The Forgetful Knight - Hardcover

Robinson, Michelle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803740670 ISBN 13: 9780803740679

Publisher: Dial Books, 2016

Synopsis

This hilarious, Monty Python–style sendup of the classic knight-and-dragon story comes with jaunty rhymes and a fabulous twist ending

Mischief! Mishaps! Dragons! Here's the story of an intrepid knight, only our narrator can't quite remember the details. Did that knight carry a sandwich, or a sword? Was he supposed to fight a cat, or a dragon? A hilarious and unpredictable adventure ensues, building through laugh-out-loud rhymes until, at last, the narrator remembers his own role at the center of all the marvelous madness. Fans of Jon Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man, David Ezra Stein's Interrupting Chicken, all of Patrick McDonnell's and Mac Barnett's picture books will love this zany read-aloud adventure.

About this title

About the Author

One of Michelle Robinson's first jobs was writing radio ads. She wrote more than 6,000 before she got bored and moved on to writing stories for children. She now lives in Frome, England with her two children.

Fred Blunt never wanted to be an astronaut or drive a train when he grew up. Right from the beginning, he knew he wanted to draw silly pictures for a living. Fred worked on all sorts of projects from advertising to animation, including designing an animated series of interstitials for the BBC. He now works mostly on children's books. He lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, with his wife and two young children.

Reviews

K-Gr 2—A confused narrator attempts to relate the tale of a knight's quest in this silly read-aloud. Readers quickly learn that something's not quite right with this story. After all, what kind of knight goes into battle "with half a sandwich in his hand"? It should be "a sword," of course! Robinson's rhyming text encourages audience participation as the narrator regularly asks for help in remembering what the knight is up to. It turns out that the hero is after the dragon who ate his loyal steed, Sir Clop. A quick hit to the gut, and the dragon gives up the knight's friend—along with everything else he's consumed. After a stern lecture and a few tears, the dragon swears off eating pets, and a final twist reveals that the memory-challenged narrator was none other than the knight himself. Blunt's pencil and digital cartoon illustrations have a busy, chaotic feel but are frequently set against plenty of white space to enable audiences and readers to follow the path of the text. Occasional spreads full of medieval villagers offer lots of humorous action and details for kids to pore over. VERDICT A goofy selection, but one that should produce plenty of giggles both in storytime or when shared one-on-one.—Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial Books
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803740670
• ISBN 13: 9780803740679
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Blunt Fred
• Number of pages: 40