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    Kenny & the Dragon
    Kenny & the Dragon
    Kenny & the Dragon
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    Kenny & the Dragon

    By Tony DiTerlizzi

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Now in paperback, the New York Times bestselling tale of chivalry and showmanship from Tony DiTerlizzi.

    Kenny is a little rabbit with a very big problem. His two best friends are heading into a battle of legendary proportions—with each other! In one corner there’s Grahame, a well-read and cultured dragon with sophisticated tastes. In the other there’s George, a retired knight and dragon slayer who would be content to spend the rest of his days in his bookshop. Neither really wants to fight, but the village townsfolk are set on removing Grahame from their midst and calling George out of retirement. Can Kenny avert disaster?

    Tony DiTerlizzi puts a fun-filled, thoroughly theatrical spin on Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale of subterfuge and showmanship with this lighthearted romp of a retelling.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateDec 7, 2010
    ISBN9781442428867
    Author

    Tony DiTerlizzi

    #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi has been creating children’s books for over twenty years. From fanciful picture books like The Spider & the Fly to chapter book series like the Search for WondLa, DiTerlizzi imbues his stories with a rich imagination. With Holly Black, he created the middle grade series the Spiderwick Chronicles, which has sold 20 million copies, been adapted into a feature film, and been translated in over thirty countries. The Norman Rockwell Museum’s exhibition “Never Abandon Imagination” featured artwork from the beginning of DiTerlizzi’s career as a contributing artist for Dungeons & Dragons and broke attendance records. He has been featured in Time magazine and USA TODAY and on CNN, PBS, NPR, the BBC, and the Today show.

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    Reviews for Kenny & the Dragon

    4.5/5

    24 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Helen got me the Spiderwick Chronicles for Christmas a few years ago and I read all five of them in two days. They are very short so it really wasn't that much of a feat, but I loved them. My favorite parts were the illustrations. That was my first introduction to the work of Tony DiTerlizzi, who is absolutely brilliant! After that, I quickly found his blog and started stalking reading him all the time. Along the way, I learned that he was putting out a new book, Kenny and the Dragon, based on the story The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame.I completely associated with Kenny, who would rather have his head stuck in a book than socialize with classmates, and I know I would be just as excited if my father came in and told me there was a dragon living on our hillside. And Grahame, the dragon, is so debonair - so very civilized! Over the course of the book, they will need to convince the townsfolk that Grahame isn't a threat to anyone and stop the King's champion from trying to slay the him. The illustrations in this book are wonderful! DiTerlizzi captures a mixture of determination and wistfulness in Kenny that is almost heart breaking to anyone who has known the pain of being slightly outside the group. There is an intelligence and humor in Grahame that transcends the page. You really want a dragon of your own by the time you are done! This is a great book to enjoy on your own or read aloud to your kids. And unlike many chapter books, there are illustrations scattered throughout the text. (Don't you hate it when authors decide that just because you're old enough to read longer periods of text, you no longer want pictures?)
    • 4/5
      A charming homage to Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon" is engagingly written and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, and if young readers are led to Grahame's classic tale, more's the better!

      Young Kenny's family plays host to a dragon named Grahame, who'd rather read, play chess, and eat creme brulee than have a go-round with any old knight, but that's just what is going to have to happen if Kenny can't figure out a way to avert the crisis. Chancing his friendship with bookseller George, who's been called out of retirement as a dragonslayer by the king himself, Kenny sorts out a clever plan to satisfy the townspeople and the king.

      Cute, cute, cute!
    • 4/5
      Loved the fact that several of the characters were "cast" against stereotypes (peaceful dragons, brave rabbits, etc.)Overall, this was a fun, light-hearted book that my kids and I had a lot of fun with. Definitely worth checking out if you like animal fantasies.
    • 4/5
      What do you do when your new best buddy has been designated a scourge by the community and marked for imminent extermination? Just ask Kenny Rabbit. When the simple folks in the sleepy little village of Roundbrook catch wind that there's a dragon running loose in the countryside, they get the wrong idea and the stage is set for a fight to the death. So it's up to Kenny to give his neighbors front-row seats to one of the best-known battles in history--the legendary showdown between St. George and the dragon--without losing a friend in the fray.--Book flap blurb.This book was...well, bland, I guess, is the word I'm looking for. Even though it was short (150 small pages with big kid-friendly print and full- and half-page pictures), it took me a while to get through it. It wasn't hard to read -- it was just that it didn't really keep me interested enough to pick it up at every spare moment.The writing was lack-luster, the story was predictable, and I expected the dragon to be a lot more interesting. Obviously, if he's friends with a rabbit he's not a vicious kind of dragon, but his personality here was almost cliche. He's a proper, well-mannered, bookish critter. It just feels like that's been done before and better.It was still an enjoyable book and probably would be good to read to the kiddies, if that's your thing. It's not scary and it was actually a little lacking in suspense as well. It just wasn't my thing. When I read a kids' book, I like 'em to be a bit weirder and more interesting than this. This was just...meh. Most kids would probably like it, but it just didn't cut it for me.
    • 5/5
      Cute story about a rabbit named Kenny and the friend he makes - Grahame, a dragon.
    • 4/5
      The artwork is just as entertaining as the story.
    • 3/5
      “Kenny and the Dragon” is a touching tale of friendship that draws inventively from the classic story of St. George and the dragon. Kenny Rabbit is a protagonist you can't help but root for, and the illustrations in this book are simply adorable. While the prose in “Kenny and the Dragon” is a little cumbersome at times, it is not enough to detract from the charm of the tale, and the lessons taught are an effortless part of the story. This book is great for middle school students or EL (English Learners) high school students.
    • 4/5
      Absolutely delightful book for young and old. Kenny Rabbit finds out a Dragon is living on his property and sets out to investigate. Grahame (with an e) the Dragon turns out to be a friendly, book reading fellow who loves desserts.Kenny must find a way to save Grahame when the townspeople become afraid and ask the King to send someone to slay the Dragon.A very magical story that is heart warming and carries the message that almost every problem can be worked out.This book was purchased for my grandson...but I also enjoyed this book and recommend it for every child's library.
    • 4/5
      What a sweet, fun and heartwarming story of friendship, courage and creativity. Makes me want a dragon friend!
    • 5/5
      There are dozens of books about kids making new friends and looking past outward appearances, but this one takes the cake. A bookish rabbit named Kenny meets a dragon named Grahame and the two become fast friends. Things get complicated when Kenny’s only other friend, George the local bookseller, is hired by the king to slay the dragon. The short book is packed with great life lessons: finding nonviolent solutions to your problems, respecting your parents, talking out your problems with others, not judging people before you get to know them, etc. The lovely illustrations and sweet story made this one an absolute delight. I particularly loved Kenny’s parents and their development. It’s been added to my permanent collection of kids’ books.  
    • 4/5
      Very cute story about the friendship between a young rabbit and a dragon.I listened to the audio version and loved the narration by Alan Cumming. He is such a talented performer that it was almost like listening to a full-cast audio!
    • 5/5
      Cute story. Fast read.
    • 3/5
      When young Kenny Rabbit finds a dragon hanging out on the hill behind his house, he's afraid at first. But once he gets to know Grahame, he realizes that he's found a kindred spirit and a best friend. When townspeople discover the dragon and insist on destroying it, Kenny has to figure out a way to save his new friend without hurting any of the townspeople. Gorgeous illustrations improve an uneven story. I liked the writing for the most part, but Kenny's voice and the tone of the book seemed to be a strange mixture of old-fashioned classic (a la The Wind in the Willows) and more modern lingo.
    • 5/5
      The Reluctant Dragon was wonderful and this depiction is no exception. This is a must read for booklovers and those who aren't. All individuals deserve to be treated fairly and without judgement. The world could be a better place if we did this.
    • 4/5
      A delightful story with really splendid illustrations on the perils of taking the world at face value.

    Book preview

    Kenny & the Dragon - Tony DiTerlizzi

    Cover: Kenny & the Dragon, by Tony DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi

    For my little girl, SOPHIA. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.

    Before I Forget . . .

    Many years ago . . . Hold on, I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking a book about a dragon should start with Once upon a time. But this one doesn’t, because frankly, I don’t really know what Once upon a time means. Now, I was once upon a horse, and that was fun. Also, I was once upon a knight galloping on his horse, but that’s another story altogether.

    So instead, let me start our tale with this:

    Once upon a farm, in a town just west from yours, and on a Wednesday many years ago, a rabbit farmer, his wife, and their son, Kenneth, were preparing to sit down to supper.

    Now, Kenneth seems a little formal for a boy’s name, doesn’t it? No kid would say Kenneth, can I borrow a pencil? No, they’d say Ken or Kenny, can I borrow a pencil? And no doubt our Kenny would not even notice when they swiped it from his school desk, for you see, Kenny always had his head buried in a book.

    And he loved to read all sorts of subjects: science, mysteries, histories, and even fairy tales. In fact, fairy tales and natural history were his two favorite topics, and as far as Kenny was concerned, both held the same merit in the real world.

    So it is not surprising that he enjoyed going to school. He always asked compelling questions, always did his homework (complete with footnotes and a bibliography), and always had fantastic notions about what he wanted to do when he grew up.

    One day he’d want to be an astronaut and meet extraterrestrials from a distant planet. The next he’d decide on a jungle explorer looking for living dinosaurs, or he’d build a submersible that could go deep in the ocean to find lost underwater cities. Each day it was something new.

    That kid has such an imagination, his English teacher would say.

    His identification of local flora and fauna is quite impressive, his science teacher would say.

    Kenny Rabbit? He’s kinda out there, his classmates would say.

    And to a certain degree, they were right. You see, like them, Kenny grew up on a farm, and both his mother and father were farmers. They came from generations of farmers who grew vegetables and raised livestock. So his parents, like most of his neighbors, really didn’t have time to read books—they were just too busy tending the farm.

    You can’t harvest corn with a book, his mom would say.

    No booky book’s gonna bring the sheep in at sundown, his dad would say.

    Regardless of what they thought, though, his parents did their very best to support Kenny in all that he did, right down to listening to his lengthy theories on this and that over dinner.

    You see, Kenny would tell them, it’s going to rain because cold air and warm air collide in the upper atmosphere. This creates thunder, and it causes the moisture within the cumulus clouds to fall.

    I thought it was going to rain because the cows are layin’ down, his dad would reply.

    And most folks in town would have agreed with Kenny’s dad.

    Hold on a second . . . what was the name of that town? I can’t believe I’ve forgotten. It was near water, if I recall correctly.

    Dunhill? No, that’s in the northern province . . . .

    Meadow Falls? That’s not it either; but it was a stream or a river . . . .

    Roundbrook? Yes, that’s it! The town was sort of roundish in layout, with a brook running through the middle of it. (Goodness, I can’t believe I’d almost forgotten—not something a fellow in my position should allow.)

    All right, then, so in the little farming town of Roundbrook, Kenny lived with his parents, went to school, did his chores on the farm, and filled the rest of his time reading, which is precisely where we find him at the beginning of our tale.

    I. That Devil Scourge

    KENNY’S FATHER BURST INTO THE kitchen, panting heavily. His ears twitched. It was suppertime, and Kenny’s mom was making her family’s favorite, corn chowder. The soup’s heavy aroma swirled about as the farmer moved through the room.

    Pack all yer things! We’re outta here! We’re moving! Kenny’s dad hollered. He was a scraggly, hairy fellow wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and he was trying to catch his breath, as if he’d been running.

    Moving? Not now, mister, Kenny’s mom replied. The corn’s not boiling yet, the broth isn’t quite right, and I still have to sew the patches on Kenneth’s trousers for school tomorrow.

    Kenny’s dad paused, walked to the stove, dipped a finger in the pot, and agreed it still wasn’t quite right.

    Get your dirty paws out of my chowder! Wash your hands, have some milk, and tell me what’s got you so riled up. She ground a little pepper into her broth. Unlike Kenny’s father, she was soft, round, huggable, and seemed to always be adorned in an apron with a spoon in hand.

    Kenny’s dad did as he was told. Then he stroked his ears and started:

    This afternoon my eyes saw something I wish they’d never seen. I went to shepherd home the flock up on top of Shepard’s Hill, where they had been a-grazin’ all day. As soon as I get up there, I sees the sheep all huddled and quiet on the far side of the hilltop, and I think to meself, what in the world has got ’em so spooked? So I wander over to the other side of the hill, you know where them rocks and boulders are?

    Mm-hmm. Here, taste this. Better?

    Yes, much better. So I—

    Hold on, dear. Kenneth! Get out here and set the table.

    The wooden floorboards creaked as Kenny shuffled into the kitchen, his head buried in his book. He was reading a story about a giant, written by a man named Oscar. Without looking up, the small, skinny lad opened the cupboard and grabbed plates to place on the table.

    Not plates—bowls, Kenneth. I told you earlier we’re having corn chowder tonight. Get your head out of the clouds, put the book down for a minute, and set the table properly. His mom snatched the book out of his paws and set it on the counter.

    The wooden counter was dinged, scratched, and stained from years of use. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling, right above where Kenny’s mom was cooking. She reached over and opened one of the numerous round windows to allow the cool country air into the kitchen.

    Don’t you want to hear the rest of my story? Kenny’s dad whimpered through his milk mustache.

    Of course, dear. Of course. What did you find in the rocks? his mom said as she tasted the soup.

    "So there I am, climbin’ up on them

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