Matilda and the Dragon - Softcover

Burnside, Julian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 186373144X ISBN 13: 9781863731447

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Synopsis

When Matilda slips out one night, she encounters a dragon and lands in his cooking pot

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

One night Matilda slips from the house and whirls off on a madcap adventure, captured here in bubbling if not especially original rhyming verse. Finding a fireman's pole, the young insomniac descends, rather rapidly, to who knows where ("Imagine poor Matilda's plight, / Plunging down into the night") and emerges into a bright land of "toffee trees with chocolate leaves." There she spies a snappily dressed dragon, who, excited at the prospect of company, invites her to tea, followed by a merry jaunt under the sea. But, in the tradition of such tales, the fun must end, this time with father "saying softly, 'Did you scream? / You must have had a dreadful dream.' " Downright silly and mined with corny rhymes, this tale is at least exuberant: the reader might wonder how Matilda breathes underwater, but will soon dismiss such thoughts as inconsequential. Guthridge's artwork is reminiscent of Tony Ross's in its boundless energy and zany looseness, but her figures are a little bolder, a touch spikier. Her eye for comic detail is especially noticeable, and it unlooses the mirth in the text. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• ISBN 10: 186373144X
• ISBN 13: 9781863731447
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Guthridge Bettina