Wicked stepmother casts a spell on the fair princess, turning her into a dragon. The spell will only be broken when her brother the prince kisses her three times. ( )

The Loathesome Dragon is a story that follows a similar tale of Cinderella. After the death of the Queen, the King remarries a woman that is jealous of of the Kind's daughter so she turns her into a dragon that can only be changed back by 3 kisses from her brother. This is a twist on traditional fairytales and would be story to be used for a compare and contrast between fairytales as it gives a spin on the classics. There is magic and beautiful illustrations that grab the readers attention as they read! ( )

This book takes on the traditional role of a fairy tale. The story is told in paragraph form. Every element of this book is very traditional of the fairy tales I remember reading as a young child, from the language to the illustrations. The illustrations are very large, but not very bright. They almost remind me of old paintings with their pale colors. ( )

The Loathsome Dragon is retold by Kim Kahng and David Wiesner. It includes many traditional fairy tale elements such as magic and things happening in 3's. I was reminded of Cinderella when reading about the stepmother. I appreciated the importance of family in solving the problem in this story. I liked the story overall, but would have loved more rich language. I am a fan of David Wiesner's art, which is what drew me to this book. His style of watercolor art and attention to detail help show the story beautifully. ( )

I thought this book was okay, however it was not my absolute favorite. Of course the illustrations are absolutely amazing. However, I had a hard time picturing the story in my own imagination do to the lack of description. For example, “The moment he heard of Princess Margaret’s fate, he swore a mighty oath the he would rescue her and take vengeance upon the enchantress who had cast the spell. Three and thirty of his man took the oath with him. They built a ship with a keel made of magic rowan wood, and when all was ready, they set sail for Bamorough Castle.” From this quote one could see the lack of imagery this author portrays. However, this does tend to be this authors style, leaving more room for imagination through his images. So, I did enjoy that aspect of the book. I also enjoyed the plot of the story this is because at some points it left suspense, leading the reader wanting to know more. For example, there was a lot of foreshadowing with character descriptions and actions. For instance at the beginning you are introduced to the stepmother who is automatically portrayed as evil and envious of her stepdaughter. “Watching the king gaze at his daughter with obvious pride, the queen burned with jealousy, ‘we’ll see just how well-loved this child remains’ she hissed.” Right away, the reader wants to know what this evil woman will do to her stepdaughter. This happens different times throughout the plot as well.The big idea of this story is that evil never wins and to never give up. ( )