Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Book review - Knighthood for Beginners

Title: Knighthood for Beginners
Author: Elys Dolan
Genre: Humor/fantasy
Similar books: Julius Zebra series by Gary Northfield
                      The Jolley Rogers series Rating: 
silly fun

Summary (provided by publisher): Meet Dave (a dragon who wants to become a knight) and his trusty steed (a German-speaking, worldly goat named Albrecht) in this illustrated, laugh-out-loud chapter book.
Dave is terrible at all the things dragons are supposed to be good at: hoarding gold, eating villages, telling riddles...and don’t even ask about his knitting skills. So when he becomes the first dragon ever to fail the Dragon Test, he finds a book called Knighthood for Beginners and decides he’s found his destiny! Before long, Dave is decked out in a new suit of armor and is off on a series of adventures with his trusty steed—a German-speaking, life coach, explorer, and goat named Albrecht. The ultimate goal? Dave the dragon being knighted by the King of Castletown.


My opinion: This novel has the perfect humor construction for young readers: characters are oblivious to facts that will be obvious to the reader. Knights who are fooled by a mustache on a dragon. A king who doesn't recognize that a goat is not a person. That kind of thing. It will likely have young readers in giggles, and might just elicit a chuckle or two from parents. Even better, very little of the humor resorts to the gross out factor. It's not especially complicated but remains fairly innocent and has an underlying message of acceptance.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

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