Close Menu
www.crackingthecover.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • Home
    • Picture
      • Ages 0-3
      • Ages 2 and up
      • Ages 3 and up
      • Ages 4 and up
      • Ages 5 and up
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 8 and up
      • Author Interviews
      • Bedtime Stories
      • Gift Guide
    • Middle Grade
      • Author Interviews
      • Ages 6 and up
      • Ages 7 and up
      • Ages 8-12
      • Ages 9-12
      • Ages 10 and up
      • Gift Guide
    • YA
      • Author Interviews
      • Reviews
      • Adult Crossover
      • Gift Guide
    • Seasonal
      • Back to School
      • Christmas
      • Earth Day
      • Easter
      • Fall
      • Father’s Day
      • Mother’s Day
      • Gift Guide
      • Halloween
      • Spring
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Winter
    • Diversity
      • AANHPI Heritage
      • Autism Month
      • Black Experience
      • Chinese New Year
      • Hispanic Heritage
      • Pride Month
      • Women’s History
    • Crossover
    • About
      • Review/interview policy
      • About our reviewers
    www.crackingthecover.com

    You’ll want to share ‘King Jack and the Dragon’ again and again

    0
    By Jessica on August 30, 2011 ages 3 & up, bedtime story, picture books

    “KING JACK AND THE DRAGON,” by Peter Bently and Helen Oxenbury, Dial Books for Young Readers, $17.99 (ages 3 and up)

    Imagination is everything when you’re a young child. And it’s the best kind of imagination that’s celebrated in “King Jack and the Dragon,” by Peter Bently and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.

    Jack, Zack and Caspar are about the king’s business — King Jack’s that is. Together they are building a castle, complete with a royal throne and a flag. Together, King Jack and his brave knights must protect the castle from ferocious dragons. It’s a task that takes up most of the day, because in addition to dragons, there are beasts that must be vanquished.

    After a busy day of battle, the warriors return to their stronghold and spend the night. But a giant comes and takes Sir Zack home and another takes Caspar to bed. Wrapped up in a blanket and sitting on his throne, King Jack has been left all alone. He can battle dragons by himself, he’s sure of it. Though, as the wind makes the trees quiver and a mouse scampers by his nerves start rattling. And then, he hears something coming — something with four feet…

    “King Jack and the Dragon” is pure delight from beginning to end. Upon reading it, adults will reminisce on times gone by and youngsters will begin building castles in their own mind’s eye.

    Peter Bently’s text has a rhythmical lilt that carries readers from one page to the next. And Helen Oxenbury’s charming illustrations, which range from sparse to magical, will be examined time and time again. When the two elements come together it’s perfection, playing to the words in some places and illustrations in others.

    There’s a classic feel to “King Jack and the Dragon” similar to that of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” It’s the type of book you want to share with your children and they’ll want to share with their own.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Jessica
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • X (Twitter)

    Jessica Harrison is the reviewer behind Cracking the Cover. She loves books and worked as the in-house book critic at a daily newspaper, writing reviews and interviewing authors for two years. When the company cut back, she lost her position covering books, but that doesn't mean she stopped reading. If anything, the whole experience made her more passionate about reading and giving people the tools to make informed decisions in their own book choices. She has been featured on NetGalley's Blogger Spotlight and is on Kindleprenuer's Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs. Contact her at jessica(at)crackingthecover(dot)com and follow Cracking the Cover on Bluesky, Instagram,  Facebook and Twitter (X) @crackingthecovr. You can also read scaled down reviews on Jessica's Goodreads review page. Jessica is also a reviewer on Amazon.

    Related Posts

    Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon celebrates individuality

    Sleuth & Solve: Art offers up solo and group fun

    Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson’s Shell Song is excellent WWII nonfiction

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    • bluesky
    • twitter
    • instagram
    • facebook
    • goodreads
    • amazon
    • bloglovin
    • mail
    Subscribe by email
    Follow
    Recent Posts
    May 15, 2025

    Margaret Finnegan’s Spelling It Out is S-T-R-O-N-G middle grade

    May 14, 2025

    Rachel Reiss’s Out of Air is creepy summer adventure

    May 14, 2025

    Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon celebrates individuality

    May 8, 2025

    Sleuth & Solve: Art offers up solo and group fun

    May 8, 2025

    Aimee Phan’s compelling The Lost Queen draws on Vietnamese lore

    Archives
    Categories
    Cybils Awards

    On Writing

    “The dance with words and the way the hair on the back of my neck raises when it works right is what I live for.”

    —Gary Paulsen

    “I write because I exist. Because I read. Because I breathe.”

    —Lindsay Eager

    “Books are kind of like the sense of smell: inhale one page and memories come rushing back.”

    —Keir Graff

    Cracking the Cover is a website dedicated to picture, middle-grade and young adult books. It features reviews, author interviews and other book news. PLEASE NOTE: We are not currently accepting self published books for review.

    Copyright © 2010-2022 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.

    Reviews Published Professional Reader 2016 NetGalley Challenge 100 Book Reviews

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.