A review by mehsi
Zog by Julia Donaldson
4.0
"Zog, the biggest dragon, was the keenest one by far.
He tried his hardest every day to win a golden star."
I was at first very much enthusiastic about this, a book about dragons? An accident prone one even? Oh my, yes, sign me up. But then I noticed the sticker. This was by the same person who made The Gruffalo? Mmmm, I didn't like that book. Should I continue? I choose for yes.
It kind of had the same problem as I had with The Gruffalo, the blurb. The blurb in that one spoils everything, and in this one it doesn't seem correct. Accident prone? We only see things go wrong once per year that goes by. But we barely see any bruises on him each new year, nor plasters, or anything. And those accidents that happen during training? Well, I wouldn't call him accident prone at all. He just works so hard, so much, that naturally he would go bump against things or his throat will stop working and start hurting. That is what happens if you go at something for hours and hours. Maybe someone should read up again on what accident prone is.
But I am happy that this book goes beyond its blurb. So I am giving points for that.
Who the girl was, well, I certainly had an idea (one of the many, including a theory that she was magical as she is always appearing magically when Zog needs her). I also loved what she did later on, that is pretty nice of her. Then again, the dragons weren't so scary, I would also pick what the girl did. And as for the end, being a doctor sounds way more fun than prancing and wearing fancy dresses all day.
It was great seeing the dragons grow up. From tiny-ish dragons to full grown dragons in the last year.
The ending was pretty great, I loved the solution (as I was already worried about the fight and who would win), and it was wonderful to see the dragons and humans team up to make something awesome.
The book also rhymes, and it certainly made the book more fun (and at times funny).
The art was pretty OK. Not entirely my style (it is a bit too stiff for my liking), but I still like the details and again, seeing the illustrator draw the dragons more grown-up with each year was fun. I also like the colours used for each dragon.
All in all, quite a fun book to read, even if I am a bit disappointed in the accident prone stuff, I would have loved to see a dragon get through life in a clumsy way.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
He tried his hardest every day to win a golden star."
I was at first very much enthusiastic about this, a book about dragons? An accident prone one even? Oh my, yes, sign me up. But then I noticed the sticker. This was by the same person who made The Gruffalo? Mmmm, I didn't like that book. Should I continue? I choose for yes.
It kind of had the same problem as I had with The Gruffalo, the blurb. The blurb in that one spoils everything, and in this one it doesn't seem correct. Accident prone? We only see things go wrong once per year that goes by. But we barely see any bruises on him each new year, nor plasters, or anything. And those accidents that happen during training? Well, I wouldn't call him accident prone at all. He just works so hard, so much, that naturally he would go bump against things or his throat will stop working and start hurting. That is what happens if you go at something for hours and hours. Maybe someone should read up again on what accident prone is.
But I am happy that this book goes beyond its blurb. So I am giving points for that.
Who the girl was, well, I certainly had an idea (one of the many, including a theory that she was magical as she is always appearing magically when Zog needs her). I also loved what she did later on, that is pretty nice of her. Then again, the dragons weren't so scary, I would also pick what the girl did. And as for the end, being a doctor sounds way more fun than prancing and wearing fancy dresses all day.
It was great seeing the dragons grow up. From tiny-ish dragons to full grown dragons in the last year.
The ending was pretty great, I loved the solution (as I was already worried about the fight and who would win), and it was wonderful to see the dragons and humans team up to make something awesome.
The book also rhymes, and it certainly made the book more fun (and at times funny).
The art was pretty OK. Not entirely my style (it is a bit too stiff for my liking), but I still like the details and again, seeing the illustrator draw the dragons more grown-up with each year was fun. I also like the colours used for each dragon.
All in all, quite a fun book to read, even if I am a bit disappointed in the accident prone stuff, I would have loved to see a dragon get through life in a clumsy way.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/