Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Dragon Slippers
Picture Book Series
For ages 3 to 6
Bloomsbury, 2007 ISBN: 1599902753
After the death of their parents, Creel and her brother go to live with their aunt and uncle. Unfortunately, times have been very hard and now Creel’s aunt has decided that the only thing to do is to “give” Creel to the local dragon. The hope is that a “brave adventuring knight” will save Creel just in time, and that he will then take Creel and her family to live in his castle or manor house.
Creel is not the type of girl to leave things to chance. Instead, she makes a deal with the dragon. She will get the lord’s son (who is on his way to rescue her) to leave the dragon alone. In return, the dragon will give her something from his hoard, and then he will let her go. The dragon agrees to this proposal. He is far too old to deal with an armor-clad lord’s son, and he certainly has no interest in having a girl around his cave.
To her dismay, Creel finds out that this dragon does not hoard gold and jewels. Instead, he hoards shoes. Still, a decent pair of shoes will be a huge improvement on what she has now. Creel choose a pair of blue slippers, and then she set off to get the lord’s son to go back home. This is surprisingly easy to do, and Creel is soon free to begin her journey to the king’s city, where she hopes to find a job doing embroidery work.
The journey to the city is a long one. It is also dangerous. Creel is attacked by bandits, and then she is rescued by another dragon. This dragon, Shardas, is a gentle soul who helps Creel, and who soon becomes her friend. Little does Creel know that dragons are going to become a permanent fixture in her life.
In this delightful book, Jessica Day George gives her readers a story that is packed with adventure, magic, dragon lore, and a generous helping of humor. Creel is not your typical girl hero, and readers will have to stay on their toes to keep up with her antics and misadventures.
