- Source
- The Dragon Nanny
- C.L.G. Martin
- illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
- Macmillan: New York, 1988
- The Story
- Nanny Nell Hannah lost her job as the Royal Nanny because she was too
old. On top of that, Dragonia (the Mother Dragon) caught her wandering
in the forest and threatened to eat her. Nanny volunteered to take care
of the two little dragons, Sparky and Cinder. After many trials, Nanny
proved to be a pretty capable servant. However, when the time came for
her to train the two little dragons to breath fire, she could not get them
angry enough for the task and faked fire to fool Dragonia. However,
thinking that her little ones were equipped for adventures, Dragonia took
them into town and Cinder was caught by the villagers with no means of
defense. When Nanny Nell Hannah attempted to rescue Cinder and was
arrested by the guards, Cinder got really angry and started breathing
fire. Nanny's task was accomplished. Then, in a happy-all-around
ending, Nanny was once again the Royal Nanny, and this time she
added the two young dragons to her care because Dragonia became the
Captain of the Guard.
- Comments
- Dragonia is portrayed as a scaly lizard like beast with tiny wings
and a hog face with two horns on her forehead and her nose. This tale is
set in the olden days when dragons and people were enemies. The
elements of dragons preying on human flesh and wasting the village are
taken from the old Western tradition. The ending is quite contemporary,
though, with the reconciliation among people and dragons.
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Introduction/Index