Synopsis
An evocation of the house-to-house Christmas revels in which children once took part shows the lively play, featuring dragons, knights, and damsels, that used to be performed in the neighborhood houses
Reviews
Grade 1-3-The Schotters offer a spirited picture book based loosely on a medieval mummer's play. A group of modern children come to a house and offer a play in return for hospitality-"Hold, friends, hold! We are very cold/Inside and outside, we are very cold/Something to warm us if we may/For that, kind folks, we'll give you a play." The acting troupe lights candles and plunges into the ancient struggle with dragons. As in the traditional St. George plays, each figure introduces him/herself ("I'm King Cole," "I'm Queen Meg," "Jack's my name") and prepares to battle the beast. Alley's watercolors capture the madcap action of the performance-his portraits of each character build to a series of exuberant double-page spreads. As is customary, the doctor resolves the conflict ("I am the doctor, I cure all ills") and the players move on. The charm of There's a Dragon About lies in its honoring a traditional theatrical form for contemporary audiences. The text could easily be adapted for live winter revels and the illustrations provide ample inspiration. The actors leave with a blessing, "Be there loaf in your locker/and sheep in your fold." May there be more thoughtful picture books from this trio.
Kathleen Whalin, Greenwich Country Day School, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inspired by the winter revels of yore, when people traveled house to house to entertain their neighbors, Roni Schotter (Captain Snap and the Children of Vinegar Lane) and her English-professor husband stage a modern revel with a cast of energetic suburban children. Written in verse, the play that the children perform in their neighbors' living room echoes traditional themes of spring and rebirth. King Cole, Giant Blunderbore and other characters in homespun costume fight a dragon and are downed in the battle, but a spell resurrects them: "Like winter's end when spring rains fall,/ Nature be freed and heed my call./ Bloom again, rise again, one and all!" These literary tones are not sustained; for example, the dragon responds to the spell with "Hey! What about me?/ I've been bad, no doubt./ But must I lie here lonely,/All left out?" Alley's watercolors suggest the brio and gleeful abandon of the performers, though at the occasional expense of clarity. The Schotters' stated goal of inspiring the intended audience to go out and revel likewise, however, is unlikely to be achieved-many of the stunts shown here, such as one child standing atop the shoulders of another to act the role of the outsize dragon, are not easily (nor safely) simulated. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
``Hold, friends, hold!/We are very cold./Inside and outside,/we are very cold./Something to warm us,/if we may./For that, kind folks,/we'll give you a play.'' So starts this marvelous adaptation of the revel known as the Oxfordshire St. George play. The play is a simple one about the subduing of a dragon. What is so compelling here is the vibrancy brought to the revel. Alley's illustrations throng with activity and color, testaments to the pleasures of mock seriousness (even if they do seem to borrow a tad heavily from Maurice Sendak; then again, he's no mean inspiration, so why quibble?). The revel--house-to- house evening entertainments enacted during the winter holidays- -is an institution that never should have faded away. But television and radio, not to mention the dangers of the modern night, stole its thunder. With Arthurian urgency and bright festivity, this book may launch a second wave for those roving nighttime theatricals. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Ages 5-8. Trooping in the snow to the gates of a well-lit house, a group of children offer to perform in the spirit of winter revels. As curtains are draped over chairs and candles are set up for footlights, the young players don makeshift costumes, wooden swords, paper crowns, and pans for hats to enact St. George and the Dragon. Alley's pen-and-ink drawings with bright watercolors capture the enthusiasm of the players as well as the audience through small touches in the illustrations. Pets and toddlers alternately cringe and explore, reflecting the magic of the theatrical, and as the play progresses, even the imp, horse, and dolphin wall sconces come alive to watch the action. In adapting the rhyming text from the Oxfordshire St. George play, the Schotters honor the ancient custom of revels and encourage young readers to perform this revel for their own families and neighbors. Linda Callaghan
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