When Fairies Go Bad

Dragonbreath #7

by Ursula Vernon

NOT your little sister's glittery fairy story!

Everyone knows rule #1 in the dragon world: Never, ever mess with a dragon's mama. So when Danny Dragonbreath's mom gets kidnapped by fairies, Danny, his best friend Wendell, and know-it-all Christiana hop the first bus to the Faerie realm to show those fairies who's boss. But these are not the sparkly Tinkerbell kind of fairies. These guys play dirty, and escaping fairyland with Danny's mom is no easy task, even for a sort-of-fire-breathing dragon.

The seventh book in this laugh-until-smoke-comes-out-of-your-nose series is perfect for Wimpy Kid and Dork Diary fans everywhere.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Dragons, Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher, is an author and illustrator. She has written over fifteen books for children, at least a dozen novels for adults, an epic webcomic called “Digger” and various short stories and other odds and ends.

Ursula grew up in Oregon and Arizona, studied anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota, and stayed there for ten years, until she finally learned to drive in deep snow and was obligated to leave the state.

Having moved across the country several times, she eventually settled in Pittsboro, North Carolina, where she works full-time as an artist and creator of oddities. She lives with her husband and his chickens.

Her work has been nominated for the Eisner, World Fantasy, and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards. It has garnered a number of Webcomics Choice Awards, the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, the Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Literature, the Nebula for Best Short Story, the Sequoyah Award, and many others.

Reviews

[Daria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyment 9/10
Concept 8/10
Execution 9/10
Illustrations 8/10

Rating: 4.32/5

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun adventure with Danny, Wendell and Christiana as they find their way to the land of the fae to rescue Danny's mom. I love this series!

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable installment of the Dragonbreath series. I love the fairy curse that Christiana ends up under! And all the little nods to different fairy stories are great.

[The · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoons! Who would've thought? It was a really fun book. Christina's curse was really funny....🤣

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the conceit that a particular bus can take people to alternate universes or through time as needed. This time it's not a direct route. The transfer point gives a few pages to glimpse at an unnamed but well described Oz. It's a place where houses fall from the sky and then take off again; where faded yellow bricks wend their way through menacing cornfields.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm...

Marginalized Utopia Blue Highway 66FF33

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by B.L. : "I know I'm probably too old for these books, but they are very imaginative and fun to read. Plus, I love novels with pictures. I really liked this book, as it explored different magical creatures in this universe, and because I love fantasy. Overall, really good book for both children and imaginative... non-children."

[Loren Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting world building done in this book. Grandpa Dragonbreath is always hilarious even if he is in the story for a little bit. Cristiana skeptic as always and Danny the fearless is getting more co troll over his fire breathing.

[Kalina Panayotova · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite of the series so far...
I found it the most consistent and enchanting play on folklore so far.
Christiana's curse was a hilarious touch.
And Danny's mom is the real MVP for the reading parent. Love that she (almost) grounded Danny (do things mom's say before coffe count? )

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are a favorite series for my 8 year old. They are pretty good, but this one was not my favorite. I think I just wasn’t i to the whole faerie thing. They weren’t as interesting as the inter-dragon dynamics.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated well for a fun middle grade story that covers the traditional myth of faeries, in the scope of a present day anthropomorphic dragon kid. Buses and foxes. The dangers of faerie, and all that. Charming.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoooooons!!!!! Who knew that's what drove fairies wild?

The 6 year old said he didn't like this one as well as some others. Going with his rating.

[Lyuben · Rating 3 out of 5]

First one of the lot I didn't like that much, there was just something missing.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this one! Couldn't put it down. :D

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked when the bushes talked about being sheep and dogs. There was also a twig man and a mom kidnapping. XOXO - Alice

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was not as good of a book as the beginning of the series

[Lorien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, creative, and adorable! Dragonbreath captivated me as an elementary schooler, and this book was one of my favorites.

Who knew that fairies love spoons?

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, buses can take you anywhere...

[Heather McLaughlin]

These are such sweet, fun books. If you're looking for something to take your mind off 2020 or something to share with a young person I definitely recommend these.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty fast moving adventure story. Another with Christiana, which always makes it better. And with bunches of side characters. Simple and silly but also fun. 3.5 of 5

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Adrian Villanueva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es drama, acción y medio telenovela

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

little more haphazard than most in terms of plot line, but was cute. wish the fairy king could've been more menacing & that world developed more.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Faeries are more accurate in this book than anything out of YA these days

[Billr]

The main character motive is separation from his mom here's a quote to prove it “something reached out of the fairy ring, it closed over Danny ‘s mother’s wrist ,and yanked her into the ring she vanished.”this proves it's a monomyth because there's a separation and all monomyths have that in them here's a quote to show change in setting “Hmmmph’ said one guard. ‘A Fool’s errand dragon-child. “Go back to your home and hoard.” ” or else!” this prove’s change in setting because it's the entrance to the king’s palace.

This book is told in third person which makes this more adventurous. Here's a quote to prove it “they passed through a section where the the birds looked like ordinary blackbirds.” this makes it more adventurous because you watch like a eagle in the sky or the narrinter.

Heres quote to show why I like this book “get out of my way or I swear by oak and rowan that I’ll turn you into bacon” I like this book because It’s adventurous.

[Roblo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the beginning Danny dragonbreath (the main character) is gardening with his mom until they find a mushroom ring Danny's mom says to go back inside. Later that night Danny hears music coming from the back yard he saw his mom walk into the mushroom rings then finally disappearing. Then Danny is destined to go find his mom in a magical world.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely Oz-inspired. Lots of fun and action.

[Ritika Chhabra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow Just A Girl High On Books for more reviews.

In the seventh book of the Dragonbreath series, we see a rather unusual villain. These are the fairies, or rather, all fair folk. Unlike the "goody-two shoes" fairies we know of, the fairies of Danny's world are vicious and selfish. They would do anything to harm the animal population, just for the fun of it. They are also the ones who kidnap Danny's mother and carry her off to their land. This is why Danny takes his great-grandfather Dragonbreath's help and along with Wendell and Christina, goes to find his mother.

Throughout the course of this book, Vernon indulged in some terrific world-building. All the characters that Danny and company met were very intriguing. Christina's skepticism and Danny's sense of adventure made the entire book even more enjoyable.

Yet, despite all of that, I have to admit that the book wasn't a whole lot interesting. It felt more of like the book was driven more by the various kinds of fairies than by any plot. In a way, the book was a typical adventure book. You go on a quest (to find Danny's mom), you have great obstacles on the path (so, so many creatures), you end up succeeding (find Danny's mom). It was more about their obstacles than about them. Danny also breathed proper fire in this one, yet the incident was ignored. There was no rejoicing, nothing. I agree, Christina didn't believe it but Wendell did, didn't he? He could have reacted.

So overall, it was a good book but there was something missing here; something I hope is fulfilled in the later books!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part-graphic novel, part chapter book, this is an entertaining and somewhat educational story about an adolescent anthropomorphic dragon, his iguana pal, and a girl lizard. It's the seventh book in the Dragonbreath series by Ursula Vernon.

This was a fun story featuring Danny, Wendell, and Christiana going on an adventure to Faerie to save Danny's mother. This story seems to have less silly humor and more drama than some of the earlier tales.

We borrowed this book from our local library. The story is a quick read and the graphic novel-like scenes are woven throughout the story in a seamless way. This would be a great book for an older child who likes graphic novels, but not chapter books, since you get a little bit of both here.

Our girls adored this book (our oldest read ahead and finished the book before we could finish reading it together) and we really enjoyed reading it together. I especially like that advanced vocabulary words are sprinkled throughout the tale, providing a little challenge without being too frustrating for younger readers. We are looking forward to reading Dragonbreath #8: Nightmare of the Iguana and we really hope the author writes more - our girls love these books!

new word: skirling

[Kathy]

Fiona DeMott, reviewer
DragonBreath: Fairies Gone Bad By: Ursula Vernon

When Danny wakes up to music in the night he sees a glow from an mushroom ring. His mom walked into the mushroom ring. Danny thought “This is probably a dream. I'll see if she’s here tomorrow.” Danny wakes up with no sign of her being there. He calls his friends, Wendell and Christiana to help him. They all go to Danny's Grandpa’s house because Grandpa knows about Fairies. They get all sorts of tips like the fairies love spoons and hate holy water. Danny and his friends are now prepared and show their act of bravery by defeating obstacles such as: a big hawk , bad bushes that talk, and big hogs. Then, they face their biggest challenge - getting Danny's mom out of the cage she is locked in. They made a smart trade which was the 9 spoons for Danny's mom.

Danny is a risk taker with anger problems but he will risk his life for others.
Wendell is a baby who is afraid of everything in this book but is good at speaking into a trade.
Christiana has a bad attitude and doesn't believe anything.

I would recommend this book because it has good description and has a lot of action.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragonbreath is a popular series in our school library. Some of the kids like it because of the illustrations, others like it for the humor. In this adventure, Danny's mother is kidnapped by fairies and Danny and his friends set out to rescue her. Wendell and Christiana come along to help bring Mrs. Dragonbreath home, even though Christiana is certain that there are no such things as fairies. With some advice from Danny's great-grandfather, they pack up supplies (spoons, pudding cups, a script of what to say to the king of faerie) and catch the bus to fairyland. They run into all sorts of creatures along the way and have a hard time sticking to the trail as Great-Granddad advised. There are vicious-looking boars, birds wearing masks, a talking fox, a fairy wearing a fez, and odd animated stick people (yes, made from sticks). Will they be able to bargain for the release of Danny's mother and make it safely out of Faerie? And will Christiana believe any of it really happened? You'll have to read it to find out.