Serpents of Sky:Nine Stories of Dragons

Written by Heidi C. Vlach

The author takes her fascination with dragons to new heights in this well-written diverse collection of stories. Most cultures living in our world have imagined dragons in some form, whether they be god-like, monsters, guardians or sinister fantasy apparitions. Vlach portrays dragons in all these modes using well-developed characters in diverse plot lines. The tales are of varying length; some of them are included in other works. This collection is a treat for any lover of dragon stories or fantasy in general. Readers age ten and above will find them enjoyable.

I write about a few of my favorites to provide a flavor of the collection. “With Less Lament” introduces the reader to an elderly lady named Eloise working in her garden mindful that there is a dragon advisory. She nervously glances at the sky while humming a song. Little need to worry, “The dragon was as inevitable as rain, or taxes.” A hummingbird suddenly pauses in front of her, just as the wind picks up and the sky turns ominously black. Eloise shuffles toward the basement as the dragon strikes. Will she survive the attack? In the story “Cardiology,” a young genetic engineer named Theodore has been studying biotechnology in his lab where he has created an army of twelve dragon specimens. They are about to embark on a campaign to infect the human race with a deadly virus. The story, “Another Odyssey” moves in a different direction. At the outset me meet a dragon who is personified living in a human house, feeling hunger, and grocery shopping. Her human neighbors complain because she growls too loudly. This dragon becomes upset with her human lifestyle and sets out on another course. My last example is one of the stories of the Aligare, in which three peoples who are not human live peacefully together with no racial strife or war. They reward the reader by sharing their legends of shared wisdom. As they go through their lives, each of them must face challenges and obstacles. In “Korvi’s Limbs,” the god of fire named Fyrian explains how the korvi evolved from simple lizards to dragons of the sky. Fyrian gave them a set of challenges. As the korvi met each task, they were rewarded with arms, legs and wings.

As you can see the short stories are a mixture of science fiction, legend, fantasy and adventure. Just the book to curl up with for an hour or two on a stormy afternoon!

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LOTS AND LOTS (RHYMING CHILDREN BEDTIME STORIES)

Written by Peter Collier

What a refreshing collection of amusing short stories written in rhyme! This collection is very different from the typical bedtime fairytale or animal story. I especially like the fact that the featured character is a very bright little girl named Frances Nicolson, who just can’t stop asking questions. She inquiries about common everyday activities like baking a cake without a recipe and using the wrong kind of pebble as a skipping stone. Frances questions her neighbor about the funny words he uses like, “Hunky Dory” and “old curmudgeon.” She refuses to believe in tales like the Loch Ness Monster because they can’t be proven. Her imagination is unlimited: Frances uses her own backyard to go on an African safari, have tea with kings and queens, and climb the world’s highest mountain.

Frances’ curiosity is insatiable. Some of her questions include:

Do you have any bellybuttons?
If chickens are boneless, how could they walk?
What’s the difference between hunks and chunks?

When the circus came to town, Frances had all sorts of questions for the clowns like what is the reason for their baggy pants and why don’t they get dizzy from standing upside down all the time. Frances has a friend named Susan Jane who has a habit of exaggerating the truth. That exasperates Frances because she just has to have the right answer! There is only one time when Frances is quiet. Can you guess when?

The bottom line of this enticing book is that you cannot learn without asking questions. That might be annoying to parents and teachers, at times, but it is the way all children enrich their minds. Collier is to be commended for a clever story line and a character who represents a wonderful role model for children.

MONSTER MELANGE

Monsters I Know (Rhyming Bedtime Stories

Written and illustrated by Peter Collier

This book would make a delightful Halloween read. The types of monsters are unorthodox and most of them are not very scary! First, the reader encounters The Big Foote Belly Button Lint monster. He lives at the feet of Thomas Mcfee’s bed. It began as some belly button lint and grows bigger every day eating only colored string. There is a Hungry Tree who walks about eating farm animals, the Smelly Kiss, Smelly Sam stomach gasses monster, a Spaghetti Dinner Monster, and the Dead End Rubbish monster.

Perhaps the scariest is the cursed School Chair monster.
The author describes it as,

“One moment you’re there
and the next you’ll be gone;”

The Jones family certainly lived to regret not getting rid of The Fridge. I won’t give away its secrets except to say,

“No one goes near it anymore:
Never will anyone open its door;
All it does now is snarl and snore.”

Children age six and up will love the absurdity and the silliness in these rhymes, although some of the vocabulary will not be understood by younger readers This kind of slapstick humor is especially appealing to middle grade boys. Although the concepts are clever, the rhymes are sometimes a bit forced. There are some issues with punctuation and line placement. In this kindle version, the illustrations are very small. Larger pictures would have added a lot more to the desired effect of the tales. On the other hand, if you are looking for a very different and funny Halloween book of short tales, this one will surely fit the bill.

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Bleagh: A book about values

Written by Leana Lyn Doray

Illustrated by Little Pink Pebble

This book uses a unique approach to teach life lessons to children by engaging a monster creature named Bleagh (pronounced Bleh). Doray prefaces the book by giving the three definitions of bleagh: 1) the name of a friendly monster who wants to make new friends, 2) the sound children make when they smell something unpleasant, and 3) the sound that a friendly monster makes. At the beginning of the story, the reader meets Bleagh, a friendly but ugly homesick monster who has just arrived at school for the first time. Bleagh misses his other monster friends and does not understand the language or the customs of these children who appear terrified of him. Their teacher, Ms. Lyn explains that the creature is not mean but afraid so they should show EMPATHY for him. They do make an effort to do just that, but Bleagh terrifies them with the sounds he makes. She encourages the children to show TOLERANCE,  but that is very difficult to do when the creature opens stinky garbage to eat for his lunch. Some of the children get the brilliant idea to give him a pile of stinky socks to eat. The classroom practices COOPERATION when they all must assume different roles in a class project. There are team leaders, presenters, timekeepers and illustrators. When the time comes for the students to examine all their work hung on the walls, Bleagh says that one of them, “looks like a baboon’s backside.” He has the children in tears. Ms. Lyn says, “You never truly see something till you see beauty.” After a few moments, Bleagh steps back and notices new colors and patterns, exclaiming, “It’s fantastic.” They all break out in applause. Near the end of the day, Ms. Lyn reminds them that it is time to vote for the Star Student of the day. Bleagh wants to vote for himself, but decides that would be cheating. So he displays INTEGRITY and votes for Ming instead. There is a surprise ending that all readers will enjoy.

In addition to the four highlighted virtues embedded in the story, there are spellbinding illustrations of monsters, exotic plants, art work, and the classroom in which the children work. Little Pink Pebble has done an amazing job of portraying the story line and moods of the characters. The drawings display multicultural children in beautiful colors and exotic settings. Furthermore, the lessons it promotes have universal appeal and relevance. I highly recommend this book to parents and teachers of children age seven and up.

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