WHINNIE THE LOVESICK DRAGON
By
A dragon who falls in love with a knight who turns out to be a dragon in disguise. Whinnie the dragon is head-over-heels in love with Alfred the knight. But the only attention Alfred will give her is to whack her with his sword and then brag about his bravery. The lovesick dragon goes to a wizard who gives her a potion that turns her into a beautiful princess. She sets out to win Alfred's love in her new form, but discovers that he is a real bore--all he can talk about is how brave he is. Whinnie calls on Uncle Dragon to teach Alfred a lesson. Uncle Dragon easily defeats Poor Alfred, and then the wizard asks: ""Well, Alfred, have you had enough of being a knight?"" The wizard feeds the two another magic potion and they turn back into dragons and live happily ever after. The wizard, however, remains busy because ""the world is full of people who are really dragons at heart."" A run-of-the-mill dragons-as-entertaining-creatures story, only mildly successful in its attempts at satire. The illustrations have vivacity and humor; the borders are lovely and include such grotesques as hooded men making faces, a beaked rodent with a pacifier, and all manner of creatures and flora.