Dragons at Crumbling Castle

Terry Pratchett's Dragons at Crumbling Castle is a book of very funny short stories for 7 year olds, starting with a dragon problem that nobody else is around to sort out.

What happens

Dragons have moved into Crumbling Castle, and King Arthur has nobody to send. His knights are off on quests. His guards are sick or away, and one has gone to see his granny. So the job goes to Ralph, a small boy in a suit of armour much too big for him.

On the way he picks up a Friday knight who loses his first fight by falling down a rabbit hole. Then there's a wizard whose spells never quite work (he tries to open a door and turns it into pink meringue). And when they finally meet a dragon, it says good morning. How do you fight something that's just been polite to you?

That's the flavour of the whole book. Things never go the way stories usually go, and the fun is in the surprise.

The other stories are just as daft. In The Great Speck, tiny people live on a speck of dust floating round a room. Two rival countries race to plant their flags on the next speck along. In Hunt the Snorry, a huge expedition sets off to catch an animal that nobody has actually seen. There are also tales of the Carpet People, who live down among the fibres of a rug.

Pratchett adds little footnotes at the bottom of the page, and they're often the funniest bit. We learn why wizards get bad knees (all that ducking under doorways in pointy hats). Apparently every kitchen in the world has a box of glacé cherries hiding in it somewhere, and nobody knows why.

The stories are a great length for bedtime, and every one ends on a smile. Very few of the grown-ups in charge have a clue what they're doing, and there's nearly always a sensible child or a quiet helper who sorts things out in the end.

If your reader likes silly kings, muddled wizards and jokes that sneak up on you, this is a brilliant first taste of Terry Pratchett. It's also a lovely one to read aloud together, because grown-ups will be laughing too.

What to read next

My Father's Dragon would be a lovely next read. It's another story where a child sets off to deal with a dragon, and it's the dragon who needs rescuing. A boy stows away to Wild Island with a knapsack full of lollipops and rubber bands to rescue a baby dragon tied up by a river.