Thursday 2 November 2017

Sir Scaly Pants: The Dragon Thief by John Kelly (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

 September 2017, 32 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Summary from Bloomsbury
Sir Scaly Pants the Dragon Knight ALWAYS fights for what's right,
but it can be very lonely being the One and Only Dragon Knight.

When an evil fire-breathing dragon kidnaps the king, Sir Scaly and his trusty steed, Guinevere, vow to rescue him. Their journey takes them to lands far and wide, and when they finally catch up with the wicked king-napping dragon, Scaly knows he's met his match. But is the evil dragon really as bad as everyone thinks, or can Scaly uncover the truth and finally make a friend?

Nayu's thoughts 
I'd forgotten how much I love John's style of stoey but especially illustration umtil I received this. I love how Scaly's steed is a girl-her expression is of sheer determination, I love how she charges full steam ahead not always with Scaly's permission! She knows exactly what to do, and is partially why Scaly was able to apprehend the thief in the end. Her exploits made my jaw drop and I cheered as she helped defeat the urchin! Sir Scaly is a fun character too, just for me is sidelined a bit by his sidekick.

The level of melodrama is a joy to see and read, there's not a single page where I wasn't grinning like crazy at the spirit of all the characters, not just Scaly's horse who is by far my favorite character (not just because she is a girl) The bystanders and other characters are equally well written and have amusing expressions depending on the scene. The bright colours bring out the gung-ho atmosphere the story gave me, and while not 100% the kind of style of illustration that I like best, as I've previously mentioned the pictures totally enhance the strong story. I like the small details in the book, for example I noticed how Scaly's armous protects his dragon snout perfectly (rather than being an ill fitted human helmet) I'm now very eager for the next Scaly adventure! 

Find out more on John's website

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