Matthew's Dragon
by Susan Cooper
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The dragon in Matthew's picture book comes to life and takes him for an amazing nocturnal ride.Tags
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Tucked into bed one night after his mother reads him a dragon story—his favorite kind!—Matthew finds himself caught up in a magical adventure when one of the dragons from his storybook comes alive. Together he and his new dragon friend, shrunk down into tiny versions of themselves, head out into the moonlit night, fleeing and then hiding from the neighbor's cat, before taking off into the night sky for an enchanted flight with all of the dragons which populate the stories Matthew loves so well...
Author/illustrator team Susan Cooper and Jos. A. Smith, who would go on to collaborate on the 1993 Christmas picture book Danny and the Kings, first worked together in 1991, on Matthew's Dragon. The narrative is engaging, and is full of the show more kind of story elements—the nighttime adventure, when one should be in bed; the storybook character who comes alive, and steps out of his book; the magical creature who becomes a friend and playmate; the child who shrinks to a miniature size, and has dangerous experiences—that young people enjoy. Cooper weaves all these elements together into a story that feels both natural and enchanted. Her tale is complemented by Smith's artwork, which is colorful and immediate, drawing young readers into the adventure. My only critique of the tale is that the cat adversary is depicted as mean for the sake of it—a true villain—which does not accord with my own views. But leaving that one element aside, I did enjoy this picture book, and would recommend it to young dragon lovers who dream of encountering their own draconite adventure. show less
Author/illustrator team Susan Cooper and Jos. A. Smith, who would go on to collaborate on the 1993 Christmas picture book Danny and the Kings, first worked together in 1991, on Matthew's Dragon. The narrative is engaging, and is full of the show more kind of story elements—the nighttime adventure, when one should be in bed; the storybook character who comes alive, and steps out of his book; the magical creature who becomes a friend and playmate; the child who shrinks to a miniature size, and has dangerous experiences—that young people enjoy. Cooper weaves all these elements together into a story that feels both natural and enchanted. Her tale is complemented by Smith's artwork, which is colorful and immediate, drawing young readers into the adventure. My only critique of the tale is that the cat adversary is depicted as mean for the sake of it—a true villain—which does not accord with my own views. But leaving that one element aside, I did enjoy this picture book, and would recommend it to young dragon lovers who dream of encountering their own draconite adventure. show less
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Susan Cooper was born in Buckinghamshire, England in May of 1935. She attended Slough Grammar School, and then went on to Somerville College and Oxford. She was the first woman to ever edit the University Magazine, the Cherwell. She graduated from Oxford with an MA in English and went to work for London's The Sunday Times as a reporter on the show more Atticus Column for Ian Flemming. She evenutally made it to features writer, during which time she wrote her first book, "Mandrake," a science fiction story for adults. Soon after the publication of "Mandrake," Cooper wrote the children's story "Over Sea, Under Stone" for a publishing house competition. It would later become the first of a five book series she would become famous for. She left England in 1963 to marry an American professor. Once there, she wrote two more books for adults, "Behind the Golden Gate" a study of America, and "Portrait of an Author" the biography of J. B. Priestley. In 1970, Cooper published "Dawn of Fear" an almost entirely autobiographical book about growing up as a child during the war. Even though Cooper wrote "Over Sea, Under Stone" as a entry for a publishing house competittion, she did not know at the time that it would be the first of her most famous copilation, "The Dark is Rising Series." In 1973 she wrote the second in the five book series, entitled "The Dark is Rising," published more than ten years after the first. In1974, Cooper published Greenwitch, book three, and book four, "The Grey King" a year later. "The Grey King" won the Newberry Medal in 1976. "Silver on the Tree" was the fifth and last book published, completing the series in 1977. After completing the "Dark is Rising" series, Cooper turned to writing for the theater, learning the style from Urjo Kareda at Tarragon Theatres in Toronto. She wrote for Jack Langstaff's "Revels." Her first major play was called "Foxfire," which was written in coolaboration with Hume Cronyn. The play eventually went to Broadway in 1983 and starred Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, who won a Tony for her performance. Cooper then began working on "Seaward," but was interrupted by Jane Fonda, who wanted her to write the screenplay for Harriet Arnow's "The Dollmaker." She wrote the adaptation with Cronyn and won a Humanitas Award for it, while Jane Fonda won the Best Actress Emmy for her role. Cooper also got an Emmy nomination for her adaptation of "Foxfire" for television. "To Dance with the White Dog," a made for tv movie, was the last collaboration of Cooper, Cronyn and Tandy, Tandy having died in '94. IN the '80's and '90's, Cooper wrote the text for many children's picture books such as, "Jethro and the Jumbie" and "Danny and the Kings." 1993 marked her return to the Children's Book List with "The Boggart" and int's follow up "The Boggart and the Monster" in 1997. In 1996, Cooper published a collection of essays on children's literature entitled, "Dreams and Wishes." Over the course of her career, Cooper has written for newspapers, books for children and adults, screen[plays for television and cinema, and a Broadwat play. Today, she lectures on children's literture and continues to write. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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