Lionel and the Book of Beasts

When young King Lionel turns the pages of his magical--and forbidden--book, which he has been told not to read, a hungry red dragon and other creatures in the illustrations come to life.

Grade 2–4—Inga Moore's retelling (Candlewick, 2001) substituted simple American English in a heavily abridged version of Nesbit's The Book of Beasts that effectively maintained some of its sweet humor. Now Hague uses his signature, elaborately detailed art to present a more somber abridged version (only minor textual changes from Moore's book) that may appeal to older children who like to be slightly scared. A large, fierce-looking red dragon dominates a couple of spreads. The luxurious details in the paintings depicting various town and landscape scenes include an elegant carriage drawn by eight white horses, a fountain holding up a gold-colored elephant, and a swan floating in a pond in a garden filled with statuary and urns. Interior details reveal a library with books overflowing onto the floor and chairs, elegant furniture, wooden toys, a lush bear pelt, and a clever portrayal of the little prince being mesmerized by the magic in the Book of Beasts. For libraries that do not have Moore's lighthearted romp, this version will please most children.—Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma County Library, CA
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In this significantly shortened version of Nesbit's story, also known as theBook of Beasts, Hague, who retells the tale, retains the original's incidents while trimming off most of the verbal shrubbery that lent it a comically acerbic tone. Suddenly finding himself made king, little Lionel unwisely opens one of his royal books and releases a dragon (rendered in Hague's distinctively golden-hazed illustrations as a sinuous red monster with moth-eaten wings) that proceeds to discomfit the kingdom by eating Parliament and other tidbits. Fortunately, the same tome then yields a Pegasus-like Hippogriff that helps Lionel coax the red menace back onto its assigned page. Purists won't have all that much trouble finding an edition of the original story, but for less-sophisticated readers, Lionel does cut a slightly more heroic figure than in Inga Moore's abridgment, The Book of Beasts (2001). John Peters
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