The Book of Dragons

"The Book of Dragons" by E. Nesbit is a set of imaginative stories for young readers from the late 1800s. Many stories tell of young kids who meet different dragons, and the stories investigate the fun of adventure, magical happenings, and daydreams. The first story introduces us to Lionel, a young guy who unexpectedly has to be a king, and he has to take care of a dragon that he mistakenly lets get out of a magical book. The start of the book makes for a fun mood as we watch Lionel quickly become royalty. First just playing like a kid, soon he's riding in a royal ride to be crowned king. However, in the middle of all that, Lionel accidentally releases a red dragon from a bestiary in the royal's bookshelves, which makes chaos that the kingdom now needs to take care of. As he wrestles with what he needs to do as king and from what he did, the story shows that he's determined to keep his people safe and to come up with a solution to the dragon issue. This joyful mix of adventure and make-believe makes for an interesting story that invites people to join Lionel on his journey.