How long is the reluctant dragon

The boy comes up with the brilliant idea of staging a mock fight. Both dragon and St. George ask the boy to figure out a solution which he does; thus giving Boy control over everyone's destiny. This empowers the young reader into what it is like to making his or her own decisions and grow toward independence. The three agree on the solution and in the end everyone is happy. The boy wants a fight. The dragon wants to recite sonnets. And St. George doesn't want to kill anyone.

The ending provides a typical fairy tale wish fulfillment fantasy where the characters get what they want and are happy with it. Fairy tales leave out motivation, rounded characters and background explanations. That's all that is needed and then the conflict is introduced. The fairy tale traipses from one crazy event to another and I think it is the sheer simplicity and headlong rush into action that makes it so popular with kids.

There is usually a moral and it requires use of one's imagination. The boy and the dragon bond through telling each other stories and using their imagination. The boy doesn't have prejudices toward dragons like adults.

Here the fairy tale pokes fun at the attitudes of the villagers by revealing their quick judgement of the dragon and is used to question the world around them. It puts the child in control, as well as, subverts the existing St. George and the dragon legend. This mocking of prejudice and convention is central to the story.

The pretend fight shows that appearances are deceiving and that the villagers misguided. George doesn't even like to kill dragons; his intentions bound only by duty rather than bloodlust. The adults give the boy responsibility and the dragon is more interested in performance than being violent. At the end he draws all the attention away from the boy and St. George adding to the irony of the situation, creating sympathetic characters, and adding to the plot's tension. This pastoral work creates a nostalgia for a simple and innocence past.

The idyllic setting and happily-ever-after ending establish a utopia that doesn't really exist in the real world. Characters can be presented as pure representations of feelings and somewhat unsophisticated. The boy does not think about the dangers to himself at confronting the dragon when his dad first tells the family about it.

He does feel pain that his dragon friend might get killed and through a series of solutions grows as a boy. However, there is no real sense of danger and shows self-preservation above all else.

If you are looking for Smaug, then you'll be disappointed with this Shakespearean sonnet-spewing dragon. But if you want some smart satire and humor, then I highly recommend it.

As a read aloud you could have some good discussions. And phew! Yes, I ordered a new book to replace the library's copyrighted one. The dragon is such a cutie! I'd invite him to tea. I "read" this in audiobook form and the narrator Anton Lesser did a very good job. The author Kenneth Grahame needed to have researched dragon sounds though because at one point the dragon purred and at another barked which just sounded so odd.

Jul 02, smritika rated it really liked it. There's so many good children's books and comics that I've come across recently, like The Little Prince, Calvin and Hobbes, etc. This is one of them. There's humour and also a hint of intellect, that you will only get if you are not a child.

Books like these are such good alternatives. I don't know why people tell their kids stories like Cinderalla, The Little Mermaid, etc.

Aug 02, Stacy Kooker rated it it was amazing. Oh my, so delightful! I was laughing out loud. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Anton Lesser. This will be a really fun audiobook for when the boys are familiar with Saint George and The Dragon. Similar to Winnie the Pooh or Wind in the Willows, though some of the humor may be lost on little ears, the language is well worth reading aloud before they can read it to themselves. Apr 01, Bennett rated it it was amazing. Just excellent.

Aug 03, Karen rated it it was amazing. Kenneth Grahame, best known for writing The Wind in the Willows, wrote this book. Shepard, best known for illustrating Winnie-The-Pooh, illustrated this book. With a winning team like that, it is no surprise that this well-loved book has become a classic. The plot of this story is straightforward enough: A dragon moves into a cave near a village.

The villagers want the dragon gone. The villagers hire a knight to fight the dragon. But there are such delightful twists and turns along the Kenneth Grahame, best known for writing The Wind in the Willows, wrote this book. But there are such delightful twists and turns along the way it is easy to forget that the plot is straightforward. For example, the dragon is not a killing dragon; he is a poetry reading dragon. And the knight that is hired is none other than St.

The knight and the dragon do fight and the conclusion is most satisfactory. The illustrations, as all good illustrations do, illuminate the text, add charm and character. Created by Shepard's deft hands, they are nothing short of perfection. Dec 02, Kris rated it it was amazing Shelves: recommended-to-me , want-to-own , childrens-books. No chapters, no needless introductions, no worthless explanations.

This is a new layer that adds to the classic story of St. George and the Dragon. I felt like Grahame expected children to already be familiar with the ancient poetry, so one could read this and find all the little subtleties to it.

From this book we are to see the legend from the child's perspective, because of course that is important. I appreciated the nod to the fantastical, the expectations of res Subtle. I appreciated the nod to the fantastical, the expectations of respectability and showmanship, the honor for authority. Grahame even threw in a few comments about how important verse and language is-- ironic when considering the source material. There's the realistic assumptions for crowds only wanting fights and banquets, and a special like for privacy and methodical thinking.

Definitely my kind of book. In a way I wish it was longer, but with this little gem, I think Grahame did all he wanted to do. Just once. And that's that. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one ». Readers also enjoyed. Short Stories.

About Kenneth Grahame. Kenneth Grahame. Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon ; both books were later adapted into Disney films. Books by Kenneth Grahame. Related Articles. Or maybe your introduction to her was through one Read more Trivia About The Reluctant Dragon. Quotes from The Reluctant Dragon.

I'll look you up tomorrow, sometime or other, and do for goodness' sake try and realise that you're a pestilential scourge, or your find yourself in a most awful fix. User reviews 26 Review. Top review. This little classic spends just short of an hour touring the Disney Studios in the company of Robert Benchley, the humorist who acts like a big kid in a candy store and is thus the perfect guide for something like this.

We see how the cartoons are made, moving from the recording studio - where the real-life voices of Donald Duck and Clara Cluck sing an aria - through to clay models of the characters to be animated - the sound effects dept. There's also a neat segue from black and white to Technicolor. The whole movie is engrossing and a fantastic overview of the state-of-the-art work being done by the Disney Studios at the beginning of the 40s. Details Edit. Release date June 20, United States.

United States. Official site. A Day at Disneys. Walt Disney Productions. Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 14 minutes. Related news. Mar 8 ScreenRant. Jan 8 ScreenRant. The only thing for parents to even remotely be concerned about is that people are shown smoking cigarettes, which was accurate for the time period. Other than that, this movie offers a fascinating glimpse into all the different aspects that went into every facet of an animated film, from the sketches to the animation itself, from the sound effects to the characters' voices.

For parents and children interested in animation, this is the perfect movie to see how animated films were made decades before computers got involved. Add your rating See all 1 parent review. Add your rating See all 1 kid review. While lounging around the pool, the humorist Robert Benchley listens to his wife read aloud the children's story "The Reluctant Dragon. This leads to Benchley getting a guided tour "behind the scenes" into how animated features are made. He witnesses everything from preliminary sketches to sound effects, from orchestras providing the background music to the performers recording the voices of the animated characters.

The result is a charming evocation of how animated features were made decades before computers were brought into the mix. Long before Pixar and computer animation entered the picture, this charming evocation of a long-gone time showed how animated features were made, back in In spite of some of its general datedness, the film should prove fascinating to families and potentially inspiring to kids interested in learning the art of animation.

Sketches and storyboards, Technicolor and sound effects, editing and character voices -- all these and more are explored as the humorist Robert Benchley leads us from department to department. It's a nonstop glimpse into the endless creativity of the "golden years" of Disney animation and a delightful education for both parents and kids. Families can talk about the history of animation.

How have the animation processes shown in this movie changed over time, and what are some elements that have remained the same?

If you could create your own animated feature, how would you do it? What would be the first steps in the process? Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. See how we rate. Streaming options powered by JustWatch. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization, earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes when you use our links to make a purchase.

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