O'Toole and the Dragon

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

This picture book by new publisher Bunbury Books is about an
overconfident knight named O’Toole who meets his jousting match in a
fire-breathing dragon: “In days of old / When knights were bold / The
world was a frightening place. // Strange dragons roamed free / And took
greedy glee / In the sight of a terrified face. /// One merry young
knight / Was a comforting sight / An excellent vision to see. // He rode
on a charger / That grew larger and larger / As large as a charger could
be. /// O’Toole was his name. / He garnered great fame / As a courtier
of uncommon grist. // He’d beaten all knights / In the king’s
courtly fights. / Not one single honour he’d missed. /// But...
O’Toole met a dragon... / He’d pull out his flagon / And swallowed
as deep as he could. // His thirst must be quenched, / His throat must
be drenched, / To fight as he certainly should!” And he does.
Unfortunately, O’Toole ends up treed like a squirrel. But he is saved
by a princess who sends the dragon packing.

Illustrations by Florence Roberge lend a colorful, nursery-school
ambience to the book. Although the verse tends to clunk, overall the
book is very nicely produced. Recommended.