Although the Author’s books are primarily written for younger readers, I must say that I am rapidly becoming a fan of his storytelling and talent for creating entertaining and thought provoking books. Having read four of Antony’s titles now, Grown Up’s Can’t Be Friends with Dragons is my favourite, with A Tiger Too Many following closely behind. That is despite the fact that I did find it a little slow to start and that the Dragon’s appearance did send my skin crawling somewhat with its description!
In this story we are introduced to the main character of Brian, who lives by the sea and is always in trouble at school. The Author through Brian and his family and friendships tackles issues such as bullying, managing grief, loss, loneliness, isolation, fear, despair and progressing to learning by standing in someone else’s shoes, finding hope, courage, faith, true friendship, and magic. Antony’s brilliant narration and character development has the reader not only connecting to Brian as the main protagonist but his sister Emily and their father also give a heartfelt and credible performance eliciting warmth, concern and empathy from the reader.
I also love the way that Antony combines historical fact and fiction and this story plot in particularly had me hooked as Brian & Dragon travel to the past and period in time where women like their new friend, Isabelle, that possessed a natural healing gift and knowledge of nature remedies were hunted and persecuted as witches. Stepping forward in time Brian is drawn to the echoes of Isabelle and the past which leads him to an amazing discovery, one that thankfully did stop me tearing up at the end!
This is another well written and executed story with believable dialogue, engaging characters and an ending which I thought was perfect, and left me hoping that further stories and books would come from this.
I award 5 stars.
