From Publishers Weekly
Consistently honored at the Bologna Fair, winner of a gold medal at the International Biennial of Illustration, Bratislava, Zwerger was also nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The artist's wonderful pastel paintings re-create the people and places in the fantasy by Nesbit, a storytelling genius of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This tale stars Effie and her brother Harry. When scores of dragons appear from out of nowhere, it seems, to wreak havoc in England, the children seek help by arousing St. George's spirit from his marble effigy. But the saint can do nothing to defeat the flying monsters. "Everything's done by machinery now." He does, though, give Effie and George an idea which they carry out triumphantly, banishing the dragons, as the playful romance rolls along to its gleeful end.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5 First published in Strand Magazine in 1899, this story appeared in Nesbit's The Complete Book of Dragons (Macmillan, 1973; o.p.) with pen-and-ink illustrations by Erik Blegvad. Two children save England from being overrun by dragons. Captured by a large child-eating dragon and taken to a cave, they discover the "Universal Tap-room." They half turn off the tap labeled "Sunshine" and turn on the ones called "Fair to moderate" and "Showery" since dragons cannot survive in such weather, "and both taps stuck. . .which accounts for our climate." This single-story edition features large-size pages printed on fine quality paper and 11 beautifully composed watercolors. Zwerger's illustrations enhance the story, which is probably best read to a child who can sit close enough to the reader to examine the pale, evocative pictures closely. Text covers each entire facing page and could be intimidating, thus the book's best use is as a read-aloud. British terminology is generally understood in context, and the turn-of-the-century costuming adds interest. Nesbit's humor and distinctive clear style carry the story briskly along, while Zwerger's illustrations lend it great charm. Susan H. Patron, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
