Saint George and the Dragon (Caldecott Medal Winner)

BEWARE: Gory illustrations and misleading title!
The illustrator must have pandered to older boys who like gore — completely inappropriate for younger children. ALSO, the title should’ve been something like “The Knight and the Dragon.” This is NOT the story of the real St. George, just some mythical knight. Want to know St. George’s real story?He was a Christian imperial guard to the Emperor Diocletian, who hated Christians. When Diocletian’s attempts to convert him failed, he “ordered George’s execution. In preparation for his death, George gave his money to the poor and was sent for several torture sessions. He was lacerated on a wheel of swords and required resuscitation three times, but still George did not turn from God. On April 23, 303 A.D., George was decapitated before Nicomedia’s outer wall. His body was sent to Lydda for burial, and other Christians went to honor George as a martyr.” Please don’t confuse people with a misleading book title!!!

Disturbing artwork and nude fairies
I was completely unprepared for the disturbing artwork in this book. While I was reading the story, my children started pointing out the naked fairies with visible breasts and a creepy witch figure who appears to be pulling up baby shaped roots (this is not even related to the storyline). Most of these are throughout the art borders and wasn’t something I noticed at first. I regret ever purchasing this book and want to post this as a warning to other parents. This book is marketed to preschool aged children through third grade and is very inappropriate.

As Close to an “Epic” as Children’s Books Get
Of the many hundreds of children’s books at his disposal, this is one of my son’s most requested. That is just as well, because it’s certainly my favorite book to read to him!Based on Edmund Spenser’s classic epic poem The Faerie Queene (Penguin Classics), this book tells the story of the Red Cross Knight and his battle against a dragon that has been terrorizing the English countryside. While there are no surprises in the plot — boy meets girl, boy travels a long way to take care of girl’s dragon problem, boy slays dragon, boy marries girl and inherits her father’s kingdom — the real fun is in the telling! Oh, and the illustrations, of course.Hyman’s depictions of people, fairies, dwarves, and landscapes are simply beautiful. Saint George and the Dragon is presented as an illuminated manuscript, with paintings surrounding the text on every page. It’s some of the best fantasy artwork I’ve seen!Hodges’ adaptation retains enough of Spenser’s writing style to be recognizable, but her prose is easily accessible for modern readers. In reading aloud, I am particularly fond of her generous use of alliteration. This gives the reader lots of opportunities to really “get into the story”… phrases like “fairy folk” and “dreadful dragon” roll off the tongue and help build the drama.There are several elements that make this much more (but no less) than a book for children. While it is obviously much shorter than Edmund Spenser’s masterpiece, Saint George and the Dragon is about as “epic” as a kids’ book can be. Long sections of narrative are interspersed with short similes reminiscent of Homer, in that they don’t necessarily seem to relate to the surrounding text. Still, they are beautiful, and manage to add a sense of depth to the tale, as if there’s a whole world to be explored in the further adventures of the Red Cross Knight.One complaint I’ve seen about this book is its length. Many parents seem to think that this is simply too wordy for young children. I couldn’t disagree more!It’s true that this book is longer than most children’s stories. It typically takes me about 10-12 minutes to read it to my kids, but my little boy — who is not yet 3 — nearly always stays entranced to the very end! A lot probably depends on how the story is read. We tend to have a lot of fun with our story time; inserting dramatic pauses in the reading, pointing out details in the artwork as things are described, using different accents and voices, etc. (Occasionally we do have to interrupt our reading to engage in a quick sword fight, but we always return to finish it!)I see this book as a tremendous opportunity to teach my children. There is a lot of value in epic poetry and fairy stories, but appreciation of this type of literature must be learned. If investing some extra time now showing my toddlers how to listen to and love a story that takes a while to tell helps prepare them for enjoyment later of things like The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) and J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings), then that will be time well spent! I want to cultivate in my kids a love of learning, of reading, and of story-telling… not to mention an attention span longer than what is typical in today’s media-saturated culture. I can’t think of a better time to start than when they are very young, and there are few books better suited to aiding me in this pursuit than Saint George and the Dragon.I hope you’ll get a copy for your kids (or for yourself!).

Pretty good
Beautiful illustrations. The story is fine. Not amazing, and a bit wordy, but not bad

Elegí este libro como posible regalo al ver su cuidadosa presentación, sobre todo en sus ilustraciones, y no me arrepiento. El premio que se ha otorgado le hace justicia.

Reading books to children is an endangered activity in our present culture. The books that publishers are still printing for children seem more and more to be competing with movies, video games and noisy toys for market share (books with flaps, buttons, touchy-feely patches, sounds, hologram pictures, and books that are just a repackaging of some still shots from the latest animated movie). Many children’s books have gone the way of most Hollywood movies, using big special effects and eye candy to make money rather than trusting to story and characters to draw in the hearts and minds of the audience. So in a world like ours at a time like this, it is refreshing to come across a story like this. This is a solid retelling of the classic tale of valiant St. George of England battling an evil dragon to save a princess and her kingdom from fear and destruction. Of course the fight is fierce (boys love that part) but George triumphs and wins the hand of the princess (girls love that part).As with all good stories, this one appeals on multiple levels. The youngest children will be captivated by the detailed and rich illustrations and artwork on every page. Kids of all ages (and their parents) will be engaged by the story and characters themselves taken at face value. This story lends itself to teaching children the virtues of courage, perseverance, self-sacrifice, generosity and keeping your word. And, as with the original tale, there is the Christian symbolism present but not overdone (no where does the author come out and connect the dots for the reader). We have a lot of good books in our home but this is one our 3, 5 and 7 year olds all regularly pull out and ask us to “read it again”.