Werewolf versus Dragon: An Awfully Beastly Business Book One

Written by David Sinden and Matthew Morgan

Narrated by Gerard Doyle

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts (RSPCB) operates a rescue center for werewolves, dragons, fairies, giants, sea monsters, and other fantastical creatures. The RSPCB has stopped crimes against beasts, but there are still some people out there who will do anything to get their hands on one of these mythic animals . . . even if that means crossing the members of the RSPCB. In the first book, Werewolf versus Dragon, a dragon’s mangled body arrives at the RSPCB, and the Society knows that they’ve got a real monster on their hands. Ulf, a werewolf-boy, and his friends must stop the most evil beast hunter before it’s too late. The adventure continues in the second book, Sea Monsters and Other Delicacies, for Ulf and his friends, Orson the giant, Tiana the Fairy, and Dr. Fielding. A sea monster has suffered a life-threatening injury, and it looks like the evil Baron Marackai is back—and this time beasts are on the menu. Ulf must stop him again—the future of the RSPCB depends on it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 28, 2009
• ISBN: 9780743583770

David Sinden

Matthew Morgan, David Sinden, and Guy Macdonald are best friends from childhood. Matthew and David are the authors of the hugely successful UK series YUCK. All three live in Kent, England.

Reviews for Werewolf versus Dragon

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reason for Reading: It simply appealed to me: the cover, the title and the write-up. I thought it would make a good read-aloud to my 9yo, and it did. Comments: Ulf lives at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts, more commonly called the RSPCB. It is a large castle-type building and estate somewhere in the UK which houses injured or otherwise in need of care beasts such as trolls, rocs, giants, biganasties, faries, sea serpents, or in Ulf's case, werewolves. A baby dragon is found shot on the premises as they watch the mother fly away. Next day an Inspector from the department of National and International Criminal Emergencies (NICE) arrives to explain an evil criminal who is gathering beasts for his own dastardly amusement is on the loose. So with the help of Dr. Fielding, Orson the giant and Tiana the fairy they try to find the mother dragon before it is too late.This is a book for the younger set and I must say I figured out the whole "secret" right from the beginning but my 9 year did not see it coming a mile away and was shocked with the reveal at the end. This is a lot of fun. It's sort of a twist on the boarding school type of story only this time we basically have a house and grounds that are filled with beasts (not unlike a zoo) instead of other children. A lot of time is spent at the beginning introducing the reader to the RSPCB so we meet many different kinds of beasts and our imagination can tell this is the place to be if you want lots of adventures. A third of the way through the plot picks up full speed and one thing after another happens leaving my son begging for one more chapter practically every day. This isn't a book with any deep hidden meanings or lessons to learn. It's simply just plain rollicking good fun about a boy (at least until the full moon comes around) and a bunch of beasts in the middle of a wicked adventure. My 9yo highly recommends it. We have the second book in the series which we will be reading next upon his request.One thing I need to comment on is that the original UK versions were written by "The Beastly Boys". For North American publication they have changed this to the authors' actual names (or at least to what appear to be real names) and I think this was a smart publishing decision. I'm fairly certain that I, for one, would have been dubious to the quality of the book had I been given such a fake author's name and probably would have passed the book over otherwise and missed the treat of reading this series with my 9yo.

[martyallen_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The RPCD was designed to protect endangered monsters—but now somebody is trying to steal them! For a book about fantastical creatures, details about them are sorely lacking. When Ulf leads a tour of the facility, he names numerous creatures, but little or no description about them is given. This is such an overlook as to make the reader want to leave the book right there. Text is also a little too advanced for an audience reading chapter books, with no definition explained for words that might require them. Further, illustrations, though inked beautifully, with bold strokes, add little to the text, sometimes even contradicting what the reader would expect—for example, why is Professor Fielding smiling as she autopsies the dragon? The title battle, left to the end and having nothing to do with the book in its entirety, is brief and anticlimactic. Readers wanting action will be disappointed, as will the readers desiring fantastical beasts.