Get ready for a dragon tale with a difference that will have you exploding with laughter!
Poor Dragon has lost the ability to breathe fire and doesn’t know what to do. But fear not, brave knight Sir Wayne is on hand and determined to put things right. Can Sir Wayne restore Dragon's fiery glory, or is he destined for a flame-free future?
The Dragon with the Blazing Bottom has just the right amount of rudeness and ridiculousness to hook the very young. There's even a revolting recipe that gets howls of laughter in this house. The phrase 'bonfire with wings', which Sir Wayne uses to paraphrase the word 'dragon', is genius.
This book crackles with energy thanks to its lively rhyming text and dynamic illustrations. I was fascinated to learn that most of the words came to author-illustrator Beach while he was cycling! Beach also created some of the artwork using a bit of stick dipped in ink, to avoid it looking too tidy.
It's fantastic how everything appears to be in a state of flux (even the clouds) and all the amusing details are great too. The animated and expressive faces of each character are brilliant, especially their eyes. There's a hilarious yellow bird on every page and we love his antics (which include a stint as an air traffic controller). His body language often mirrors the other protagonists or reflects what is happening in the text. I love his reaction to Wayne's concoction as it cooks, and how he even manages to breathe fire and startle a little mouse. Despite the spectacular silliness, a powerful message burns brightly through the comedy. This entertaining tale teaches children not to despair if they can no longer do the things they love, or excel at activities they feel define them. Just like Dragon, they’ll find a new way of channelling their talents. This helps little readers learn not to give up; there’s always a Plan B (or C… or Z) which may not even involve swallowing barbed-wire-wrapped cacti!
The Dragon with the Blazing Bottom is fuelled by a wonderful friendship. Sir Wayne never gives up on Dragon, even when he's at his worst. Without Sir Wayne's support and perseverance, Dragon's tale (and tail-end!) would turn out very differently. I love stories that celebrate the relationships that strengthen us, and show how important they are.
This book has my kids (aged four and six) in stitches and I can imagine it being even more fun when read aloud in a group setting. It's hard to believe this is the debut picture book from author-illustrator Beach. I was delighted to discover that it's the first in an exciting new series and we can't wait to find out what happens next! The set of illustrated facts I received about this book and its author were too fascinating and funny not to share, so here they are:
Beach took over the Simon & Schuster Children's Books Instagram page recently - here are just a few of his priceless posts:
The Dragon with the Blazing Bottom was published by Simon & Schuster on 2nd September 2021 - see this book on the publisher's website
A huge thank you to the lovely people in Simon & Schuster for sharing this story with us and inviting us on this tour - all opinions expressed are our own. Make sure you visit the previous stops to learn more about this scorching-hot debut!
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