Review of "The Moon Dragons," by Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe

Review of

The Moon Dragons, by Dyan Sheldon and Gary Blythe ISBN 9781467763141


Five out of five stars

 The dragon is a mythical creature that has appeared in countless stories of legend, from folktales to science fiction to songs to movies and television series. There is also a wide spectrum in the way they are treated, from the loving playmate in the song “Puff the Magic Dragon” to the fire-breathing bringer of death. In this book, they are presented as creatures where humans have almost hunted them to extinction, so they confine themselves to a region where humans simply do not go.

 The legend of the Moon Dragons is widely held in the kingdom and the king demands that one of them be brought back to his castle. Hunter after hunter goes up into the misty mountains searching for a Moon Dragon, but none are ever found.

 Finally, a poor young woman named Alina announces that she will go alone in searching for the Moon Dragons and she is ridiculed. Armed with the song that her grandmother taught her, Alina goes off into the mist and she sees a small set of Moon Dragons flying and playing in the moonlight. She returns to her village and rather than admit to what she saw, she protects the dragons by telling everyone that she never saw them.

 Although she does no slaying of dragons or gets rich and powerful, Alina is a genuine heroine in this book. Her example of doing the right thing at her own expense is a valuable lesson to children. There are some secrets that must be kept, no matter what the personal consequences.