Merlin and the Dragons

by Jane Yolen

Book Overview

Young King Arthur, troubled by nightmares, doubts he is the rightful king of England. One rainy night, the wizard Merlin tells Arthur the story of dueling dragons and a fateful clash between good and evil, which reveals the surprising secret of the boy king's true legacy. Li Ming's arresting oil paintings breathe fire into this magical offering from Jane Yolen."The legend comes alive on a grand scale, the dramatic narrative and well-wrought dialogue...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140558918
• ISBN13: 9780140558913
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 11.6" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

How Arthur Learned About his Father

The King Arthur legend is a treasure trove of children's stories. The worst way to approach the legend is to try to tell the whole story in one book. The legend is just too rich with detail for this approach to work. It is better to select individual stories and rework them for children. This is the approach Jane Yolen uses in "Merlin and the Dragon". The story takes place soon after Arthur has pulled the sword out of the stone and centers on how Merlin revealed to Arthur that he is the son of Uther Pendragon. The book is well written and beautifully illustrated and is a pleasure for both adults and children. Highly recommended.

Great intro to the world of King Arthur

This picture book by Jane Yolen is an excellent introduction to the world of King Arthur. The story is shared by Merlin to a young Arthur whose sleep has been disturbed by dreams. The pictures are excellent and the story is well written.

Must Read

It is about a boy named Emrys. He lives in a small village. One day a cruel and ruthless king named Vortigern wanted to build a watchtower in the village. He told the men to work as slaves to build the tower. When they had finished building the tower it fell! So they built it again and it fell again. What they needed was Emrys's blood. When the guards had found the right child Emrys told them that you needed to kill two dragons. They dug a hole where the dragons lived. I don't want to tell you what happens next. You'll have to read the fantastic book Merlin and the Dragons. What I liked about the book is that it had a lot of verbs, adjectives, and nouns. What I liked about the illustrations was that they had a lot of detail. I liked the characters because they were greatly drawn and they were very cool. It was a great book and I really enjoyed it. I would compare this book to MERLIN. What ages I would recommend are 6 and up it is also a great read aloud book. The moral of the book is even if you are different you can make a change.

Merlin and the Dragons

This book you are about to read,will have knights ,dragons,merlin,and kings. this bookis called Merlin adn the Dragons. It is a fantasy book that is made up. The authoris Jane Yolen. It is also illstrated by Li Ming. It has thirtyfour pages in it. The setting in my book is back in king Aurthers time in a whole bunch of places where there were two dragons eggs and everytime they breath in and out the tower would fall and crumblb to the growned. The story is about dragons and knights, kings and one merlin.They take this kid with them one day at a time and the kid with them for one day and he gets to choose what he wants to be. I can give you three reasons why I like this book.One it has the stuff that I like.Two is about stuff that my mom likes and threae itha merlins and dragons in it. I think that peole should read this book because ithas lots of cool pictures. But this is the most important thing is it has cool stuff like the dragons and knights.

A fanstastically illustrated Arthurian book for children,

who will be enchanted by the story of the young Merlin. This is the tale of the boy (Merlin) and his confrontation of Vortigern. The tyrant needs a boy 'without a father', whose blood must keep Vortigern's crumbling tower upright. But Merlin has a dream that foretells of a battle between a red and a white dragon. On his instruction, a lake beneath the tower is drained, and two eggs are found. A red and a white dragon burst forth..they fight.. Spellbinding! Jane Yolen is a renowned writer, and this great book is illustrated beutifully by Li Ming.