Be Specific About Books Toward Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
| Original Title: | Dealing with Dragons |
| ISBN: | 015204566X (ISBN13: 9780152045661) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1 |
| Literary Awards: | California Young Readers Medal Nominee for Middle School/Junior High (1993), Minnesota Book Award for Fantasy & Science Fiction (1991) |
Patricia C. Wrede
Paperback | Pages: 212 pages Rating: 4.15 | 80367 Users | 3371 Reviews
Narrative In Pursuance Of Books Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
"He doesn't seem very impressed," Cimorene commented in some amusement.Before Harry Potter, there was Princess Cimorene, a dragon named Kazul, and the Enchanted Forest. I am no longer a 11-year old girl. I am a grown-ass woman, and I still love this book as much as I did the first time I read it.
"Why should he be?" Kazul said.
"Well, you're a dragon," Cimorene answered, a little taken aback.
"What difference does that make to a cat?"
Share this book with your sisters, your daughters, your nieces. This is a wonderful book for a young girl, it sends so many positive messages. You don't have to be what people want you to be. You do not have to fit into the mold. You can be brave, headstrong, smart, without being stubborn, without being mean. There is no romance. There is a Prince Charming who, frankly, bores the living crap out of our intrepid young Princess Cimorene. You do not need a Prince Charming to make your own Happily Ever After. You can be in charge of your own destiny.
This book grew with me through my childhood, and it remains with me as an adult. Some books I've read have made me think. Some books have made me cry. There is nothing so complex, so complicated about this little book; it just makes me happy.
Summary: Princess Cimorene is a princess of the very pleasant kingdom of Linderwall. It's pretty, it's quite ordinary. There isn't much magic, thankfully, not too many evil stepmothers or witches, not too many dragon abductions, etc.
All in all, Linderwall was a very prosperous and pleasant place.Her older sister are all lovely and ladylike, each more beautiful than the last. Cimorene is not. She's too tall. Her hair is frizzy and brown. She's stubborn (on a good day). And she just won't stop learning inappropriate things. Magical lessons. Fencing. Fighting. Latin. All lessons that her disgruntled parents abruptly put a stop to once they find out, cause it just ain't proper for a princess, yo. And her fairy godmother is as useful as brains on a Kardashian.
Cimorene hated it.
Cimorene puts up with it as best as she can, until the day her parents send her off to visit the very handsome, golden haired, blue-eyed, Ken doll of a Prince. Unfortunately, he's got nothing in between his ears, and when Cimorene finds out that her parents intend to make her MARRY the creature, well, that does it. She takes the advice of a magical frog, packs some useful and practical things, and runs away from home.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, as it may be, the audience that the frog sends her to seek happens to be dragons. Very curious ones. Who might want to eat her (but they'd rather not...humans are so stringy). Using her wits, Cimorene talks her way into being a dragon's princess. Kazul is the awesome dragon, who agrees to take her on. Contrary to popular beliefs, not every dragon wants a princess.
"It has to do with status. Dragons aren't required to have princesses, you see. Most of us don't. There are never enough to go around, and some of us prefer not to have to deal with the annoyances that come with them."Fortunately, thanks to her education, she is as well-equipped to cataloguing draconian libraries as well as she is whipping up an excellent dessert (Cimorene specializes in making cherries jubilee).
"Knights," Cimorene guessed.
"Among other things," Kazul said, nodding. "So having a princess in residence has become a minor mark of high status among dragons."
"A minor mark?"
Kazul smiled. "I'm afraid so. It's the equivalent of, oh, serving expensive imported fruit at dinner. It's a nice way of showing everyone how rich you are, but you could make just as big an impression by having some of those fancy pastries with the smooth glazed icing and spun-sugar roses."
Instead of being princessy and spending her days embroidering and doing stupid shit like that, Cimorene now spends her days cleaning out the dragon treasure troves, cataloguing (and polishing) old dragon treasures (some of them magical!). Along the way, she has to deal with the constant stream of idiotic Knights and Princes who want to rescue her (does anyone bother asking Cimorene if she wants to be rescued? No.), entertaining some other fluffy-headed fellow princesses
"I'm Cimorene," Cimorene said. "I don't need comforting, and I'm not particularly sad or sorry to be here, but if you'd like to come in and have some tea, you're welcome to."...among whom she unexpectedly finds a good friend, and dealing with, among other things, a jinn, a killer bird, a witch with many cats (or more appropriately, cats and their witch), and some wascally wizards. There is magic. There is mystery. There is a potential threat to the dragons for whom Cimorene has come to care deeply.
The first two princesses looked as if they would have liked to be startled and appalled by this announcement but were much too well bred to show what they were feeling.
The Setting, the Plot, All That Good Stuff: This is a very short book, and there is not a single dull moment. There is not a lot of introspection, but there is an exceeding display of Cimorene's competency. She is a person of action, and she fills the book with her energy. The book is driven by Cimorene's initiative, and she is always on the move, be it finding a fire-proofing spell in an ancient spellbook, or outwitting some poor Prince Charming's misguided attempt to rescue her, to fooling some nefarious wizards who think she is a typical princess. The setting is magical, but it is not exceedingly detailed, just enough to build up the imagination.
The Main Character: Cimorene and her dragon are the stars of this book, and they make me love it. I recommended this book for young readers, and it is just so darned appropriate for an impressionable young woman. She is an awesome main character. She is book-smart, and she is not perfect. She is a librarian at heart, a researcher who relies on her skills in research and her thirst for knowledge rather than outright brilliance. Cimorene is relatable and reliable, smart, witty, absolutely pragmatic and practical without ever becoming bitchy and annoying in the least. And however resourceful Cimorene is, she knows when to call for help when she needs it.
Every young girl should have a copy of this book (and this series).
Itemize Regarding Books Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
| Title | : | Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1) |
| Author | : | Patricia C. Wrede |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 212 pages |
| Published | : | November 1st 2002 by HMH Books for Young Readers (first published September 18th 1990) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Young Adult. Dragons. Fiction. Childrens. Middle Grade. Magic |
Rating Regarding Books Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
Ratings: 4.15 From 80367 Users | 3371 ReviewsDiscuss Regarding Books Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #1)
I found this book at the library and I was so excited because I read it a couple of times when I was younger, in 4th or 5th grade I think. So it's a kid's book but it is so much fun. Great fantasy and tons of humor. You can't help but laugh, at least I couldn't! Funny story related to this book. Back when I first read this, when I was younger, like I said, I had a friend my age who also read it. Well, she and I happened to have some little plastic toy dragons and wizards and we'd use them to actI needed a palate cleanser and just a general "feel good book" after reading Sunshine. In the past I've turned to romance books, but as of late I've been turning more and more to YA books preferably those set for younger audiences (middle grade). There tends to be a lot of hidden gems in this category and to me, this book was one of them.Cimorene is a princess who doesn't meet the standard princess personality quota. She's intelligent, headstrong, and much to her parents dismay she wants more to
The scholarly princcesses, the very sensible dragons and irritating princes... What else can a girl want?Q:There was a great deal of etiquette, from the proper way to curtsy before a visiting prince to how loudly it was permissible to scream when being carried off by a giant... When she couldn't stand it any longer, she would go down to the castle armory and bully the armsmaster into giving her a fencing lesson.Q:"Well, I fence So it is too done by a princess."Q:Nothing interesting seems to be
This book was simply delightful, with enchanting characters of different kinds and lots of good witty humor, hinting to many classic fairy tales, but with twisted meanings. Here's a little example: The rest of my classmates are already making names for themselves. George started killing dragons right away, and Art went straight home and pulled some sort of magic sword out of a rock. Even the ones nobody expected to amount to much have done something. All Jack wanted to do was go back to his
YA comic fantasy. Cimorene is not a proper princess. She learns fencing, cooking and magic, and when she discovers her proposed marriage, she runs away to offer herself to a dragon. She's been told that they like to keep princesses, and she thinks that this is one princessly thing that she could possibly do.This was charming, but light on substance. It may have been more original when it was written, but it feels derivative now. Also, I was annoyed that the only way that Cimorene could do
I would place this book somewhere between The Ordinary Princess and the Harry Potter series in terms of complexity of plot, age appropriateness and the amount of fun I had reading it. I really enjoyed reading this book and likely would have given it 5 stars if I had read it at a younger age (say at the age of 8 years or so). As it is, after Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, it's hard to give this book 5 stars. Having said that, this is a very interesting story of a Princess who detests
If you think you know what a princess story is, think again.There's a magic to this series I haven't experienced since reading Harry Potter. It's one of the most playful books I've ever read, constantly making jokes out of well-known tropes and famous fairy tales. Plus it's a mystery in which the prime suspects are a dragon with bad wizard allergies and a prince made of stone. The entire universe is as quirky as the suspects and although there's some plot holes and a lot of things that seem to
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