Dragon Slayers' Academy 1: The New Kid at School
Grade 2-4AA fantasy adventure for beginning chapter-book readers. Wiglaf, the would-be hero, lives with his large, brutish family in abject poverty. Their hovel smells worse than their pigsty. Though Wiglaf is the smallest member of the family, he is made to do all the work, and is constantly picked on by the others because he is reluctant to kill any living thing. A traveling minstrel tells Wiglaf's fortune; it shows that he can improve his lot by performing a gallant act. The boy decides to sign up at the local Dragon Slayers' AcademyAit guarantees to make him a hero. However, he finds life at the run-down school as difficult as it is at home, and he protests when he is sent out to slay the local dragon on his first day. When his magic sword doesn't work, he switches to another strategy. He has learned that the dragon can't stand bad jokes so he tries a few and, as predicted, the dragon expires at his feet. Wiglaf is a hero without spilling a single drop of blood. The fast-paced, snappy text is filled with jokes and insults; the accompanying black-and-white illustrations are dark and cartoonlike. The tone and style suggest Saturday-morning animated films and will appeal to the same audience. For humorous adventure fantasy that is better crafted and more nourishing, try Jon Scieszka's Knights of the Kitchen Table (Viking, 1991) and other works in the "Time Warp Trio" series.AVirginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VTCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.