Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Book of Dragons (MG)

The Book of Dragons. E. Nesbit. 1900. 180 pages.

The Book of Dragons is a collection of eight short stories by E. Nesbit. While I enjoy fantasy--especially when I'm in the right mood for it, especially when it is written by someone as talented as E. Nesbit--I am not always a big fan of short stories--no matter the genre.

I did enjoy this collection. I didn't love every story within the book, but I enjoyed many of them. The writing was just so delightful, so right, so satisfying. The eight stories are: The Book of Beasts, Uncle James or the Purple Stranger, The Deliverers of Their Country, The Ice Dragon Or Do As You Are Told, The Island of the Nine Whirlpools, The Dragon Tamers, The Fiery Dragon Or the Heart of Stone and the Heart of Gold, and Kind Little Edmund Or The Caves and the Cockatrice.

My favorite stories were The Island of The Nine Whirlpools and The Book of Beasts.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

4 comments:

Jen (emsun.org) said...

I'm going to have to look this up! I don't typically like short stories, either, but I do absolutely love fantasy. Thanks for the recommendation!

Karen K. said...

I was just looking at this in the library today! Suddenly I'm obsessed with classic children's lit. I never read Nesbit as a child but I really liked Five Children and It. I have a beautiful edition of The Railway Children so I need to read it soon. I'd love to read all her works someday.

Janet said...

I've been reading this one, and posted on it too. Enjoyed your review!

hopeinbrazil said...

When I read this to my boys (years ago) I know that I enjoyed it more than they did. They often failed to get the subtle humor or the layered meanings. One of my favorite books. Have you tried George MacDonald's short stories (Light Princess, for example)?