Jousting with Jesters: An ABC for the Younger Dragon

Ellie Contursi is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

When a young dragon is born without his flame, he leads readers on his
quest for fire using the alphabet. On his travels readers are given a
taste of the Middle Ages through both the medieval scenes portrayed
(featuring knights, giants, gnomes, elves, and other things associated
with fairy tales) and the author’s carefully chosen language. For
example, on the page for the letter L are the words “Leap lightly over
lolling leprechauns”; for the letter O—“Offer oranges to ogres out
of doors”; for the letter U—“Unyoke the unruly unicorn!”

The book is richly illustrated with detailed, full-page colour images.
Cleverly included in each image—as well as in the unique border that
frames the page—are animals or objects with names that begin with the
respective letter. Readers will have a great time searching for these
items.

This alphabet book with a medieval twist is highly recommended.