School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-4-Jackie French Koller's delightful fantasy (PB, 1995 pap.) from her Dragonling series is both exciting and scary, and a tale of love and respect. A young boy, Darek, longs to join his father and older brother on their dragon-slaying expeditions. The narrator, Jeff Woodman, provides different voices for each character, and realistic sound effects as well. He makes the tale even more delightful, using his unique voice to create dragon-like noises. The story describes the capture of a dragon by Darek's father, brother, and the village dragon-slaying men. Darek can't sleep that night and decides to go see the dragon, tied down in the village. When he hears whimpers, he discovers a tiny dragonling in its slain mother's pouch. Although Darek has been taught to fear dragons, the baby dragon is playful, and gobbles up a sugar cube offered to him. An instant friendship develops, and Darek worries that if the dragonling is found in the village, it would be slain. He summons up courage and compassion, and decides to return the dragonling to the valley where other dragons live. This suspenseful, danger-filled adventure reveals Darek's good character and willingness to risk his own safety to help the orphaned dragonling. The sound quality and presentation are very well done. This excellent audiobook would be a good choice for group and individual listening.-Deborah J. Rothaug, Pasadena Elementary School, Plainview, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.