A Dragon Used to Live Here

In days of old when knights were bold and the woods were full of pixies and elves, there had been a dragon living in the castle. At least, that’s how the story goes, the story Meg tells Emily and Thomas, the royal children who visit Meg and the other scribes each day. Meg says she had been friends with the queen when they were young, but, sadly, they had a falling out. Emily and Thomas really like Meg, and they decide to find a way to get them together at an upcoming party. But they have to find a missing trophy and then find a way to get their mother to understand what happened.

Annette LeBlanc Cate has written a really fun story-within-a-story that works very well for setting up the problem Emily and Thomas want to solve. As Meg tells the story of her and the royal couple’s young lives, what happened in the before relates to everything happening in the now. There is a great deal of humor in the book, which young readers will love, and lots of wonderful pen-and-ink illustrations throughout the book to further engage readers. A winner!