you to time when maybe dragons were for real and knights in shining armour did good deeds, well sometimes.

    One final thing: as the book is written in King Billie’s English there is a dictionary for your use at the end of the book, just so you can understand what they are talking about especially when it gets a little bit tricky to say the least.

  • My Dad is a Dragon

    My Dad is a Dragon

    This slightly bonkers tale of Dads and why they are all different, but somehow the same, comes from the creative imagination of Damon Young and Peter Carnavas, but before a word is even read in My Dad Is A Dragon the inside covers are complete tales in their own right, as Dad, his dragon wings and a donkey who has his own ideas, set the scene for a very interesting time.

    As the pages of this amazingly quirky picture book unfold, Dad is discovered doing many things. It is not the same Dad, but Dads from all walks of life, doing what they love to do, play with toy cars, collect old swords, or hoarding heaps of yummy chocolate gold coins to be discovered.

    But whatever Dad does, he is a dragon of the very best kind, because Dad’s can have adventures, tuck you in when you are weary and its bedtime, and do all sorts of wonderful things with you, no matter who your Dad is or where you live. Dads are special, amazing and wonderful people, with very different ideas.

    But what happens if perhaps your Dad really is a Dragon. Do you think he would be different or just the same?

    My Dad Is A Dragon will make a perfect Christmas gift for every dad and also create some special time for Dad to do some one on one time, reading and explaining to his children why he really is a Dragon. Or is he?

     

  • The Night Dragon

    The Night Dragon

    Why did it take over 40 years for the murderers of Barbara McCulkin and her daughters to be convicted? Matthew Condon in his book ‘The Night Dragon’ tracks the events prior to the disappearance of the McCulkins to the final court cases, which sentenced Vincent O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois to life sentences for the kidnapping, rape and finally the slaughter of Barbara and her girls.

    The author, by interviewing people who were ‘players’ in the underworld and police force during 1950s-1970s, has pieced together a terrifying picture of O’Dempsey’s character and his criminal life. By exploring the relationship between Vince O’Dempsey, corrupt police and the Whisky Au Go Go fire, which resulted in the loss of fifteen innocent lives, he unravels the reasons as to why it took over forty years for Barbara’s family to achieve some justice for the events which befell her and her daughters: their bodies have never been recovered.

    True Crime readers will find this a most intriguing book as it explains, why O’Dempsey was considered gangland’s most feared villain; speculation persisted over the years that he is responsible for many more missing (presumed murdered) people. It also highlights the power he had over people, resulting in his ability to deny involvement in the trio’s disappearance for over forty years and his capacity to almost get away with this and many other heinous crimes.

  • The Deep 1 Dragon Rider

    The Deep 1 Dragon Rider

     

    Dragon Rider is a follow-on from the ABC TV series, THE DEEP, which was based on the Graphic Novel created by James Brouer. This is an action packed, fast moving story which features the Nekton family. The parents and two children are underwater explorers, and the sea is their home. The submarine which they live in has many features to help them accomplish missions on which they are sent. Ant and his sister Fontaine have learned many skills and are carefully trained in safety by their parents.

    The story begins with Ant having some free time. He decides to explore a kelp forest that their ship has just spotted. The young boy has a special suit which he dons, and with the help of an engine built into the suite, swims towards the kelp. As the kelp sways to and fro with the current, a mound of sand is disturbed. Curious, Ant brushes at the sand with his hand and comes up with a metal, circular disk. He is amazed at his find and quickly returns to the Aronax, the submarine where they live.

    His family are amazed at the ancient markings on the disc. As they are sailing along it becomes obvious that there is a problem with the submarine’s steering. They are caught in a net which has been spread by a pirate. It is the children’s job to get into the small craft on the ship, and free the net from their propeller. They do this, but not without meeting the pirate, who catches sight of the ancient disc which Ant has brought with him. This is to cause many anxious moments later on.

    When the children are back on board, the radio crackles with a message from the head of the Worldwide Oceanic Association. There is a disturbance in the South China Sea, and they want the Nekton family to investigate and resolve the issue. On the old map the family have, the area seems to be close to a place called the Dragon Hole. But everyone knows there are no dragons now ……?

    Dragon Rider is an enjoyable adventure story with the feel of a computer game. As Ant and his sister move from one situation to another it is like they are manipulating the controls. There are so many possibilities and so many adventures to be explored that you can’t help but turn the pages.

     

  • The Knight Who Said “No!”

    The Knight Who Said “No!”

    Even a knight who has the most amenable disposition can occasionally be argumentative. Ned was always the perfect gentleman when it came to obeying his parents, and he was an exemplary knight. He helped with the dishes, picked the cabbages, and raced inside at night when told. There was a dragon that swooped on the village each night and frightened the adults.

    Ned was sure though that he had heard the dragon groan, and he wondered if she was alone like him. Then one morning he awoke and felt strange and hot all over. He began to say “NO”! shocking all of the people in village as well as his parents. All day he said, “NO”!, and when told to come inside as the dragon was coming, he refused. Ned was right about the dragon. She was lonely and once they had overcome their surprise at confronting each other, they became friends. 

    Growing up is a difficult time for all knights. Ned was just beginning to assert his freedom and authority with his family, when along came a challenging friend. Mostly because of the happy friendship, Ned was more compliant with his duties, but every now and again, when adventures were too intense and involved, Ned would still say “NO”.

    This lovely hardback picture book is well illustrated with bright colours and patterns in the art. There are plenty of detailed items to gain attention of younger readers. The font is a good size for following along, and the occasional word is enlarged for emphasis. The text has interesting parts of rhyme and free flow. An enjoyable story for any would be knight, or growing child.

  • Have Sword, Will Travel

    Have Sword, Will Travel

    An absolute mad –cap romp through the world of fantasy fiction has been created by Nix and Williams, masters of the world of insane fantasy ,with this latest tale of derring- do and mayhem courtesy of a talking sword, along with  a couple of courageous kids called Odo and Eleanor.

    Of course the story is set in the world where there are dragons, magik, noble quests and all the very special ingredients that go to make up a really funny, almost believable , so ‘totally unfair’ tale or two or three.

    Odo and Eleanor set off to go eeling in the faint hope that today they would be the lucky ones and come home with a catch, as the river was low. Instead of a haul of eels, they make a very unusual catch, that of a rather interesting sword; so interesting they discover that it is not only enchanted but can also talk.

    It turns out the swords name is Biter and boy, is he bossy!  Not only can he talk but he tells or rather commands Odo and Eleanor to go forth on a quest, to discover their true destiny. He decides Odo should be knighted but that Eleanor as a girl, she cannot be, which immediately displeases Eleanor! The other thing is, the more they get to know Biter the more they realise that while he appears to know a great deal, he is also very forgetful and gets things very muddled up!

    As Biter considers everyone has to have a purpose, especially him, which is of course to right wrongs and a heap of other stuff, the pair, along with the sword, set out to discover a wrong, of which they do find many along the way, to right. Odo is none too sure about any of this but Eleanor is having the best time of her life, learning to be a warrior and righting small wrongs and sometimes even bigger wrongs.

    But, and of course there has to be a but, they eventually come to the ‘lair of a powerful dragon’, – there is really only one way to describe where dragons live-– simply because there is; that is when the motto ‘Live by the sword, Die by the sword, may become all too real’, because the Dragon is not too pleased about being woken up. The Dragon demands they tell what they are doing and why, which makes for a very interesting conclusion, to what is probably going to be the first book in  series that will be  filled with hero’s, dragons, magik and other  stuff.

    When you add a talking sword, or two, both with attitude what can possibly go wrong, or a maybe even right!