The Dragon Takes a Wife

by Walter Dean Myers, Fiona French (illustrator)

A reissue of the Newbery Honor author and Coretta Scott King Award winner's first picture book, complete with stunning new illustrations, presents the story of a dragon seeking companionship and a kindhearted, mildly incompetent, jive-talking fairy named Mabel Mae Jones.

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Childrens, Cultural, Fiction, Fairy Tales

1 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

pseudonyms:
Stacie Williams
Stacie Johnson

Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia but moved to Harlem with his foster parents at age three. He was brought up and went to public school there. He attended Stuyvesant High School until the age of seventeen when he joined the army.

After serving four years in the army, he worked at various jobs and earned a BA from Empire State College. He wrote full time after 1977.

Walter wrote from childhood, first finding success in 1969 when he won the Council on Interracial Books for Children contest, which resulted in the publication of his first book for children, Where Does the Day Go?, by Parent's Magazine Press. He published over seventy books for children and young adults. He received many awards for his work in this field including the Coretta Scott King Award, five times. Two of his books were awarded Newbery Honors. He was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the Virginia Hamilton Award. For one of his books, Monster, he received the first Michael Printz Award for Young Adult literature awarded by the American Library Association. Monster and Autobiography of My Dead Brother were selected as National Book Award Finalists.

In addition to the publication of his books, Walter contributed to educational and literary publications. He visited schools to speak to children, teachers, librarians, and parents. For three years he led a writing workshop for children in a school in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Walter Dean Myers was married, had three grown children and lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness. He was 76 years old.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dragon Takes a Wife was written in 1995. It is the first attempt by Myers to enter into the world of primary picture books. It is the story of Harry, the lonely dragon who is lonely and has not been very happy in life. He decides that he needs companionship so he goes to the lovely fairy, Mable Mae Jones and asks her to help him secure a wife. She comes up with several magic spells that he should use but each time he must recite the magic words that she gives him. None of the spells work and each time Harry comes back more defeated and love lorn. Finally, Mable turns herself into a dragon...the prettiest dragon that Harry has ever seen and he finds himself hopelessly in love with her. The marry and Harry lives happily ever after.

This book reminded me of the Cinderella story although Mable is black who wears the craziest outfits. It has a predictable ending.....everyone lives happily ever after (as is the case in most fairytales), and proves that love can be found by everyone.

Elementary students would probably love this book because of it's unbelievability and predictability. The most awesome thing about this book to me were the illustrations which were superbly done by Fiona French.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I love this little book, and the story behind it. Kati and I read it together and then she "read" it to herself. She was somewhat interested that Myers had signed my copy. She asked about the illustrator. Good book sense. So, our hero the dragon must fight and beat the knight-in-shining-armor in order to win a lady dragon fair. The colorful fairy, Mabel Mae tries to help, but our hero keeps losing. Through some magic and true love, there is a happy ending.


I didn't tell Kati the story of Myers writing the concept on a cocktail napkin.

We had a great time reading this together.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book from 1972 that I got when I was 6. It has the best jive talking black fairy ever, Mabel Mae Jones. She is awesome!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry, the dragon, wants to get married. But in order to do that, he must defeat the knight in shining armor of Lyraland. So he goes to Mabel Mae, a fairy, for help. But every spell she tries backfires until she turns herself into a dragon. She is so beautiful that Harry really wants to win.

[Enola · Rating 5 out of 5]

this should be a classic - I loved the meta-elements - Myers was ahead of his time

[Mk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a child as it was my absolute favorite! I still have the original 1972 copy, eeee! I loved the happy ending more than anything else! It truly made me the hopeFUL romantic I am today!

[Dominicia Norwood]

As humans we all know all to well of the feeling of wanting to give up when we are aware of the fact that our opponent is better than us. Situations such as this one are much more prevalent in our younger years. In Walter Dean Myers' book The Dragon Takes a Wife in order for dragons to get married they must win a battle against a knight. This story nicely contradicts most fairy tales we read as children. In most fairy tales, we're presented with a character, typically human, sick of their lives, with a specific demographic. Myers' takes what isn't the usual fairy tale and puts his own spin on it.
Walter Dean Myers takes us for quite the whimsical and what I found hilarious journey throughout Harry's quest to find a wife. From the start of the book, readers may be confused by Harry's woes to defeat the knight which is a paradox of normal fairy tale. In this story instead of the dragon being the antagonist the roles are switched and the knight has caused a plentiful of mischief in Harry's life. With a what most would describe as "funky" fairy god mother, the Harry learns a lesson in perseverance and what you want may be right in front of your eyes.
This tale would be perfect for the young reader! The Dragon Takes a Wife is a short story that will keep readers of all ages on their toes and laughing throughout. Also, with illustrations like these from Fiona French how could a reader not enjoy The Dragon Takes a Wife!

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sort of really liked the innovation of the tale- Walter Dean Myers adds a great African American twist to an original fairytale with fun dialog as Mabel Mae Jones, a fairy, tries to help the dragon defeat a knight to be able to take a wife. It's fun to see a fairytale with a more male perspective and would provide an interesting comparison with more traditional tales to see how gender and ethnicity affect it. On the other hand, the pictures are rather blah. Perhaps its because the illustrator is clearly pictured as white on the back flap, but they really sort of seem to be a white attempt at being black but without too much effort. They're not a bad attempt, they just don't really add anything to the story except some bright rainbowy colours. It's probably they they're just a rather odd mix of African American and traditional fairytale and maybe stained-glass window/medieval conventions?

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We recently read Love That Dog, in which Walter Dean Myers is featured prominently. So, I thought I would try to discover some of his works at our local library.

This is an entertaining take on the classic dragon vs. knight story, with a charming urban dialogue and fun poetic spells. The illustrations are colorful and cartoonish. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[S.N. Arly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a Half-Price Books when my son was a baby. It was initially the bright colors and contrasts that appealed, but once I read it, I realized we'd discovered an unexpected gem. The characters are ethnically diverse, and Mabel Mae, is a wonderful antidote for the cutesy Disney style fairies.

Only the magic spells are written in rhyme, and the whole thing reads very nicely aloud.

[Akilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the ending of this book completely absurd and considering that it stars a dragon that goes to a fairy for help with finding a wife, well...that's saying a lot.

You can tell this book is from the '70s because the slang is so era-appropriate. Also, the fairy's name is MABEL MAE JONES, so there you go. I mean, MABEL MAE.

In other words: delightful. Can you dig what I'm saying?

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

***Note: I did not read this edition of the book. I read the 1972 edition that was illustrated by Ann Grifalconi***
I really enjoyed the book. The language is telling of the time but that makes it really fun for me. How can you not love Harry? He's such a sweet and adorable dragon! So Cute! Mabel Mae is so chill and fun! Five stars for me for sure!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the illustrations in this book! The fairy is spunky!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

bright bold colors

[Marissa Elera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the 1972 version, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi. This is a charming little story and Grifalcon's illustrations are absolutely delicious. Mabel Mae is the most beautiful and stylish fairy in all of children's literature, and that's no small feat. Between her array of glamorous headwraps, caftans sunglasses, 60's shift dresses, sunhats and her glorious afro, she's really got it going on. No wonder Harry was "trying to get next to" Mabel Mae!