DRAGONS EAT NOODLES ON TUESDAYS

A big blue monster and a little yellow monster try to drum up an entertaining dragon story for the audience.

“Oh, hi, everybody,” says the big blue monster at the start of this cockamamie tale. “Want to hear a story? Great!” It is a brief story. “So, there’s this kid… // And he gets eaten by a dragon. / The End!” The little yellow monster suggests a slightly longer tale—one without a dragon. But the big blue monster insists on a hungry dragon character. “Dragon stories usually don’t end well,” warns the little yellow monster. “But, if you insist...” and out comes a story of a dragon that does end well for all concerned, for it was Tuesday, and, as is stipulated on the dragon menu, Tuesday is noodles only. Back in the frame story, the big blue monster says the story is ridiculous, though it doesn’t really matter because a hungry dragon arrives on the storytelling scene and, it being Wednesday, when monsters are on the menu, well…“GULP!” This recursive tale invites young readers right into the storytelling process to create their own, as well as to enjoy the efforts of the two monsters. And Bentley’s artwork, which has the look and liveliness of animated cartoons, works well with the broad fits and starts of storytelling. Pleasingly, in the story within the story, it is the clever damsel of color who saves the day and not the milquetoast white knight.

No matter how silly it gets, this title never loses its engagement with readers.