The Book of Dragons
by E. Nesbit
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"The Book of Dragons" is a collection of children's fantasy stories written by Edith Nesbit, first published in 1900. The book is a compilation of eight delightful and imaginative tales, each featuring different kinds of dragons and magical creatures. In "The Book of Dragons," Nesbit takes young readers on exciting adventures with a variety of whimsical dragons, ranging from traditional fire-breathing dragons to more unusual and comical creatures. Each story has its unique setting and show more characters, and they often involve children who find themselves in extraordinary situations involving dragons or other magical beings. Some of the stories in "The Book of Dragons" include: "The Book of Beasts": A boy named Lionel accidentally summons a dragon from a magical book and must find a way to deal with the unruly creature. "Uncle James, or The Purple Stranger": Two children come across a mysterious purple dragon who brings both joy and chaos into their lives. "The Deliverers of Their Country": When England is overrun by dragons, it's up to a group of resourceful children to save the day. "The Ice Dragon, or Do as You Are Told": A young girl named Effie discovers an ice dragon in her chest of drawers and learns the importance of following instructions. "The Book of Dragons" showcases Edith Nesbit's trademark storytelling style, characterized by humor, wit, and a deep understanding of children's perspectives. Through these magical tales, Nesbit encourages young readers to use their imaginations and embark on extraordinary adventures with the characters. The book's enduring popularity has led to numerous reprints and adaptations over the years, making it a beloved classic of children's fantasy literature. It remains an enchanting read for both children and adults who appreciate the magic and wonder of dragons and fantastical worlds. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
What a delightful collection (with a few mediocre exceptions) of magical stories!
A seemingly parentless boy finds himself king and owner of a magical book with illustrations that come to life. A microscopic dragon in a girl's eye is the first sign of an invasion of dragons of every conceivable size.
Nesbit's children are sometimes naughty, often highly intelligent, and almost always curious. They don't always follow rules, going outside when there are dragons about, sliding down an enormous slide that leads to the aurora borealis. And then there's Edmund, who reminds me a bit of my older son...
Edmund loved to find out about things...His inquiring mind led him to take clocks to pieces to see what made them go, to take locks off doors to show more see what made them stick. It was Edmund who cut open the india rubber ball to see what made it bound, and he never did see, any more than you did when you tried the same experiment.
Repeatedly, it is these mischievous children who must save the land from dragons, sometimes while simultaneously saving themselves from treacherous adults.
Magicians area always bad, as you see by the Babes in the Wood, or the Norfolk Tragedy, and one James at least was bad, as you have learned from your English history. And when anyone is a magician, and is also an uncle, and is named James as well, you need not expect anything next from him. He is a Three Fold Complete Bad--and he will come to no good.
Although we didn't understand some of the Victorian-era terms, my boys and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. show less
A seemingly parentless boy finds himself king and owner of a magical book with illustrations that come to life. A microscopic dragon in a girl's eye is the first sign of an invasion of dragons of every conceivable size.
Nesbit's children are sometimes naughty, often highly intelligent, and almost always curious. They don't always follow rules, going outside when there are dragons about, sliding down an enormous slide that leads to the aurora borealis. And then there's Edmund, who reminds me a bit of my older son...
Edmund loved to find out about things...His inquiring mind led him to take clocks to pieces to see what made them go, to take locks off doors to show more see what made them stick. It was Edmund who cut open the india rubber ball to see what made it bound, and he never did see, any more than you did when you tried the same experiment.
Repeatedly, it is these mischievous children who must save the land from dragons, sometimes while simultaneously saving themselves from treacherous adults.
Magicians area always bad, as you see by the Babes in the Wood, or the Norfolk Tragedy, and one James at least was bad, as you have learned from your English history. And when anyone is a magician, and is also an uncle, and is named James as well, you need not expect anything next from him. He is a Three Fold Complete Bad--and he will come to no good.
Although we didn't understand some of the Victorian-era terms, my boys and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. show less
I reread this every decade or so, and love it every time. Yay, it's now on Project Gutenberg so I can reread it again any time, and pass on my paperback to another reader.
Yes it's old-fashioned, but free from the pretensions and stuffiness that one tends to associate with that word. Yes, it's charming, almost twee - but, like the tales of [a:Beatrix Potter|11593|Beatrix Potter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg], for example [b:The Tale of Ginger and Pickles|608727|The Tale of Ginger and Pickles|Beatrix Potter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1345804904s/608727.jpg|2267121], it's got plenty of mischief and satire.
Far and away my favorite Nesbit, and probably my favorite depictions of dragons.
"The nine rubies show more were used afterwards in agriculture. You had only to throw them out into a field if you wanted it plowed. Then the whole surface land turned itself over in its anxiety to get rid of something so wicked, and in the morning the field was found to plowed as thoroughly as any young man at Oxford." show less
Yes it's old-fashioned, but free from the pretensions and stuffiness that one tends to associate with that word. Yes, it's charming, almost twee - but, like the tales of [a:Beatrix Potter|11593|Beatrix Potter|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg], for example [b:The Tale of Ginger and Pickles|608727|The Tale of Ginger and Pickles|Beatrix Potter|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1345804904s/608727.jpg|2267121], it's got plenty of mischief and satire.
Far and away my favorite Nesbit, and probably my favorite depictions of dragons.
"The nine rubies show more were used afterwards in agriculture. You had only to throw them out into a field if you wanted it plowed. Then the whole surface land turned itself over in its anxiety to get rid of something so wicked, and in the morning the field was found to plowed as thoroughly as any young man at Oxford." show less
In the midst of this. I read 5 Children and It as a child, but had no idea of the range of E. Nesbit's writing, and had never heard of this one till I picked it up at the library. So sorry I missed it until now! It's so delightful: beautiful imagery, concisely written, and very true to the fairy-tale ethos; but funny, too. And a strange combination of modern (including asides to the reader) and ancient in feel.
I looked E. Nesbit up on Wikipedia and was fascinated to find that, at the turn of the century, she married at 7 months pregnant, had an open marriage, raised the children her husband had with his lover as her own, and co-founded a precursor to the modern Labour Party. She was clearly fairly radical, socially and politically show more speaking, and this makes reading her work all the more interesting. She mentions class-based signifiers (public and private schools, in the English sense; servants and royalty, of course, in the fairy-tale mode; Eton jackets, accepted and poor behavior) quite frequently, and I often can't tell whether she intends irony or subtle instruction to come of this.
But aside from her personal life, I would totally recommend this book simply because they're wonderful tales, wonderfully told. show less
I looked E. Nesbit up on Wikipedia and was fascinated to find that, at the turn of the century, she married at 7 months pregnant, had an open marriage, raised the children her husband had with his lover as her own, and co-founded a precursor to the modern Labour Party. She was clearly fairly radical, socially and politically show more speaking, and this makes reading her work all the more interesting. She mentions class-based signifiers (public and private schools, in the English sense; servants and royalty, of course, in the fairy-tale mode; Eton jackets, accepted and poor behavior) quite frequently, and I often can't tell whether she intends irony or subtle instruction to come of this.
But aside from her personal life, I would totally recommend this book simply because they're wonderful tales, wonderfully told. show less
N'awwww! This is totally adorable, with enough variety that the preciousness never got too cloying. I love the way the narrator speaks directly to the reader, which is a nineteenth-century touch that I miss in more contemporary stuff (and no, I do not love it because of "Reader, I married him."). It comes close to the edge of twee a few times, and probably crosses over at least once -- it took me months to read this, not because of any intrinsic quality of the book but because it was never urgent for me to read the next story.
This charming collection of children’s tales all center around dragons of one ilk or another. Each story can be read as a stand alone. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and reviewing two of these stories previously and when I saw that he narrator had 8 stories in one collection, I couldn’t resist. I know it would be good stuff and I wasn’t disappointed. These stories are great for kids and fun for adults too.
The Book of Beasts – This is one of the stories I have previously listened to and reviewed. It was just as good the second time around. The child king Lionel finds a book once owned by one of his distant grandsires. Like all good kids, he plays with it and sets a giant butterfly free. He’s warned not to do so again, show more but he releases yet another fantastical critter (a bird of paradise), and then another (the dragon!), which threatens his kingdom and he must make it right again. A hippogriff and manticore come into play too! 5/5
Uncle James – This story was so cute and it was mostly because there are cute little dog-sized elephants! Who doesn’t want a pet elephant that can snuggle on your lap and eat popcorn while you watch Flight of the Dragons? This tale takes place in Rotundia where all the sizes are backwards and a dragon has shown up that wants a princess as a present. Now this isn’t your typical ‘save the princess from the dragon’ story, as young Tom found out. By the way, keep your eye on Uncle James. He may not be trustworthy! 5/5
The Deliverers of Their Country – This was my favorite out of all the stories. It starts with young Effie getting something in her eye and that something is a teensy tiny dragon! Go ahead, squeal in love and excitement. I know I did. Who doesn’t want to adopt such a little dragon? However, these small dragons keep popping up throughout the land and they are starting to wreak havoc. Now Effie and her friend Harry have to find a way to reduce the number of dragons. It’s a clever solution to an over-population problem. 6/5
The Ice Dragon – Imagine North Pole dwarves dressed in seal skin. Now toss in an ice dragon. Lastly, make room for two adventurous kids, George and Jane, who just wanted to see the Northern Lights. things go ever so wrong. This story was actually a little gruesome because it has a bit of a body count. It’s not gory but I was a little surprised at little bit of darkness that crept into this story. Still, it was clever and the kids survive, so all’s well. 5/5
The Island of the Nine Whirlpools – This was an interesting one. A childless Queen goes to an old witch begging for a child and the witch takes her jewels and uses them to whip up a baby girl. The Queen is totally satisfied but the King wanted a boy. So obviously, that makes a wedge between the couple. When the daughter reaches a certain age, he banishes her to an island that is protected by big beasties, like a dragon. Her mother, the Queen, and the witch both make sacrifices to make it possible for her to one day be rescued. I liked that the story hinged upon the love for an old crone. However, the princess to be rescued seemed rather daft to me, which I didn’t really care for. 4/5
The Fiery Dragon – This is the second story in this collection that gives a nod to St. George, a famous dragon slayer. Granddaughter Sabrinetta has got some skills on her which is a good thing because her unscrupulous cousin, Prince Tiresome, tosses her out of the dragon-proof tower to deal with the fiery dragon. Luckily she has a great friend, Elfin the pigkeeper, who can help her. That’s another thing I really like about these stories – so often there’s a ‘commoner’ that is essential to solving whatever dragon issue there is. 5/5
The Dragon Tamers – This had a little steampunky feel to it. John is a blacksmith and he and his wife have a new baby that cries often and loudly. Yet even with that intermittent noise, John has noticed an odd sound coming from the basement. He finally has to go down there for coal and he meets this dragon that needs rivets to repair his wing. The dragon isn’t shy about telling John what he plans to do once his wing is repaired: eat all the people including John and his family. Now John has to outsmart this dragon and that loud baby gets to play a key role in the subterfuge. It was clever and fun. 5/5
Kind Little Edmond – This is the second story I had the privilege to enjoy previously. This is the tale of young Edmond, who was filled to the brim with curiosity, so much so that he often irritated his elders. But not his loving and doting grandmother. Edmond decides to explore the nearby mountains and hears some very odd sounds. He meets and helps a mythical beast, a manticore, who rewards him by telling him magnificent tales. This was a great little tale and I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed this one as the tale has this underlying current about the value of learning things for oneself. 5/5
The Last of the Dragons – This great little story turns the typical princess + dragon + prince story on it’s head. Tradition requires the princess to be rescued from the dragon by a prince. However, this princess would much rather rely on her own fencing skills. The dragon isn’t too thrilled about the idea of coming out, threatening a nice young lady, and then being slain for the sake of tradition. This prince is up for doing something different. Why should he have to do all the hard work? It’s a great story to finish out the book. 5/5
I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobook Worm.
The Narration: Karen Krause does such a lovely job with this classic. Her little kid voices are so believable yet she is also great at doing grumpy elderly characters as well. Her voices for the various beasts are also fun. You can tell that she enjoyed narrating these tales as much as I enjoyed listening to them. Great performance all around! show less
The Book of Beasts – This is one of the stories I have previously listened to and reviewed. It was just as good the second time around. The child king Lionel finds a book once owned by one of his distant grandsires. Like all good kids, he plays with it and sets a giant butterfly free. He’s warned not to do so again, show more but he releases yet another fantastical critter (a bird of paradise), and then another (the dragon!), which threatens his kingdom and he must make it right again. A hippogriff and manticore come into play too! 5/5
Uncle James – This story was so cute and it was mostly because there are cute little dog-sized elephants! Who doesn’t want a pet elephant that can snuggle on your lap and eat popcorn while you watch Flight of the Dragons? This tale takes place in Rotundia where all the sizes are backwards and a dragon has shown up that wants a princess as a present. Now this isn’t your typical ‘save the princess from the dragon’ story, as young Tom found out. By the way, keep your eye on Uncle James. He may not be trustworthy! 5/5
The Deliverers of Their Country – This was my favorite out of all the stories. It starts with young Effie getting something in her eye and that something is a teensy tiny dragon! Go ahead, squeal in love and excitement. I know I did. Who doesn’t want to adopt such a little dragon? However, these small dragons keep popping up throughout the land and they are starting to wreak havoc. Now Effie and her friend Harry have to find a way to reduce the number of dragons. It’s a clever solution to an over-population problem. 6/5
The Ice Dragon – Imagine North Pole dwarves dressed in seal skin. Now toss in an ice dragon. Lastly, make room for two adventurous kids, George and Jane, who just wanted to see the Northern Lights. things go ever so wrong. This story was actually a little gruesome because it has a bit of a body count. It’s not gory but I was a little surprised at little bit of darkness that crept into this story. Still, it was clever and the kids survive, so all’s well. 5/5
The Island of the Nine Whirlpools – This was an interesting one. A childless Queen goes to an old witch begging for a child and the witch takes her jewels and uses them to whip up a baby girl. The Queen is totally satisfied but the King wanted a boy. So obviously, that makes a wedge between the couple. When the daughter reaches a certain age, he banishes her to an island that is protected by big beasties, like a dragon. Her mother, the Queen, and the witch both make sacrifices to make it possible for her to one day be rescued. I liked that the story hinged upon the love for an old crone. However, the princess to be rescued seemed rather daft to me, which I didn’t really care for. 4/5
The Fiery Dragon – This is the second story in this collection that gives a nod to St. George, a famous dragon slayer. Granddaughter Sabrinetta has got some skills on her which is a good thing because her unscrupulous cousin, Prince Tiresome, tosses her out of the dragon-proof tower to deal with the fiery dragon. Luckily she has a great friend, Elfin the pigkeeper, who can help her. That’s another thing I really like about these stories – so often there’s a ‘commoner’ that is essential to solving whatever dragon issue there is. 5/5
The Dragon Tamers – This had a little steampunky feel to it. John is a blacksmith and he and his wife have a new baby that cries often and loudly. Yet even with that intermittent noise, John has noticed an odd sound coming from the basement. He finally has to go down there for coal and he meets this dragon that needs rivets to repair his wing. The dragon isn’t shy about telling John what he plans to do once his wing is repaired: eat all the people including John and his family. Now John has to outsmart this dragon and that loud baby gets to play a key role in the subterfuge. It was clever and fun. 5/5
Kind Little Edmond – This is the second story I had the privilege to enjoy previously. This is the tale of young Edmond, who was filled to the brim with curiosity, so much so that he often irritated his elders. But not his loving and doting grandmother. Edmond decides to explore the nearby mountains and hears some very odd sounds. He meets and helps a mythical beast, a manticore, who rewards him by telling him magnificent tales. This was a great little tale and I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed this one as the tale has this underlying current about the value of learning things for oneself. 5/5
The Last of the Dragons – This great little story turns the typical princess + dragon + prince story on it’s head. Tradition requires the princess to be rescued from the dragon by a prince. However, this princess would much rather rely on her own fencing skills. The dragon isn’t too thrilled about the idea of coming out, threatening a nice young lady, and then being slain for the sake of tradition. This prince is up for doing something different. Why should he have to do all the hard work? It’s a great story to finish out the book. 5/5
I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobook Worm.
The Narration: Karen Krause does such a lovely job with this classic. Her little kid voices are so believable yet she is also great at doing grumpy elderly characters as well. Her voices for the various beasts are also fun. You can tell that she enjoyed narrating these tales as much as I enjoyed listening to them. Great performance all around! show less
As you might expect from the title, this is a collection of stories about dragons of all shapes and sizes, living in a variety of habitats and encountering a variety of humans. I liked some stories more than others; the ones I didn’t like as much contained boys proclaiming their girl companions “smart, for girls”, and the fourth-wall-breaking narration was hit-or-miss for me. Perhaps something I would have liked more as a kid.
Cute collection of fairy stories with dragons in them. Some were quite good; some had major logic fails, which bothers me even in fairy stories (if spinning round the right way changed the animals' sizes, did it also remove the bun trees? And what about everyone being good? The story said those were all related...). I'd have liked to read the ninth story that MelHay reviews, but it doesn't appear here - maybe an audiobook bonus? Mildly pleasant, and possibly worth rereading after a while. Hah, found "The Last of the Dragons" available free online. Yes, that's a nice story - and with somewhat older protagonists (many of the stories in The Book of Dragons have children under 10 as protagonists - and there's only so much sibling squabbling show more I can take). show less
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Author Information
295+ Works 31,856 Members
E. Nesbit (1858-1924) wrote her first highly successful work for children, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, in 1899. Her many books for young readers, including The Magic City, Wet Magic, The Railway Children, Five Children and It, and The Enchanted Castle, gained her a popularity that has lasted for more than a century Peter Glassman is the show more owner of Books of Wonder, the New York City bookstore and publisher specializing in both new and old imaginative books for children show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Book of Dragons
- Original publication date
- 1900
- People/Characters
- Lionel; Princess Mary Ann; Tom; Fido; Uncle James; Effie (show all 18); Harry; Saint George; George; Jane; Nigel; John the blacksmith; Johnnie; Tina; Princess Sabrinetta; Prince Tiresome; Elfinn; Edmund
- Important places
- Rotundia; The Universal Taproom; Forest Hill; North Pole; The Lone Tower
- First words
- He happened to be building a palace when the news came, and he left all the bricks kicking about the floor for Nurse to clear up - but then the news was rather remarkable news.
- Quotations
- A very good king he was, but he had his faults - he was fond of books.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But he is quite an old man now, and he hasn't got that door open yet!
- Disambiguation notice
- This contains eight dragon tales (originally published in 1899-1900). They include: "The Book of Beasts","Uncle James, or the Purple Stranger", "The Deliverers of Their Country","The Ice Dragon, or Do as You are Told", "The ... (show all)Island Of the Nine Whirlpools", "The Dragon Tamers","The Fiery Dragon, or the Heart of Stone and the Heart of Gold", "Kind Little Edmund, or the Caves and the Cockatrice". A later collection called The Complete Book of Dragons (1972) contains an extra story.
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