Chapter Books

Dragons Galore

18 August, 2011 /

It’s Edith Nesbit all the way this week. Well, for the purposes of this post, that is — I’m writing about Edith Nesbit. In our reading we’ve zipped about among some other writers too, but I’m focusing on just Nesbit because The Book of Dragons is the first time I’ve been won over. My previous forays into Edith Nesbit have been so-so, but she is definitely growing on me.

It started last week when Amy recommended this picture book version of The Book of Beasts. Our library had a copy, but I saw that The Book of Dragons, of which this is the first story, was a free (and instantaneous) download on the Kindle. I wasn’t going to be able to get to the library for a few days, so I read the story to the girls on the Kindle. Big success. My youngest (7) emitted quiet exclamations next to me several times, responding to the story’s humor and absurdity and suspense.

Since then we’ve read the next two stories (there are eight in all). All of them feature dragons. All of them are stand-alones. Here are the things I notice about Edith Nesbit:

  • Breeziness — sentences that pile up clauses until you’re out of breath. At first glance it seems careless, but it’s intentional and creates the effect that she’s improvising — making up a story out loud.
  • Comedy that comes from her mixing of the extremely practical and ordinary with the utterly fantastic.
  • Absurdity.
  • Children with problems to solve. They are ordinary, and though they end up doing heroic things they never lose their ordinary trappings.
  • Dated — yet the language and references to things specific to her place and time haven’t been a hurdle to my daughters at all.
  • She doesn’t talk down to children. I’ve heard it said that she writes for adults, really, but judging from the girls’ response I’d say she knows children quite well.

Nearly a week later, we were able to get to the library, and we picked up both The Book of Beasts and the physical Book of Dragons. The Kindle gives books an abstract quality, and with this story it includes no illustrations. But what interests me is that the stories have been enough in themselves, even in this form. There is apparently something very magical and appealing about Nesbit’s tales.

You May Also Like

Defending Laura

16 July, 2018

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

17 November, 2011

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic

8 December, 2011

7 Comments

  • Amy @ Hope Is the Word

    18 August, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    This is wonderful, Janet! I don’t know why I haven’t thought if getting Book of Dragons for my Kindle. Sometimes I still forget about it! Nesbit is an author whose works we still need to explore!

  • Mrs. H

    18 August, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    All these blogs talking about these Edith Nesbit books has me wanting to go check them out too. I’ve read some of her work in the past but don’t think I have ever read any of her books to my kids. My son loves dragons so the Dragon book seems like a logical place to start for us.

  • Carol in Oregon

    18 August, 2011 at 10:10 pm

    Getting your blog as an email keeps me from commenting as often as I think of comments! But I came over to thank you for telling me about these titles.

    I have enjoyed the Railway Children and especially the Would-be-Goods. I avoided Five Children and It for two long because I had a misconception of what it was about. I will have to check these out…on my Kindle. (I’m reluctant to admit how much I am enjoying my Kindle. I got a pedicure yesterday and laughed at myself. While women around me were immersed in People magazine, I was reading about tropical snakes in Teddy Roosevelt’s Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Not that I care about appearances, but I didn’t look as peculiar as I could have with the actual book!)

  • Janet

    19 August, 2011 at 12:48 pm

    Like Carol, I’m a little surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed my Kindle. But it has been a great supplement to “real” books for me!