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Kenny & the Dragon | 
 enlarge | Creator: Tony Diterlizzi
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $4.22
You Save: $11.77 (74%)
New (38) Used (9) from $2.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 16340
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8
ISBN: 1416939776
EAN: 9781416939771
ASIN: 1416939776
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW COPY, NO UGLY REMAINDER MARKS.
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Product Description
What do you do when your new best buddy has been designated a scourge by the community and marked for imminent extermination? Just ask Kenny Rabbit. When the simple folks in the sleepy little village of Roundbrook catch wind that there's a dragon running loose in the countryside, they get the wrong idea and the stage is set for a fight to the death. So it's up to Kenny to give his neighbors front-row seats to one of the best-known battles in history -- the legendary showdown between St. George and the dragon -- without losing a friend in the fray.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
Has that Spiderwick sparkle.... October 5, 2008
With the roaring success of his The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrathseries, DiTerlizzi's fans will flock to this book at first by name recognition alone. Upon reading the first few pages they will come to love it for it's own characters and settings. Parents who failed to purchase the Spiderwick books because of price vs. length will probably falter over this slim tome as well, but it is a mistake to limit a child's reading because a hardback isn't 400+ pages.
 Juvenile plot, grown up vocabulary October 4, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The plot and character development are thin and none too original, but they're fine (although certainly not outstanding) for the intended age group. My objection is that throughout the little-kid oriented story is SAT worthy language and phraseology. For example "emblazoned with a cartoonish, goofy drake", "regaining his composure", "when the dragon comes out of its cave, it is often carried into the sky, borne into the air surrounded by blazes, for indeed it is rising up from the lower regions of Hades", "I would imagine that you are a fellow connoisseur of the spoken word, yes?" and even includes passing references to Beowulf and the Grimm brothers.
 A Modern Telling of the Old St. George and the Dragon Tale; Promotes Peace September 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Are you familiar with the legend, St. George and the Dragon? If you don't know the older legend, perhaps you have read "The Reluctant Dragon" was written by Kenneth Grahame (the author who penned "The Wind in the Willows" about a hundred years ago. The general story is about a peaceful dragon who comes to live in a village. Since dragons are usually dangerous beasts the villagers and King want the dragon slayed. However the person who is to kill the dragon, George, realizes the dragon is peaceful and fakes the killing then reveals that the dragon is peaceful.
Tony DiTerlizzi retells the story in more modern times yet still in a fantasy world. In DiTerlizzi's version the main character Kenny is a schoolboy, or actually, a rabbit who dresses in human clothes and acts like a human. All the characters in this book are animals living as humans. Kenny is a gifted child, a bookworm consumed with teaching himself anything and everything that interests him. Kenny is different than his peers, due to his intelligence. His best friend is an elderly bookstore owner named George, who retired from some kind of work with the King.
The dragon, named Grahame, comes to live on Kenny's family's farm. Kenny befriends the dragon, who in addition to being friendly and peaceful also loves books and is an autodidact, who loves Shakespeare and can even play the piano. The dragon is having a splendid life until the villagers find out of his existence and the King calls for his execution. The rest goes along as with the tale as penned by Kenneth Grahame.
The story moves at a fast pace and never slows down. I was hooked into the story and wanted to find out the outcome.
The publisher states this book is for independent reading by children of ages 9-12. This book, due to its gentle nature, would also make a good read-aloud for children under age nine. This book would fit perfectly for a book for a child younger than nine, who is an advanced reader to read to themselves. It is sometimes it is hard to find books on a higher reading level with content that is not too mature for the reader or that doesn't have highly emotional content for the sensitive reader. (For more book reading suggestions for gifted young readers, see the book "Some of My Best Friends Are Books" by Judith Wynn Halsted.)
My eight year old read the book first and loved it, tearing through it in two sittings. My dragon loving 11 year old was a bit put off by the talking animals part, and was disinterested, much to my surprise; he thought is was a bit childish (he is reading the Eragon books now).
Many issues are raised in the book such as the obvious peace-making and avoidance of murder and violence, not judging a person by their appearance, being open or closed minded, friendships, stereotypes, the power of persuasion and "group think". Even marketing and commercialism are touched upon, in the part when souvenir t-shirts are being sold for the slaying event!
Teachers and parents looking for books that promote peace and non-violence take note this is a perfect book to fit that bill.
Parents of precocious children, gifted and talented children, and bookworm children will enjoy seeing elements of a gifted child in the main character Kenny.
Some adults like the older stories that have good values and illustrate good character traits and have the good bones of telling a good story. However some children do not like the older language such as is used in one hundred year old books. Other times the parent or teacher assumes the child would not like or understand the older language. What this book accomplishes is taking all the elements and plot from the old, good story, and retelling it in more modern verse for today's children that is easily read by the children, or read aloud to younger children. The story itself is well-told by DiTerlizzi, he did a great job keeping the story intact and not ruining it by changing it too much, not dumbing it down, and by not making a joke of it as some other authors have done when rewriting the old legends or fairy tales for today's children.
Bravo to Tony DiTerlizzi for rewriting a classic story worth reading!
A good story, but... September 26, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read this book to my sons, I had to actually...while the story is geared towards kids their age, 8 and 11, the vocabulary is more orientated towards high school students and adults. While my sons enjoyed the book, they weren't as enthralled as they had been with the Spiderwick series and I had to coax them to listen at times. I think the book is well written and does a good job of portraying friendship and how it can arise between two very different individuals--in this case a rabbit and a dragon--and the trials and tribulations that such a friendship must withstand.
Wonderful story, great illustrations.... September 25, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kenny & The Dragon was a different read for me. I loved the Spyderwick Chronicles by this same author, so I thought I'd give it a try. And I was not dissapointed, although it's a much simpler story. I read this aloud with my nephew, Zach, who is 12...and we both loved the story. It's the story of a boy (actually a rabbit, but you quickly forget that) who after hearing his father going on about the dragon he's spottted, can't resist checking it out for himself. Of course, this leads to him befreinding the dragon...Grahame...who is very cultured, and enjoys many of the same things Kenny enjoys. They quickly become friends, but Kenny is soon to find out that not everyone looks deeper than apperance, and he must defend Grahame to the villagers, who think he is a monster. Very well written, truly awesome illustrations, and a great theme running through it that make it a joy to read. And it's interesitng enough to hold my 12 nephew in a trace long enough to hear the whole story, which is no easy task. I'd say it's the target age is dead on, and recommend for either boy or girl as a wonderful read.
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