Review by Booklist Review
The follow up to Nytra's lauded The Secret of the Stone Frog (2012) finds Leah and Alan once again searching for adventure. When their village's windmills magically turn into mechanical dragons, the heroic sister and brother go on a quest to rescue St. George the dragon slayer and return three legendary beasts, which guard wind, earth, and water, to their habitats to restore the natural balance. Alan and Leah easily move from task to task, and while that makes the plot seem elementary at times, Nytra's astonishing artwork, from the sweeping set pieces to intriguing character design, makes the voyage worthwhile. Each page is expertly illustrated with thin india ink lines and intricate crosshatching. Nytra methodically details, for example, discernable scales on each of the dragons. The varied environments are equally remarkable, as rough waves lap over Alan and Leah's laughing demonic boat, and roiling clouds slump heavily in the background. The black-and-white palette only accentuates the vivid details and shading, which makes this book resemble some archaic treasure. Another surreal and ingenious journey.--Blenski, Peter Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-In the second volume of their adventures, Leah and Alan take a break from playing so that she can read him a story about monsters. Readers soon discover that the siblings themselves have become the heroes of the story: a pair of knights returning home to discover that their village's windmills have transformed into angry dragons who are terrorizing its citizens. After failing to defeat the dragons with their swords, Leah and Alan ride off to find another way to rescue their village and dog, Rowdy. They encounter a wizard with a giant chicken, an aging knight held captive by an ogre, and a meat-eating boat before they are able to determine the source of the magical disturbance. Leah's levelheadedness and Alan's impulsivity are needed to complete the quest that will set things right. Even more than the first adventure, this entry creates a captivating fantasy world where readers will lose themselves among outlandish creatures and daring escapades. Additionally, this volume includes back matter revealing the mythological and fairy tale origins of some of the story's characters, which will inspire interested readers to further discovery. VERDICT The exciting story line, coupled with finely detailed ink drawings, make this an excellent addition to any elementary grade graphic novel collection.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Illustrative panache trumps story in this graphic novel rendered in dense, intricate pen-and-ink. As siblings Leah and Alan share a book, they find themselves battling dragons, traveling by man-eating boat, and more in a quest to restore the natural order. Nytra borrows myths and tropes from various cultures to showcase his visual imagination, but the protagonists' progression through plot points is aimless. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The first time people open this book, a lot of them are going to say the same thing: "This must be some sort of trick." Each picture in the book looks like a feat of human industry, containing tiny, impossible stippling and feathering and crosshatching in every inch of the panel. One drawing of a Behemoth, napping in the crags of a mountain, looks as though it should have taken a year to draw. Nytra seems to have flipped through every bestiary and ancient classic he could find and started drawing the oddest creatures in every book. Readers could be forgiven for thinking the story itself (which incorporates elements of Don Quixote, Jewish mythology, The Canterbury Tales, the legend of St. George, and the canoe cultures of the Pacific Northwest) makes no sense at all. Sample dialogue: "THE WINDMILLS! They've turned into DRAGONS!" Protagonists Alan and Leah encounter a giant chicken called Pertelote and a meat-eating boat (called the Meat-eating Boat) as they attempt to rescue their dog from the dragon-windmills. If it feels haphazard, that's part of the charm. Why shouldn't there be an enormous drain at the bottom of the ocean? The real joy of the book is watching the artist draw every monster he can think of; if the logic behind the story isn't always clear, well, who really wants to know how a magician did his tricks? (historical notes) (Graphic fantasy. 8-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
