Kenny and the Dragon

By: Tony DiTerlizzi / Narrated By: Alan Cumming

Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins

AWESOME “Anthropomorphic” fun!

Oh how I haaaaaate the word “anthropomorphic”, and gosh it was used in sooo many of the reviews that I found of this GRAND little Fantasy! Get a grip! Humans aren’t the only creatures with feelings and who take action and such all! Yeesh!

That said, however? Okay, maybe a little rabbit strapping a frying pan onto his chest, tucking his ears beneath a pot, and wielding a bin lid as a shield to do battle with a dragon? is indeed a bit of a stretch…

-And?- AWESOME! EsPECially when the entire story, its many and varied characters, one of its trio of Heroes is an urbane dragon! is narrated by The BEST Teller of Tales, Alan Cumming! Gosh, whilst listening to this, and whilst noting how admirably every single story of his that’s in the Audiobook Accomplice Library thus far? I kept remembering his autobiography/memoir, Not My Father’s Son, wherein he details his crushing childhood and the contempt his pugnacious father felt for him. I mean, whazza?! Alan Cumming musta been just such a precocious and imaginative and strong kid/individual to let himself go on to simply blossom into the Consummate Performer! His voice acting skills are prodigious, and his ease with transitions, his ability to make a sighed phrase truly that of a held breath of fright being released in relief and joy, the sheer artistry of one of his performances is quite sincerely a delight to the senses; he goes beYONd voice, delivers action, emotion, the true spiritual evolution of the characters.

Okay, have I fawned enough?! But seriously, one of his memoirs, with toooo many selfies! had me pegging him as a spoiled dilettante, but every gosh-danged single audiobook I’ve listened to Other Than THAT One? Simply wonderful!

Done with the fawning…!

Onto fawning over Tony DiTerlizzi and this really sweet charmer of a story! Kenny is a well-read little rabbit, a little bit of an oddball, tho’ not truly an outcast. When his farmer Dad stomps dirt from his boots one day, shouting that the family must move NOW!, Mom settles him down to make him tell her and Kenny WHY?

One of those dragon-ish thingies, a BEAST, is on their land! It’ll be charred farm and dead sheep if they don’t get to new pastures, like, well not NOW, but CERtainly after Ma’s delicious Corn Chowder…!

Kenny, oh so excited by this news, dashes to a bestiary and discovers what it takes to vanquish and destroy the vile creatures. Donning aforementioned cookware, Kenny is allowed to meet the dragon in combat (After, Ma demands, chores and homework!). He sees the dragon! It’s massive! He wonders at the puniness of his defensive attire, and?

Why, the dragon introduces himself, wonders what Kenny will be cooking for him what with all that cookware at Kenny’s disposal. Crème Brûlée, the dragon, Grahame (“Like the cracker” but with an “e”!), asks hopefully?

Grahame is a Renaissance “Man” and is a lover of fine arts, literature and poetry, and oh yesssss: He does soooo love a good meal! Will Kenny bring his folks up to meet him, p’raps with Ma cooking for him some delightful full-course meals? Soon, the entire family is spending time with Grahame but none as much as Kenny, who shares with Grahame that the dragon has become one of his best friends (He only has two; the other is George, the kindly old bookshop seller who plays chess with Kenny and lends him books).

All is well and good until the townsfolk from the nearby village spot A Dragon in the Hills! He’ll burn the town down! He’ll sneak into our houses and eat our children! He MUST be killed at once!

Mob Mentality, and worse? The King has sent word to the most famed and noted of Dragon Slayers who just haaaaappens to be:

George…!

With this dilemma, a showdown certain to end in the death of one or both of his friends, Kenny must confront each of them, seek peaceful solutions, face a crowd hellbent on violence (And TOTALLY into selling souvenirs!), and perhaps take on The King Himself.

What I truly delighted in was how DiTerlizzi writes how Kenny is feeeeeling about it all. He feels such terror in his gut, but soon it takes fire, and he feels he can, Nay! WILL act upon such sensations! As someone who just had a conversation about how I wish I could be one of those people who feel the adrenaline of fear and decide to turn it all into positive action? Good cow, man! This li’l gem o’ a book was flat-out inspiring to this old Ostrich Who Looks for Sand to Bury M’ Head In (I know I know I know You don’t have to correct me: I know perfectly well that Ostriches DON’T do that… but still…). Not only is this about taking those cortisol hits and acting, but it’s about friendship, and sharing, and family!

awesome Awesome AWESOME

Totally a Fave, Totally am THRILLED I have the second in this, as of now, 2-book Series.

Onward! And now hungry for Crème Brûlée….!!!