7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adorable and smart enough for kids, wickedly dry and smart enough for grown-ups!, March 4, 2010
This review is from: Attack of the Ninja Frogs, Book 2 (Dragonbreath) (Hardcover)
My title says it all - kids will love the Dragonbreath books, and their parents can love them, too. These are some of those rare books that, when your child asks you to read them aloud for the umpteenth time you'll say, "Okay!" We've known and loved Ursula's work for years and when we heard she was writing a childrens book series we were thrilled. Her written flights of fancy on her LiveJournal narrating her art are some of the funniest things I've ever read - I knew a kids book would be fabulous. I was not disappointed :)
I must stop a moment before I go on about the *books* and talk about Ursula's art (all illustrations in the book are her own). Her art is the essence of whimsy and hyperbole with a big dash of the slightly twisted. Her paintings run the gamut from cute and fuzzy to laugh-till-you-cry funny, to OMG I don't want to hang that on my wall! But all of her art embraces the absurdity of life, of anatomy, of nature's little jokes at every species's expense and at the misguided idea that we're ever in control of anything. The art in Dragonbreath follows her style with an added dose of hilarity. The expressiveness of the simply drawn animals manages to be both human and completely reptile. The anthropomorphizing of, well, everything cracks you up because yes of course, that's exactly what potato salad would look like if it aged so long in the school cafeteria that it evolved into sentient (and evil) life.
Our Brave Hero, Danny Dragonbreath, has an outlook on life that any child can relate to. Fanciful, whimsical, a tad bit jaded about adult expectations and utterly inventive. A fantasy life almost more real than reality is a concept that speaks to any child, and my kids loved it. This was the first chapter book that my youngest read entirely...and he read it cover to cover in one day. Took him all day! Then his pre-teen older brother sneaked away with it, zipped through it, and declared it awesome. In between times, I was picking up Dragonbreath whenever it wasn't actually in someone's hot little hands and reading it as fast as I could.
The whimsy that works for kids is just as appealing for adults, but there is also a wonderful dry irony that runs as an undercurrent through the Dragonbreath books. Ursula has not written talk-down-to-them lobotomized childrens books. She's written books from the point of view of a child and at a reading level a child can enjoy but with the writing sensibilities and sophisticated perceptiveness of an adult. Not too many authors can do that these days :)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hillarious dragon fits for boys' reading, February 8, 2010
This review is from: Attack of the Ninja Frogs, Book 2 (Dragonbreath) (Hardcover)
Danny Dragonbreath is one super funny dragonboy. From page 1 I have been hooked till I reach the end of the book. It's so hillarious and engaging.
There is a new girl in school and she is soo unlike other girls eventhough like other girls she wants to be a vet when she grow up. Suki is a smart exchange student from Japan. She loves reading comics and what's more, she is the reincarnation of a ninja queen! One day after school Danny and Wendell help her from two ninja frogs who want to claim her as their queen and so begin their adventure to rid of the ninja frogs once and for all!
The pictures in the book do enhance the story and instead of keep telling the storyline in words the writer switched to gorgeous pictures and thus avoiding the boredom of too many words and no pictures that plaque the kids in age range this book is intended.
I do love this book! It has engaging characters, great storyline, nice pictures, and deliciously hilarious. My ten year old boy has already read this book twice in two days and he's recomended the book to all his friends!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Book is great for Boys..., June 17, 2011
This review is from: Attack of the Ninja Frogs, Book 2 (Dragonbreath) (Hardcover)
I am constantly looking for books that will keep my eleven year old son entertained. He really loved the Diary of a Whimpy Kid books so when I purchased these books I was looking for a series of fun and entertaining books for him to read this summer. Well needless to say; these books were so entertaining that my son has read the entire series in less than a week. If you have a son or daughter ages 9-12 they are sure to really enjoy this series. The DragonBreath series is cute and very entertaining.The books have some pictures which my son really enjoyed looking at. I highly recommend this series especially for boys and girls that are into the Wizard 101 internet games.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
