The Book of Dragons

By: E. Nesbit

Narrated by: Karen Krause

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

Edith (E.) Nesbit was a master at weaving imagination and real life into timeless fairy tales, with fantastic mythical creatures, princes and princesses, magic, and just the right touch of silliness. This is a collection of nine of her fairy tales with a common theme - Dragons! For children from five to 95, these stories are not to be taken seriously. Let your imagination run wild!

The Book of Beasts - A young king finds a magical book once owned by his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and unwittingly sets a wicked beast loose in his kingdom. Now he must find a way to best the beast and win back the love of his subjects.

Uncle James - The island kingdom of Rotundia is normal in every way but one - all the animals are the wrong sizes. And when a purple dragon finds its way to the island and desires the princess as a birthday present, young Tom the garderner's son, along with his lap dog sized elephant Fido, must find a way to save her.

The Deliverers of Their Country - "It all started when Effie got something in her eye..." and before the week was out, the country was overrun with dragons of all sizes. Effie and Harry decide something must be done, so they set out to wake St. George.

The Ice Dragon - Have you ever wanted to travel to the North Pole? See the Aurora Borealis up close and personal? Well, make sure you catch up to George and Jane, two disobedient children, who on December 11th, set out to do just that, finding adventure and a dragon on the way.

The Island of the Nine Whirlpools - When the King and Queen were ready to have a child, the Queen did what all good queens do; she visited the local witch. But she forgot to specify the King wanted a boy child.

The Fiery Dragon - Poor Sabrinetta, granddaughter to brave St. George the dragonslayer, has been banished to her dragon-proof tower while her evil cousin rules her kingdom. But when the dragon wakes, Prince Tiresome runs to the safety of her tower, throwing her out to fend off the dragon by herself. Can she and Elfin the pigkeeper save her people before the dragon has his way with them?

The Dragon Tamers - John the Blacksmith doesn't know what is at the bottom of the stairs leading down from the dungeon. With any luck, he'll never find out. But one day when he goes into the dungeon to fetch more coal, he comes face to face with the dragon that has risen from the depths. It looks like today John's luck may have run out. Or is it just beginning?

Kind Little Edmond - Edmund is not fond of learning but he loves to find out. One day he finds out about the creatures living in the mountain near his village and thinks maybe he doesn't like finding out about things so much after all. But once the creatures have been found, there is nothing to do but find a way to save the village before it's too late.

The Last of the Dragons - As tradition holds, on her 16th birthday, the Princess must be tied to a post and left for the dragon. Of course, the Prince has always slain the dragon and saved the Princess. But this Princess is none too confident in the Prince's ability to save her. She's much better at her fencing lessons than he. So why can't the Prince be tied up and saved by the Princess? And, why must the last dragon in England be slain at all?

Public Domain (P)2017 Karen Krause

Great childhood memory

It was a great pleasure to listen to a book I loved as a child so beautifully narrated. It brought up sweet memories.
Highly recommended for all ages.


I received this audiobook at no-cost from Audiobookworm Promotions. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

2 people found this helpful

Delightful kids saving the world with/out dragons

This charming collection of children’s tales all center around dragons of one ilk or another. Each story can be read as a stand alone. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and reviewing two of these stories previously and when I saw that he narrator had 8 stories in one collection, I couldn’t resist. I know it would be good stuff and I wasn’t disappointed. These stories are great for kids and fun for adults too.

The Book of Beasts – This is one of the stories I have previously listened to and reviewed. It was just as good the second time around. The child king Lionel finds a book once owned by one of his distant grandsires. Like all good kids, he plays with it and sets a giant butterfly free. He’s warned not to do so again, but he releases yet another fantastical critter (a bird of paradise), and then another (the dragon!), which threatens his kingdom and he must make it right again. A hippogriff and manticore come into play too! 5/5

Uncle James – This story was so cute and it was mostly because there are cute little dog-sized elephants! Who doesn’t want a pet elephant that can snuggle on your lap and eat popcorn while you watch Flight of the Dragons? This tale takes place in Rotundia where all the sizes are backwards and a dragon has shown up that wants a princess as a present. Now this isn’t your typical ‘save the princess from the dragon’ story, as young Tom found out. By the way, keep your eye on Uncle James. He may not be trustworthy! 5/5

The Deliverers of Their Country – This was my favorite out of all the stories. It starts with young Effie getting something in her eye and that something is a teensy tiny dragon! Go ahead, squeal in love and excitement. I know I did. Who doesn’t want to adopt such a little dragon? However, these small dragons keep popping up throughout the land and they are starting to wreak havoc. Now Effie and her friend Harry have to find a way to reduce the number of dragons. It’s a clever solution to an over-population problem. 6/5

The Ice Dragon – Imagine North Pole dwarves dressed in seal skin. Now toss in an ice dragon. Lastly, make room for two adventurous kids, George and Jane, who just wanted to see the Northern Lights. things go ever so wrong. This story was actually a little gruesome because it has a bit of a body count. It’s not gory but I was a little surprised at little bit of darkness that crept into this story. Still, it was clever and the kids survive, so all’s well. 5/5

The Island of the Nine Whirlpools – This was an interesting one. A childless Queen goes to an old witch begging for a child and the witch takes her jewels and uses them to whip up a baby girl. The Queen is totally satisfied but the King wanted a boy. So obviously, that makes a wedge between the couple. When the daughter reaches a certain age, he banishes her to an island that is protected by big beasties, like a dragon. Her mother, the Queen, and the witch both make sacrifices to make it possible for her to one day be rescued. I liked that the story hinged upon the love for an old crone. However, the princess to be rescued seemed rather daft to me, which I didn’t really care for. 4/5

The Fiery Dragon – This is the second story in this collection that gives a nod to St. George, a famous dragon slayer. Granddaughter Sabrinetta has got some skills on her which is a good thing because her unscrupulous cousin, Prince Tiresome, tosses her out of the dragon-proof tower to deal with the fiery dragon. Luckily she has a great friend, Elfin the pigkeeper, who can help her. That’s another thing I really like about these stories – so often there’s a ‘commoner’ that is essential to solving whatever dragon issue there is. 5/5

The Dragon Tamers – This had a little steampunky feel to it. John is a blacksmith and he and his wife have a new baby that cries often and loudly. Yet even with that intermittent noise, John has noticed an odd sound coming from the basement. He finally has to go down there for coal and he meets this dragon that needs rivets to repair his wing. The dragon isn’t shy about telling John what he plans to do once his wing is repaired: eat all the people including John and his family. Now John has to outsmart this dragon and that loud baby gets to play a key role in the subterfuge. It was clever and fun. 5/5

Kind Little Edmond – This is the second story I had the privilege to enjoy previously. This is the tale of young Edmond, who was filled to the brim with curiosity, so much so that he often irritated his elders. But not his loving and doting grandmother. Edmond decides to explore the nearby mountains and hears some very odd sounds. He meets and helps a mythical beast, a manticore, who rewards him by telling him magnificent tales. This was a great little tale and I really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed this one as the tale has this underlying current about the value of learning things for oneself. 5/5

The Last of the Dragons – This great little story turns the typical princess + dragon + prince story on it’s head. Tradition requires the princess to be rescued from the dragon by a prince. However, this princess would much rather rely on her own fencing skills. The dragon isn’t too thrilled about the idea of coming out, threatening a nice young lady, and then being slain for the sake of tradition. This prince is up for doing something different. Why should he have to do all the hard work? It’s a great story to finish out the book. 5/5

I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobook Worm.

The Narration: Karen Krause does such a lovely job with this classic. Her little kid voices are so believable yet she is also great at doing grumpy elderly characters as well. Her voices for the various beasts are also fun. You can tell that she enjoyed narrating these tales as much as I enjoyed listening to them. Great performance all around!

1 person found this helpful

Loved these tales!

These are a series of (often) tongue-in-cheek tales of dragons and other mythological creatures interacting with princes, princesses, stable-boys, and other humans. There are several separate tales, so you can listen to it in segments, one story at a time. None of the stories depends on any of the others. The stories are entertaining, and often hilariously funny. They will delight both children and adults alike.

The narration is smooth, and well-paced, and the voices of the various characters are varied and distinguishable.

I was voluntarily provided a free review copy of this audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

1 person found this helpful

Cute!!!

This book was definitely written for children (the author gives a lot of nods to the children reading/listening to the book), but I enjoyed this as an adult. I like that it's set up like a lot of fairytales that I can listen to. It would be perfect to listen to a fairytale a night with children (they're about 30 minutes each). Each of the stories have a bit of a moral with a dragon twist. If you have children, pick this up and listen with your children!!!!

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge.

1 person found this helpful

Enchanting Childrens stories

In this there are about 10 or so short kids stories, most of them are delightful. The narrator has a voice easy to listen to. I'm 53 and I really enjoyed most of the stories. I believe that I'd listen to these stories over and over again with the children I know.

1 person found this helpful

The Whole Series!

This is great fun young kids and yet the older crowd can appreciate them too. Each book is roughly 30 mins so it is great for that short car trip or bedtime story. The narrator does a wonderful job and really makes them fun to listen to. These are great for dragon and fairy tale lovers.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Good kids stories

This is the first to eighth book I’ve read/listened to by this author. I got to the fourth story. I’ll have to listen to the rest later, but I’ll review now. I had a hard time getting into the book. The third and final time, I was re-listening to evaluate the narrator so I could write my review. About to comment in the Jane Austinesque style I became curious and looked up the date of publication...1899. I had no idea this was considered a children’s classic. That puts a whole different perspective on the book for me now that I know the era the writing is coming from.

This is the second to ninth books I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Karen Krause ). Her accent and cadence mixed with the verbiage made made for a great listen.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Classic Children's Stories Wonderfully Performed

This collection of classic children's tales by E. Nesbit is an enjoyable treasure, wonderfully brought to life by Karen Krause. While some of the terms used may seem archaic to many modern readers/listeners, they were appropriate to the time when these tales were written and an for the listener with an open mind, can transport you back to the positive side of being a child of that era. Recommended for the young and you-at-heart!

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Gorgeous Storytelling brought to life by K. Krause

This is such a lovely listen. I am halfway through listening to these short stories by E. Nesbit. Stories of little Kings and brave princesses, large dragons, magic books and newts! I decided to write this review before listening to all the short stories for a couple reasons.

1. It only takes an hour or two of listening to Karen Krause to fall in love with her storytelling (I was hooked before the end of the first story!).

She is able to immediately transport you to the various lands and make you laugh at the little quirks of our young heroes/heroines. She captures the innocence of the children, the starchiness of the more wiser and the playfulness of the beasts. You can clearly hear Nesbit's gentle reminders of 'how we, of course, would never do this or that!'.

2. This book is meant to be enjoyed and not rushed through. What child would want you to rush through a story?!

I'm on chapter 5 and come back to listen to a story or two when I'm in the mood for a little adventure!

Bravo to Ms. Krause and her wonderful performance in bringing this classic to life.

Mature Content: none

I requested a free copy of this audiobook from the narrator. My review is unbiased and voluntarily offered.

Wonderful children's fantasy!

I'm not sure how I went my entire childhood without ever experiencing any of these. But as it is, this is a fantastic collection of short dragon-centric stories.

Karen Krause does an excellent job narrating the audiobook. Her voices are top notch, with even her male voices being varied and believable. Her vocal inflections are excellent and her tempo shifts throughout border on perfection.

Each of the 8 included stories are very different, from tone to theme to character and even setting.

All have rather bold-faced messages for the young ones, but even those are presented in entertaining and often comedic ways.

The characters are mostly good-hearted folk who manage to get themselves out of the troubles they often create for themselves in ways that are both touching and hilarious.

I can't recommend this book enough, whether you happen to be young or just young at heart. Or even just if you need a break from all the more serious fantasy stories you might have been reading recently.