Price: £6.99
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 8-10 Junior/Middle
Length: 224pp
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Wizarding for Beginners
This is a monochrome cartoon/text story which grew on me as I read it. It is the second instalment of a series starring Dave the dragon knight-the first we heard of him was in Knighthood for Beginners. Dave, as he says himself, is a ‘moderate risk dragon’.
The story is a romping yarn about an evil wizard who casts spells on animals enabling them to talk. He then collects them for evil purposes and Dave the dragon knight has to try and stop him. Dave has a side kick called Albrecht who is a goat with a very long beard – he is rather pleased with it and himself in general.
The writing is humorous but you have to be a fairly astute reader to keep pace with the quick fire language; there are many plays on words and lots to enjoy if you have a good general knowledge as well.
The mix of text, illustrations and then some cartoons with speech bubbles makes for a varied read and give the book lots of energy. It is a romping tale – full of silliness and reveals the power of, would you believe it, porridge. You’ll have to read it to find out how!