Here There Be Dragons

by Jane Yolen

Book Overview

A collection of both new and previously published stories and poems about dragons by Jane Yolen This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0152098887
• ISBN13: 9780152098889
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
• Length: 149 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.3" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Here There Be Magic

Yolen is one of my favorite authors, and I find it hard not to gush while describing her work. Hence, the complete and utter lack of other Yolen reviews in my repertoire (gushers can be tiresome, after all). Here There Be Dragons is one of a series of three books (the other two being Here There Be Unicorns and Here There Be Witches). In it Yolen has collected some of her best stories and poems regarding dragons, both real and imagined, good and bad, friendly and frightful. Brief but fascinating blurbs offer insight into Yolen's inspirations and the thought processes that went on as she created each tale. David Wilgus illustrates all three books in the series, showcasing a wit, insight, and creative genius that perfectly complements Yolens own literary style. (One of the best examples of Wilgus's work is right on the cover -- look at the eye). I hope to see more of his work. My only regret is that the collection is so short. Yolen's works are so clearly and neatly structured, and so original and accessible, and yet so very deep and complex, that I wish the stories will go on and on and on, and I am often startled and a little shocked when I reach the end of one of her books, and the story does not continue unfolding beyond the covers (unlike the shining silver road in one of her tales, which continues unwinding as long as the hero or heroine stays on it). Here There Be Dragons is no different.

DESTINED TO BECOME A CLASSIC

Jane Yolen's great creative gifts come to the fore in this enchanting volume, which is a marvelous companion to "Here There Be Unicorns." Both of these collections of stories and poems are superbly illustrated by duotone pencil drawings by David Wilgus. His detailed pictures are true compliments to what are destined to become classics in children's literature.

Here there be dragons aplenty

Jane Yolen produces more great poetry and fiction in "Here There Be Dragons," part of her short story series focusing on ghosts, angels, witches, dragons, and so forth.It starts off with "Why Dragons?", a poem about St. George, and proceeds to the highly original "Great-Grandfather Dragon's Tale," a story from the point of view of the dragons rather than the humans. There are two evocative little drabbles (stories under a hundred words), the saddening "Dragon Woke and Stretched" and the spellbinding "Sorry the Old Man Said." "Cockfight" is what later became the Pit Dragon trilogy, a story about a young boy on a poor planet which has dragons fighting for money. "Dragon Night" is a sweet little poem, a sort of dragon lullaby. "Dragonfield" is a slightly less interesting story about an unheroic young man and a healer's daughter (and a dragon, of course). "The King's Dragon" is the story of a member of the King's Dragoons, who has a slight problem when people keep hearing "dragoon" as "dragon." "Into the Wood" is pretty, if a little hard to understand. "Dragon's Boy," which later became a short children's novel, tells the story of the adolescent King Arthur and how he learned wisdom from a "dragon." "The Making of Dragons" is a thoroughly entertaining poem about how to construct a dragon. "One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King" is the story of three boys called One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox (I think their father had a screw loose), in a story partly influenced by Chinese legends. The collection ends with the wistful "Here There Be Dragons," a poem which harkens back to old maps with those words on them.As in all of these books, Yolen includes comments and insights to the beginning of each story and poem, what caused her to write them and how they were influenced. David Wilgus's pencil drawings are realistic and soft-edged, very nice to look at and very appropriate to the contents.A nice little collection for the dragon fanciers, much better than most story collections. Fans of Yolen's "Dragon's Boy" and "Pit Dragon" trilogy will undoubtedly enjoy this.

Great Book

This is an interesting collection of short stories and peotry by Jane Yolen, who has done a lot of her work about dragons. I love the poems about St. George, types of dragons, and Here There Be Dragons (which the title comes from). The pencil drawings by the illustrator are excellent. The short stories are good, but not really masterpeices. Overall, this is a great book, as are the unicorn, witch, and angel books in this series.