The Book of Dragons (Illustrated Edition): Fantastic Adventures Series: The Book of Beasts, Uncle James, The Deliverers of Their Country…
By Edith Nesbit and H. R. Millar
4/5
()
About this ebook
Contents:
The Book of Beasts
Uncle James, or The Purple Stranger
The Deliverers of Their Country
The Ice Dragon, or Do as You Are Told
The Island of the Nine Whirlpools
The Dragon Tamers
The Fiery Dragon, or The Heart of Stone and the Heart of Gold
Kind Little Edmund, or The Caves and the Cockatrice
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was the author of world famous books for children - the tales of fantastical adventures, journeys back in time and travel to magical worlds.
Edith Nesbit
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) was an English writer of children’s literature. Born in Kennington, Nesbit was raised by her mother following the death of her father—a prominent chemist—when she was only four years old. Due to her sister Mary’s struggle with tuberculosis, the family travelled throughout England, France, Spain, and Germany for years. After Mary passed, Edith and her mother returned to England for good, eventually settling in London where, at eighteen, Edith met her future husband, a bank clerk named Hubert Bland. The two—who became prominent socialists and were founding members of the Fabian Society—had a famously difficult marriage, and both had numerous affairs. Nesbit began her career as a poet, eventually turning to children’s literature and publishing around forty novels, story collections, and picture books. A contemporary of such figures of Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame, Nesbit was notable as a writer who pioneered the children’s adventure story in fiction. Among her most popular works are The Railway Children (1906) and The Story of the Amulet (1906), the former of which was adapted into a 1970 film, and the latter of which served as a profound influence on C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series. A friend and mentor to George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, Nesbit’s work has inspired and entertained generations of children and adults, including such authors as J.K. Rowling, Noël Coward, and P.L. Travers.
Read more from Edith Nesbit
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enchanted Castle (Illustrated): Children's Fantasy Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children's Shakespeare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Dragons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wet Magic (Illustrated Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK ®: 26 Classic Novels and Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Enchanted Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enchanted Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE ENCHANTED CASTLE (Illustrated Edition): Children's Fantasy Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Dragons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phoenix and the Carpet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Treasure Seekers (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Book of Dragons (Illustrated Edition)
Related ebooks
The Book of Dragons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE BOOK OF DRAGONS - 8 Dragon stories from the pen of Edith Nesbit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Dragons: 'He was a strange man; a very good King'' Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Dragons - Edith Nesbit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lion and the Unicorn (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIf I Say No: A Collection of What If's Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLion and the Unicorn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWachenhusen's Tales Told on a Moonlit Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe God in Flight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of All-Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiddle School Survival Kit: Free eSampler Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dragon Prince: Ghostspeaker Chronicles, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOnce on a Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cardinal Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Song of a Single Note: A Love Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE CAT AND MOUSE - 4 Persian Fairytales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of the Red Cross as told to The Little Colonel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King Tingaling Painting Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King Tingaling Painting: Duke & Michel (American-English Edition), #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProphecy and Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King Tingaling Painting: American-English Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVIKING TALES - Classic Illustrated Viking Stories for Children Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cities of the Sun: Stories of Ancient America founded on historical incidents in the Book of Mormon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrange Devices of the Sun and Moon Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Net Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cat and the Mouse: A Book of Persian Fairy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJewish Regency Mystery Stories: A Jewish Regency Mystery Story, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Children's Animals For You
Into the Wild: Warriors #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crabby the Crab Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Goodnight, Good Dog Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brave Like a Bee: Bedtime Stories for Children, Bedtime Stories for Kids, Children’s Books Ages 3 - 5, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Jealous Lion: Bedtime Stories for Children, Bedtime Stories for Kids, Children’s Books Ages 3 - 5, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pete the Kitty: Ready, Set, Go-Cart! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pete the Kitty and the Unicorn's Missing Colors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pout-Pout Fish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Garden: The 100th Anniversary Edition with Tasha Tudor Art and Bonus Materials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winnie the Pooh: The Classic Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Kitty Gets a Bath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wind in the Willows - Illustrated by Arthur Rackham Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mr. Popper's Penguins Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stuart Little Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One and Only Bob Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winnie-the-Pooh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bridge to Terabithia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frog and Toad: A Little Book of Big Thoughts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trumpet of the Swan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silver Chair: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amari and the Night Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dealing with Dragons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Book of Dragons (Illustrated Edition)
136 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I thought the book would have been better but it seemed boring, to me. The fist story was okay but it seemed to have too many "naughty" children as the central characters. I also had a hard time understanding some of the British concepts and wished the edition I read would explain them better for Americans.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cute collection of fairy stories with dragons in them. Some were quite good; some had major logic fails, which bothers me even in fairy stories (if spinning round the right way changed the animals' sizes, did it also remove the bun trees? And what about everyone being good? The story said those were all related...). I'd have liked to read the ninth story that MelHay reviews, but it doesn't appear here - maybe an audiobook bonus? Mildly pleasant, and possibly worth rereading after a while. Hah, found "The Last of the Dragons" available free online. Yes, that's a nice story - and with somewhat older protagonists (many of the stories in The Book of Dragons have children under 10 as protagonists - and there's only so much sibling squabbling I can take).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the stories are enjoyable and they generally contain off-kilter and somewhat sardonic morals.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This charming collection of children’s tales all center around dragons of one ilk or another. Each story can be read as a stand alone. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and reviewing two of these stories previously and when I saw that he narrator had 8 stories in one collection, I couldn’t resist. I know it would be good stuff and I wasn’t disappointed. These stories are great for kids and fun for adults too.The Book of Beasts – This is one of the stories I have previously listened to and reviewed. It was just as good the second time around. The child king Lionel finds a book once owned by one of his distant grandsires. Like all good kids, he plays with it and sets a giant butterfly free. He’s warned not to do so again, but he releases yet another fantastical critter (a bird of paradise), and then another (the dragon!), which threatens his kingdom and he must make it right again. A hippogriff and manticore come into play too! 5/5Uncle James – This story was so cute and it was mostly because there are cute little dog-sized elephants! Who doesn’t want a pet elephant that can snuggle on your lap and eat popcorn while you watch Flight of the Dragons? This tale takes place in Rotundia where all the sizes are backwards and a dragon has shown up that wants a princess as a present. Now this isn’t your typical ‘save the princess from the dragon’ story, as young Tom found out. By the way, keep your eye on Uncle James. He may not be trustworthy! 5/5The Deliverers of Their Country – This was my favorite out of all the stories. It starts with young Effie getting something in her eye and that something is a teensy tiny dragon! Go ahead, squeal in love and excitement. I know I did. Who doesn’t want to adopt such a little dragon? However, these small dragons keep popping up throughout the land and they are starting to wreak havoc. Now Effie and her friend Harry have to find a way to reduce the number of dragons. It’s a clever solution to an over-population problem. 6/5The Ice Dragon – Imagine North Pole dwarves dressed in seal skin. Now toss in an ice dragon. Lastly, make room for two adventurous kids, George and Jane, who just wanted to see the Northern Lights. things go ever so wrong. This story was actually a little gruesome because it has a bit of a body count. It’s not gory but I was a little surprised at little bit of darkness that crept into this story. Still, it was clever and the kids survive, so all’s well. 5/5The Island of the Nine Whirlpools – This was an interesting one. A childless Queen goes to an old witch begging for a child and the witch takes her jewels and uses them to whip up a baby girl. The Queen is totally satisfied but the King wanted a boy. So obviously, that makes a wedge between the couple. When the daughter reaches a certain age, he banishes her to an island that is protected by big beasties, like a dragon. Her mother, the Queen, and the witch both make sacrifices to make it possible for her to one day be rescued. I liked that the story hinged upon the love for an old crone. However, the princess to be rescued seemed rather daft to me, which I didn’t really care for. 4/5The Fiery Dragon – This is the second story in this collection that gives a nod to St. George, a famous dragon slayer. Granddaughter Sabrinetta has got some skills on her which is a good thing because her unscrupulous cousin, Prince Tiresome, tosses her out of the dragon-proof tower to deal with the fiery dragon. Luckily she has a great friend, Elfin the pigkeeper, who can help her. That’s another thing I really like about these stories – so often there’s a ‘commoner’ that is essential to solving whatever dragon issue there is. 5/5The Dragon Tamers – This had a little steampunky feel to it. John is a blacksmith and he and his wife have a new baby that cries often and loudly. Yet even with that intermittent noise, John has noticed an odd sound coming from the basement. He finally has to go down there for coal and he meets this dragon that needs rivets to repair his wing. The dragon isn’t shy about telling John what he plans to do once his wing is repaired: eat all the people including John and his family. Now John has to outsmart this dragon and that loud baby gets to play a key role in the subterfuge. It was clever and fun. 5/5Kind Little Edmond – This is the second story I had the privilege to enjoy previously. This is the tale of young Edmond, who was filled to the brim with curiosity, so much so that he often irritated his elders. But not his loving and doting grandmother. Edmond decides to explore the nearby mountains and hears some very odd sounds. He meets and helps a mythical beast, a manticore, who rewards him by telling him magnificent tales. This was a great little tale and I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed this one as the tale has this underlying current about the value of learning things for oneself. 5/5The Last of the Dragons – This great little story turns the typical princess + dragon + prince story on it’s head. Tradition requires the princess to be rescued from the dragon by a prince. However, this princess would much rather rely on her own fencing skills. The dragon isn’t too thrilled about the idea of coming out, threatening a nice young lady, and then being slain for the sake of tradition. This prince is up for doing something different. Why should he have to do all the hard work? It’s a great story to finish out the book. 5/5I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobook Worm.The Narration: Karen Krause does such a lovely job with this classic. Her little kid voices are so believable yet she is also great at doing grumpy elderly characters as well. Her voices for the various beasts are also fun. You can tell that she enjoyed narrating these tales as much as I enjoyed listening to them. Great performance all around!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Probably not for the very youngest children. One of Nesbit's very best works, and one of my favorites. The sly and ironic attitude helps it hold up well over the generations.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A set of short stories having nothing in common except that they are about dragons. Some are rather minor Nesbit, but Nesbit is always worth reading. A line that stuck in my mind as a child was "Fair play is a jewel" --the idea that being fair even to enemies is just.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the midst of this. I read 5 Children and It as a child, but had no idea of the range of E. Nesbit's writing, and had never heard of this one till I picked it up at the library. So sorry I missed it until now! It's so delightful: beautiful imagery, concisely written, and very true to the fairy-tale ethos; but funny, too. And a strange combination of modern (including asides to the reader) and ancient in feel.I looked E. Nesbit up on Wikipedia and was fascinated to find that, at the turn of the century, she married at 7 months pregnant, had an open marriage, raised the children her husband had with his lover as her own, and co-founded a precursor to the modern Labour Party. She was clearly fairly radical, socially and politically speaking, and this makes reading her work all the more interesting. She mentions class-based signifiers (public and private schools, in the English sense; servants and royalty, of course, in the fairy-tale mode; Eton jackets, accepted and poor behavior) quite frequently, and I often can't tell whether she intends irony or subtle instruction to come of this.But aside from her personal life, I would totally recommend this book simply because they're wonderful tales, wonderfully told.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5These stories are adorable and simply fantastical in the way all fantasy stories should be. I'm pretty sure this was written for children, but I read it just a little while ago and there were plenty of jokes I never would have picked up on if I'd read this book when I'd originally bought it: I think I was between 6 and 8. Maybe it was just that I would have accepted them as fact and obvious when I was younger, but now it all seems novelty. Well, it doesn't really matter, does it?
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fun. I remembered nearly every story from decades ago.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Long ago, sometime around elementary school, I found a shelf of dragon-story collections in the local public library. At least, that’s my memory—a whole bunch of books that all had bunches of stories of dragons, and I worked my way through all of them, some of them more than once. I have often tried to find some of those books as an adult, but not having authors or titles or anything to go on, kept not-finding them. But I’m pretty sure this book was one of the ones I read back then and loved. Some of the tales seemed familiar, and the overall feeling of reading them was definitely familiar. Just wonderful—really lovely fairy-tale-style dragon stories in a charming little collection.