The Book of Dragons

If you already enjoy Nesbit's writing, you'll enjoy this wonderful collection of short stories. Each one has it's own dragon, playing both large and small roles in the stories, along with princesses and heroes and strange creatures and unbelieveable delightful things. I loved the boy who saved the town eaten whole by a dragon, and yet never believed by anyone despite his efforts, and the dragon cured by bread and milk, and the boy who saved the princess with love and arithmetic on their side. I'll enjoy re-reading with my children!

Nesbit's wonderful prose appears here in a series of short stories involving dragons. Delightful and imaginative, they can be enjoyed by young and old alike. This is an inexpensive edition that does include small black and white illustrations. The book arrived with a damaged cover and warped pages. I intended it as a gift for a niece so I am quite disappointed. At least it cost very little. If you are considering this book you should probably get one of the other available editions.

This is a collection of charming and humorous short stories, written for children but great for adults. They’re old stories, but still hold up well. The old style of talking directly to the reader is pleasant here, and the imagination and creativity are great. Sometimes the humor borders on silly, but mostly it’s really well done. I also wish a few of the problems had slightly more believable solutions. Nevertheless, I really liked this, and already have more of Nesbit’s books waiting on my e-reader. This version doesn't have the illustrations some other versions apparently have. I would love to see them.

This is a pleasant book of stories intended for children in 19th century England, but I'm 64 years old and I quite enjoyed it. I think children would still enjoy it, too, especially if an adult read it with them who could explain some of the "ancient history." As with most children's books, it has a strong moralizing component, but E. Nesbit makes a delightful game out of that aspect. Recommended for light entertainment.

I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised over and over and over. And over. This collection of short stories was fun, the motivations of the children in each story well designed and believable, and each story emphasized choices being made and the consequences of their actions. The children are not a bunch of goody-goodies, sneaking off at night to the North Pole and such, but they learn moral lessons along the way. Even though it's called the Book of Dragons and they do appear in each story, it's less about the dragons and more about the children. And the dragons really aren't all that frightening, so these would be great bedtime stories. I very highly recommend the Book of Dragons and will likely reread the collection myself.

I am so glad I discovered this little book. The stories are short enough to read in a matter of minutes so it would make a delightful bedtime book or anytime you wanted to share some special time with your child or grand child. She uses lots of fun imagery that makes the dragons very "real". I have the kindle version which has no pictures and still enjoy it but I imagine the pictures would make it even more special. OR you can be creative and draw your own.

This book is basically all (or at least most) of E. Nesbit's dragon stories. Personally E. Nesbit is on of my favorite authors, and she has been ever since I was a little kid. She writes her stories as if she was a kid- Although she points out that she is an adult in many of the stories. Great for both adults and young children. I recommend this to everyone who has an excellent imagination!

Our 10, 7 & 4 year old LOVED this book but do be aware that even though the illustrations are listed at the front of this Kindle edition there are actually none to be found! Or at least not in my copy! 8 different tales of dragons with princesses, boys and girls etc. The stories included are as follows: The Book of Beasts - Lionel becomes king at a young age and opens up a book belonging to his grandfather out of which flies a butterfly, a blue bird of Paradise and a red dragon. Uncle James, or the Purple Stranger - Princess Mary Ann and Tom live on Rotundia where the animals are all the wrong sizes. Animals, like elephants, that we think should be large are small and animals that are normally small, like mice, are large on Rotundia. The Deliverers of their Country - Effie gets something in her eye, only to discover it is a tiny dragon! More dragons start appearing everywhere. How to get rid of them? The Ice Dragon, or do as you are Told - George and Jane disobey their parents by going out of their garden one evening and taking the "road" from London to the North Pole where they encounter the Ice Dragon and the Sealskin Dwarfs. The Island of the Nine Whirlpools - story of a princess stranded on an island with a dragon and a griffin because the king was very cross with his wife for not specifying that she wanted a son! Nigel, a sailor boy watches the whirlpools and notices that for 5 minutes every day they are still. Once on the island he then has to do his sums to figure out exactly when that time will coincide with the dragon being asleep for 3 minutes. The Dragon Tamers - John (a blacksmith), his wife and baby are humble people. How can they tame the dragon that appears? The Fiery Dragon or the Heart of Stone and the Heart of Gold - Story of Sabrinetta, a princess and Elfin, the owner of 75 pigs. Kind Little Edmund, or the Caves and the Cockatrice - Edmund is a very curious little boy & so wants to discover the source of the rumblings he hears. No one believes his "stories" ever so he is often caned by the headmaster. (Please remember this book was written back when discipline in schools by caning was the norm.) This is a keeper for our library. A wonderful classic, well written, imaginative book! I would have given this book 5 stars if the illustrations were included as they are really good.

I didn't know Edith Nesbit's work until very recently and oh my, I was missing on an incredible author! Her stories are enchanting and fantastic, so clever! I'd love to have found her as a child, but even at 30, I was amazed by her narrative. If you enjoy classics and fantasy, read this author and this book!

I read this book as I thought it would tell me about the dragons but it contains some incredibe stories that no one has ever read. After reading it I even brought the orignal copy of this very book. I love it.

Great book for parents wanting short, informative stories to read to younger children. This book contains several fun, short stories that would be perfect for boys and girls up to 10. I'm in my teens and I bought this out of curiosity, I really loved some of the stories and I will definitely read again! With several mentions of draklings (baby dragons), princess, evil princes, stolen kingdoms and lots of different dragons, this book is great for both boys and girls!

Very dated in terms of how girls and boys are written for, differently for each gender. I liked the stories but wouldn't rave about the book.

Me encanta todo cuanto escribió E Nesbit , sigue siendo la escritora de libros infantiles preferida por muchos he intentado encontrar sus libros en Español para mis nietos, pero sin éxito . Mientras tanto voy recabando copias de sus libros en Inglés . Esta es una colección de cuentos bonitos y divertidos , personalmente prefiero sus libros (the House of Arden , The Railway Children etc ) pero serviría de introducción a su obra para lectores no- ingleses.