The tale itself is well known. A dragon emerges from a cave overlooking the Downs at the outskirts of a village and only a spunky shepherd's son is brave enough to befriend the sonnet-composing critter. Over time, the dragon's existence becomes the talk of the town and St. George is called in to dispatch this evil scourge that has wrought so much death and destruction, uh, so much theft and vandalism, er, well, actually, hasn't kidnapped a princess, devoured a horse or even stolen a single chicken, but, blimey, he's a dragon and he jolly well might, you know! The Boy is caught in the middle with St. George insisting that he must battle the dragon, and the dragon solidly refusing to raise so much as a single claw against anyone, let alone St. George. All three put their heads together and formulate a plan to satisfy the battle-monger villagers while sparing both the life of the dragon and St. George's reputation. Ernest Shepard's illustrations are masterpieces of understatement featuring nothing but line work to portray the Boy's book-learned confidence, the dragon's sheer size and bulk, and St. George's movie-star pin-up good looks. They are illustrations in the truest sense, tickling the reader's imagination instead of repeating in visual form what the author has already drawn with words in the reader's mind. Particularly humorous is St. George's wide-eyed horse, who appears to be never fully at ease with the dragon. Newer illustrated editions might be more detailed and in full color, but compared to this one, they appear overblown and overdone, an illustrator's showcase at the expense of the story. Ernest Shepard had the good sense and restraint to let the story tell itself and simply embellish a moment here, a bit of action there. Holiday House honors both creators by avoiding unnecessary alteration or abridgement. The result is a literary and visual picnic.

ISBN: 1405237295