Belmont lives in a home for orphans and foundlings in a medieval city called Old New York and although he is ‘small of stature’, he longs to be a big brave knight and have adventures-in particular, to tame a dragon and maybe rescue a princess.
Belmont lives in a home for orphans and foundlings in a medieval city called Old New York and although he is ‘small of stature’, he longs to be a big brave knight and have adventures-in particular, to tame a dragon and maybe rescue a princess. He meets Bernie the dragon who is a SNAD (Sensitive New Age Dragon). They become friends and as this is a fairytale, there must be a happy ending, which involves Old New York’s Princess Libby. While not suitable for very young readers because of the amount of text and complex language, confident readers (six-plus and adults) will enjoy it and the amusing alliteration. The baddies are ‘putrid pink pixies’ and ‘ghastly green gnomes’ and everyone lives in the ‘mad-cap medieval metropolis’. It is a wonderful read-aloud story for parents who will enjoy the jokes about the place names of Old New York and, of course, recognise the landmarks in the beautifully coloured illustrations. Both Zarb and Gold have animation backgrounds and the book reflects this. Zarb’s illustrations are a delight and have enormous kid appeal. And, it seems, there are more adventures planned for Belmont and Bernie.
Sandy Campbell is a former president of the CBCA (NSW) and has worked in publishing for more than 20 years
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