THE DRAGON OF LONELY ISLAND

by Rebecca Rupp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

For her fiction debut, Rupp (Good Stuff--Learning Tools For All Ages, 1993, not reviewed) decks a light, low-tension fantasy with an amazing quantity of tried-and-true adventure story trappings. Three children find more than one pleasant surprise on their Aunt Mehitabel's remote Maine island. Though too old to join them, she leaves Hannah, Zachary, and little Sarah Emily Davis a key, and an invitation to explore Drake's Hill. In a cave at the top of the hill, the children meet a drowsy, three-headed dragon, Fafnyr Goldenwings, who invites them to stay for a story. By summer's end, they've heard three, each one tailored to the foibles of one of the children, though not in a heavily didactic way. All are told in unadorned but slightly heightened language that, along with the subterranean setting, repeated opening phrases, and closing dialogues that tie up loose ends, creates a sense of ritual. The main plot line is a thin string that barely ties individual scenes together, but Rupp makes her points without hammering them home, and will further please readers with a recognizable human cast and a wise but fallible dragon. An easily digestible story, equally suited to individual or shared reading.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S