How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

This book spawned multiple successful movies. It is set as a translation of old Norse. People train dragons. Some kids brefriend, but also run into trouble. Things work out well in the end.

That Rabbit Belongs To Emily Brown

That Rabbit Belongs To Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell (Author), Neal Layton (Illustrator)

Emily Brown likes her bunny, Stanley. Queen Gloriana really wants the rabbit (who is often referred to as bunnywunny). She sends the various heads of the military to offer increasingly large trades for the rabbit. Emily refuses. finally the queen's men sneak in in the middle of the night to take the rabbit. Alas, after being washed and stuffed, the rabbit feel broken. Emily Brown takes back her rabbit and explains to the queen how to make one of her stuffed animals beloved.

The drawings are great in this book with a mixture of different styles (and a bit of photography). The story remains a bit ambiguous. Is this really the parents trying to clean the rabbit? Or another kid desiring it? Or is this just a plain old adventure that the girl dreams of?  This ambiguity adds to the quality of the book.

The Wizards of Once: Never and Forever

And so the story ends. There is a great battle and a lot of humor. The heroes end by taking up names, such as King Arthur. And we now learn that they are the originators of the legends.

The Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times

The series continues with more mixture of parody and fantasy tropes. It is portrayed as a "true" account of past items that have occured. There is still the conflict between the wizards and warriors, with the badness of witches. A significant part of the story is spent on a "quest", only they don't know the precise rules. They do eventually discover that it was in part a response to trickery of their forebears. The actual adventures are somewhat less important than the adventure undertaken to get there. It often feels like a vehicle for comedic commentary.

The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic

Boy wizards and girl warriors are supposed to hate each other. They don't and hilarity ensues. There is crazy stuff about no being a witch because she is the princes and other things that feel like three stooges type slapstick.

The Wizards of Once

Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

A wizard gets impatient for his magic to come in, so her tries to kidnap a witch. Things get weirder and weirder. They eventually realize that it is better to wait for magic than to try to kidnap dark magic - or do they?