BUTTERFINGERS

Trewellard kicks up her debut with tried-and-true folktale motifs. When a dragon snatches Princess Bella, clumsy stableboy Ned pockets her golden ball and sets out to the rescue—acquiring along the way a company of talking animal companions to help with the climactic slaying. Though most of the animals turn out to be more of a noisy chorus than Bremen Town Musicians–style attackers, several do show distinct personalities and Ned, despite never measuring up to the athletic Bella in the hand-eye coordination department, displays plenty of heart; by the end, he’s earned both a knighthood and a full frontal smooch from the Princess. The big Arthur Rackham–like silhouettes aren’t the only elements here that will strike readers as familiar, but fans of Angela McAllister’s Digory the Dragon Slayer (2006), also illustrated by Beck, will find in Ned a similarly unlikely hero. (Fantasy. 9-11)