Fairy Tale Spotlight: Kenny and the Dragon [Book Review]

[Quite a bit of spoilers here since I am familiar with the work this is based on. I have a lot to say about it.]

I don't always know what a book is about until I read it. Sometimes I buy a book for entirely different reasons than for what the story is about. And if you think about it, we can't really know what a book is going to be about until we read it. Even hearing about the story sometimes isn't enough. You can't really know a book until you have taken the time to seriously pour through it, and then, and only then, can you truly know what you have gotten yourself into.

"Kenny and the Dragon" is a book written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, a name I cannot for the life of me pronounce. It was published in 2008. I bought the book entirely for its pristine and wonderful illustrations... and nothing else. I also sort of kept it in my closet for nearly 10 years not actually reading it. I clearly made a mistake.

"Kenny and the Dragon" is an absolute gushing love letter to author Kenneth Grahame, one of the few authors I have read the complete works of. The main character, a rabbit, is named Kenneth and the titular dragon is named Grahame. The story itself is a recreation of "The Reluctant Dragon" which was originally from a book by Kenneth Grahame called "Dream Days." (Short review: It's a wonderful book about the playful and often imaginary lives of children, but "The Reluctant Dragon" chapter is the best part of the whole thing.)

This particular book reinvents the original story to have nothing but animal characters. Kenny replaces the human boy who befriends the calm and friendly dragon. St. George the knight is now a fat badger, who is also the friend of Kenny in this one. As in the original story, the townspeople get into an uproar over the dragon, and plans are made to kill him. A big difference in this story is that Kenny gets torn between his friendships of the dragon and George which makes him very depressed and worrisome through much of the book.

This depressing atmosphere is not more than anyone can bear. In fact, it creates quite the build-up to the famous faux battle between the dragon and George. And this battle is where the story shines so much. The creation and staging of this battle was one of the most vivid and shockingly well-delivered scenes I have ever read outside of a script. There was even musical accompaniment that, although only read about, was very easy to hear within ones noisy imagination. I was THERE!

I have never read a scene like this before. It was magical in its construction. The author somehow managed to strike a killing blow into the heart of my mind and then manipulated it in the manner of his choosing. It was a brilliant scene that I almost feel like I actually saw. All I can say is: Bravo!

"Kenny and the Dragon" does push other stories from Kenneth Grahame. It does mention "The Wind in the Willows" within the narrative as well as "The Reluctant Dragon." The author is really trying to get his readers to give Grahame's books a read, and I agree with this. People should read his books. He's one of my favorite authors of all time.

The book is not without a small criticism. Although the illustrations are superb, you should never depend on them to tell your story. There was one character who was a squirrel, but the narrative never says that. You have only a picture of her to confirm her actual species. I don't like that, but it is really the only problem I had with the book.

There's no reason not to recommend this book. "Kenny and the Dragon" impresses on many levels. The faux battle scene honestly makes the whole thing worth it, in and of itself. Read this book!

This blog was written on February 15, 2022.

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