Kenny & the Dragon

This book is both written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. This is a fantastic story of a young bibliophile named Kenny. Kenny has always felt a little on the outside - he loves books, and his pursuit of knowledge is almost relentless. At school when he has to do presentations the other students become bored and have even fallen asleep. Then his life changes drastically for his father finds a dragon in his pastures on their farm property. Kenny goes to investigate. Kenny's only close friend in town is a retiree named George who owns a bookshop in town. It was from George's shop that he has borrowed a book called The King's Royal Bestiary. This book had a section on dragons so Kenny took it with him when he went to investigate the dragon his father found. The dragon was not at all what he expected. First the dragon's name is Grahame, and Grahame loves books, poetry music and dessert. Kenny wants George and Grahame to meet but something gets in the way. The town finds out about the dragon, and The King has commissioned his champion to kill the beast. Kenny must find a way to save his friend. This is a great adventure. Kenny is a smart young boy who loves books. He also loves adventure and he faces a battle. DiTerlizzi has created a wonderful story. It would be nice to meet Kenny again in further adventures.

I had my almost-twelve-year-old son in mind when I chose this book. Reading the description, I thought that it would be too "young" for children on the higher end of the 9-12 age range the story is recommended for. Although the main character, Kenny, is a rabbit, I quickly forgot about this as I read the story. I also realized that my initial impression was wrong. This book is not too young for older "tweens" and it is a classic story suitable for both male and female readers. This is also a wonderful book to read aloud to younger children. The pictures will help keep younger eyes focused as they listen to the story. When I was finished with the book, I asked my son to read it. When asked for his opinion he stated "The beginning was weird" followed by "I wish the book were longer". I asked him how many stars he would give it and he said four. For a boy of few words, his review was not too shabby. As a parent I'm giving this novel 5-stars for readability and longevity in a child's literature collection.

I enjoyed reading "Kenny & The Dragon" to my students (k-5th grade) almost as much as they enjoyed listening to the story. I am slightly biased as one of my most favorite books/cartoons as a child was "the Reluctant Dragon." The book opens in a unique way that pulls you into the story - "Many years ago ...Hold on, I know what you are thinking. You're thinking a book about a dragon should start with 'Once upon a time.' " begins the opening line. My students started laughing out loud as I read through the introduction titled "Before I Forget." In the story, the little bunny named Kenneth (Or Kenny as he likes to be called) is very imaginative, creative and intelligent. He learns that a lot of research must go into something before it can be stated as fact when he meets Grahame ("like the cracker but with an E") the dragon and sees he is nothing like what the bestiary book describes. The book follows the same story-line of "The Reluctant Dragon" with a few changes here and there to embellish it. Boy meets dragon - dragon is a lover of nature & literature - boy introduces dragon to knight - Dragon and Knight put on a grand show of a fight - everyone loves the dragon in the end. My students' attention was held from the beginning to the end. The bonus: Thanks to DiTerlizzi's clever mentions of a few other subjects and book titles throughout the story, my students have now requested I read "Wind in the Willows" as our next book among a few other titles and subjects.

What an adorable story. This book is written by Tony DiTerlizzi, who also wrote "The Spiderwick Chronicles", so you know that this author can write. It is a story of a rabbit named Kenny who befriends a peace-loving dragon. Seems simple enough, except that the other villagers have some misconceptions of what a dragon is and decide to dispatch the dragon. My 8-year-old dragon loving son found the story very enjoyable. He could have read the story himself, but since his 6-year-old sister also wanted to hear the story, I read it to them. My daughter also throughly enjoyed the story. Her only complaint was "there should have been more girls in the book" :) The chapters are short so that makes it nice when reading outloud. (Personally, I could not stop at just 1 chapter, I think I enjoyed reading this story as much as my kids enjoyed hearing it)

Author/illustrator DiTerlizzi should be patted on the back for his latest work. This book, based on the story of the Reluctant Dragon, offers the adventure of a young rabbit who loves to read and finds a friend in a similarly-minded drake. The story is full of whimsy and clever jokes that, coupled with the beautiful interior sketches, will make both child and parent adore reading the book aloud. Perhaps the best thing about this is that is shows how imagination can save the day. Highly recommended.