Dragons Beware!

Written by: Jorge Aguirre, Rafael Rosado, and John Novak

Why you should read this book: The was once a blacksmith named Augustine...he made the most powerful sword ever forged.

Why you should read this book: Here's me, reading a series out of order again, but the book offers enough explanation that the reader can gather the backstory regarding a fearless little girl who is hungry for adventure and desperate to be seen as a warrior, her young brother who thinks he has to be a warrior even though all he wants is to be a chef, and a princess who spends all her time locked in tower surrounded by child-suitors, except when she decides she'd rather escape the tower and haven an adventure. This book offers not only a nice message about the utter ridiculousness of gender roles, but also a sweet focus on non-violent conflict resolution. I was most impressed that no dragons were killed in the telling of this story.

Why you shouldn't read this book: While its cheerful, silly, kid-friendly shenanigans reminded me of the old classic Bone, I personally found the silliness a bit over-the-top; definitely for younger readers.