The Book of Dragons

Book excerpt: Eight fun and fantastical children’s tales featuring marvelous dragons, from the author of The Railway Children and The Story of the Treasure Seekers. Embark on an amazing journey through a world of dragons with these eight tales from the acclaimed imagination of E. Nesbit. In “The Book of the Beasts,” a boy becomes king and is not prepared for the powerful magic inside a book he finds in the palace library. In “Uncle James, or The Purple Stranger,” visit a land where children can ride a guinea pig and a purple dragon wants a princess for a birthday present. Unseasonably warm weather awakens a hoard of dragons in “The Deliverers of Their Country,” and only two children can stop them from destroying Great Britain. Two children make a shocking discovery in “The Ice Dragon, or Do as Your Told” after they follow the colorful northern lights all the way to the North Pole. Other stories included are “The Island of the Nine Whirlpools,” “The Dragon Tamers,” “The Fiery Dragon, or The Heart of Stone and the Heart of Gold,” and “Kind Little Edmund, or The Caves and the Cockatrice.” Some of the dragons in this book are friendly, while others are frightening. But all of these tales are sure to delight readers of all ages . . .