Shelley Moore Thomas - Good Night, Good Knight

I have no idea where this book came from, I may have picked it up and tucked it away a while ago when I was trying to collect books about castles, knights,armor and all things medieval but I can't say for sure. The one thing I do know is that it is something that Annabelle reads almost every single day. To her every person has a knight in shining armor that's going to come to their rescue ... oh to be that young and naive again! The one thing that really gets me about this book is that the knight never gets so irked that he doesn't go to check on the little dragons; it never says where the parents are but that's a good thing. It leaves kids an open door and lets them come up with their own ideas like maybe they are hunting for food or have night jobs. This is where kids get to use their imagination so don't sit there and dismiss things immediately, let them have some fun coming up with their own ideas.

Good Night, Good Knight

Long, long ago there was a good knight that spent his nights standing guard; he protected the castle from unseen threats and from the looks of things, he really liked his job ... most of the time that is. Things took a turn when he heard a loud roar in the darkness; mounting his trusty steed he set out to uncover this mystery. Arriving at the cave where the dragons reside he was taken back at what he saw and drew his sword. Ignoring the actions of the knight the dragon asked for a drink of water. Being a good knight he complied with the request; little did he know that would be the beginning of the nightmare. Feeling that his job was complete he headed back to the castle only to hear another loud roar five minutes later. Once again he left the crumbly tumbly tower, climbed down the very tall wall and jumped on his horse.

This time the little girl dragon wanted the knight to read her a story, she assured him that once he read it, she would fall asleep. That's when the first dragon asked for another glass of water. Doing the only thing he knew, he obliged their requests and read the girl a story and fetched another glass of water for the first dragon. Once gain he heads back to the castle feeling that he did the right thing in helping the little dragons. No sooner did he jump off the horse, climb the wall and walk up the tower did he hear an oh so familiar large and loud roar. Blindly tackling the tower and wall, he gets on his horse but not before muttering, "This is too much". Back at the cave the third dragon asks if the knight will sing him a song. By this point in time I would have lost it on these dragons, I guess that's why I am not a knight.

To make things worse the girl dragon asks if he will read her another story and the other boy dragon wants yet another glass of water. honestly, have you ever seen a dragon drink so much water? Even though his patience is wearing thin, the knight still tucks all three of them in bed before he leaves. Thinking he has fulfilled his obligations the knight goes back to the castle again only to hear another very loud roar again. Filled with dread he says, "Not again..." but doesn't ignore the cry. Making his way back to the cave he starts to ask them what they could possibly want; another song, another story .. another glass of water? All three dragons, dressed in their jammies, stand wide eyed as the knight asks them what they want. Their request ... a good night kiss. That was taking it a bit too far but the knight, being a good knight, kissed each of them on their cheeks. This time he waited outside the cave to make sure they were done roaring ... hearing their snores he went back to the castle to get some sleep of his own!

My Take

To me this is a cute story but in the hands of a precocious child, it can be just the thing to give them the bright idea to start roaring in the middle of the night when they want or need something. You can use this if you are introducing basic grammar to kids; the difference between 'night' and knight' might not seem like a big deal to you, but to a four year old it sure is! The illustrations really bring the whole story to life and when you see the little dragons in their jammies, you can't help but smile. The knight never gets mad or upset with the little dragons nor does he ever ignore them - even when they ask for a kiss. This would be a great book to read at a storytime for kids in the four to seven year age range. This is listed as an 'easy reader' in the Dutton family of books and is something that even young children will get a kick out of.

The Bottom Line

Written by Shelley Moore Thomas and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas, this is a great book to have for your home library. Kids will be giggling up a storm when they are reading it and mimicking the noises that the horse makes when it is trotting through the woods as well as the brief comments that the knight makes when each of the dragons cries out. To find out more about books in this series visit www.penguinputnam.com/readers/index.htm. This book has a suggested retail price of $13.99 [hardcover version] so you may want to flip through it first to see if it will be something that your child will enjoy. If the price seems too steep, check online sites that sell used books, some carry this for as little as three dollars. Like I said, I have no idea where I got this but I am glad that I did. Annabelle has a great time reading this and doing the voices of the little dragons as well as the knight. Tell me, if you heard a roar in the night and came upon three little dragons, could you ignore them?


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2005 Freak369


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