This book features four short stories from
E. Nesbit’s collection of short stories, The
Last of the Dragons.
Daddy
has decided Sophie and Jade are old enough to set off fireworks in the garden,
so perhaps it’s not so very wrong of them to assume they’re also big enough to
go all the way to the North Pole.
Bunking
off school also seems perfectly acceptable when Sophie and Jade decide to find
out once and for all why the mountain is so noisy.
When
the world is overtaken by dragons of increasing size, Sophie and Jade have to
sneak out during the hours of daylight in order to save the country.
Finally,
Sophie and Jade go off to perform a traditional rite of passage…but it all
seems such a shame when there’s only one dragon left.
When I ordered The Book of Dragons, I didn’t realise it was an E. Nesbit book, but as soon as I realised, I knew it was going to be good. Although E. Nesbit’s books were written over a hundred years ago, the magical adventures can still be enjoyed by today’s children (and adults).
The book has been updated in various places
in order to make it more appealing to modern children, but lot of E. Nesbit’s
words remain. The result is a delightfully magical book, and although it isn’t
always as stunningly written as the original, it probably is easier for young
children to read. In a way, it’s a shame because the original stories are so
brilliant, but I really enjoyed the updated parts. The biggest changes were
made to the story ‘Kind Sophie’, formerly ‘Kind Little Edmund’, which has a
completely new ending (don’t tell the other E Nesbit fans, but I actually like BookByYou’s
ending best). The toothbrush is also genius. If you want to know what I’m
talking about, read the book!
So, what did I do after reading The Book of Dragons? I read E. Nesbit’s The Last of the Dragons again to remind
myself of the other stories. So as well as being a great adventure for the
children who star in it, I think The Book
of Dragons would also make a very effective and enjoyable introduction to
E. Nesbit (who is a million times more imaginative and talented than that woman
who wrote those books about the wizard boy).
