This children's story poses somewhat of a twist. A dragon finds a pet, a young boy. Benjamin, the boy, is quite the interesting creature, ever so different than a dragon. He can't fly and is such an unusual specimen. But even the best of friends can get homesick and need to go back home. It's a wonderful story for the young at heart.

Pam S. / Marathon County Public Library
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Our draconine narrator stumbles across a young boy in Dragon Wood, in this charming picture-book from Timothy Knapman and Gwen Millward (illustrator of such titles as The Bog Baby and The King of Tiny Things), and is immensely excited at his discovery, which is called a "Benjamin." Taking his new Benjamin home, the little dragon shows him to his parents and, the next day in school, to his teacher and friends. Benjamins are rather odd creatures, with their lack of wings, scales and tales, and their curious inability to roar and breath fire! On the other hand, they know some wonderful games, and, like little dragons everywhere, tend to get homesick...

I was really quite excited when I saw that Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood was chosen as one of our April selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "mystical/magical creatures," as I am a great fan of the illustrator, Gwen Millward, and hadn't yet had a chance to pick it up. I was not disappointed, as the colorful and quirky artwork was immensely appealing - more than living up to the standard set in other works, like the adorable The Bog Baby. I loved the dragons, with their bright hues and elongated snouts, and found the Benjamin poignantly cute, with his spindly legs and oversized stripey boots. The narrative too, with its inversion of the usual "boy finds dragon" storyline, was quite engaging. All in all, this was a picture-book winner, one I would not hesitate to recommend to young dragon lovers, as well as to fans of the artist! ( )

A cute inversion of the "human meets dragon" type of tale, in Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood (written by Timothy Knapman, with illustrations by Gwen Millward), it is not a little boy who finds a dragon, but a dragon who finds a little lost boy (a Benjamin) in the Dragon Wood and takes him (or it, at first) home to meet his family, friends and acquaintances (all of which are dragons, of course).

This lively and engaging story is not only sweet, with many humorous little touches (like how the dragon first thinks that the little boy has striped feet, not realising that he is wearing striped boots, and not even knowing what boots are), it is also, at times, somewhat thought-provoking. When the dragon takes his new friend (the Benjamin) to school, the other dragons, although intrigued by the Benjamin and finding him rather strange and novel, mostly approach him with respect and are eager to learn about him and from him (about his life, his homeland, his family, books, soccer). When one then compares the dragons' general reaction to the little boy to the "funny way of saying hello" the dragon experiences when he takes a homesick Benjamin back to his own family, the frightened and suspicious initial reaction of the humans to the dragon is really in quite stark contrast to the interested and generally friendly reaction of the dragons to the little boy. Yes, in the end, the humans seem to have calmed themselves a bit, but their initial reaction is rampant fear and suspicion, while the initial reaction of the dragons is friendliness and genuine interest.

Of course, Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood is first and foremost simply a sweet and delightfully humorous "dragon" tale. It is also though, a story of acceptance and curiosity, that friendship and being acquainted with strangers is not only possible and probable, but desirable. Even if one might get homesick for friends, family etc. if abroad or amongst strangers, one can and should visit other lands, other individuals, other cultures and learn from them and have them learn from oneself as well (the Benjamin goes back to his home, but he has learned from the dragons, and they have learned from him, and one of the Benjamin's gifts, the knowledge of the game of soccer, has actually remained with the dragons, as a new sport, but also as a remembrance of the little boy).

Recommended primarily for younger children interested in sweet, humorous dragon tales, I also appreciate the fact that the main human character in this story is a little boy, and that this little boy teaches his new dragon friends how to play soccer. I have noticed that quite a number of picture books featuring dragons (especially those where the story is not the more traditional type of tale featuring heroic deeds and dragons to be fought or at least tamed) are often rather girl-oriented, and it is refreshing to find that this story is more geared towards little boys, or at least a more unisex audience (and no mention of fighting dragons or taming dragons either, the dragon and the little boy he finds are friends right from the beginning).

I have to admit that while I think Gwen Millward's illustrations work well enough with the text, they are much too cartoon-like for my own personal tastes, and I especially do not like the way the dragons are depicted (they just seems rather silly, almost caricature-like). My general dislike of the illustrations did actually somewhat lessen my initial enjoyment of the story (I had to read the book twice before I really began to enjoy and appreciate the text, and I am positive that my initially luke-warm reaction was first and foremost because I just did and still do not care all that much for the illustrations). However, I can certainly see how many youngsters would likely find these illustrations bright, fun and humorous. They do provide an interesting and humorously silly mirror of the narrative, my own negative reaction to them notwithstanding. ( )