The Wooden Dragon

by Joan Aiken, Bee Willey (Illustrator)

This is the story of lame Window and her sailor brother, Handle, who live in a small house in a wooded hollow. Each autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees, the little house is buried right up to its bedroom windows, so each year Handle must sweep the leaves away. But one day, Handle breaks the news that he must go away on an extra long trip. Window is sad, and desperately worried that she cannot survive without him. Before he leaves for the harbor, however, Handle gives Window a little wooden dragon and promises his sister that the dragon will look after her. And so the little dragon sits on a corner shelf, growing dusty, and waits for the time when he can come to Window’s aid.

Genres: Dragons, Picture Books, Fantasy, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2004

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celebrated children's writer Joan Aiken, author of the classic The Wolves of Willoughby Chase , spins an original fairy-tale in this brightly-illustrated picture-book. The story of siblings Window and Handle - the former a homebound knitter and storyteller, unable to get very far because of a lame leg; the latter an energetic sailor who periodically leaves home on long sea voyages - it centers around the gift of a wooden dragon, from brother to sister. Ignoring the hand-carved memento, Windows instead pines for her absent brother, and worries about her own fate, if autumn leaves should bury their house. When the dragon, now dusty and pining himself, comes to her in a dream, WIndow manages to snap out of her malaise, cleaning the dragon and setting him loose on the aforementioned leaves. Returning to his "secret magic island,' he leaves Window in a much more hopeful state...

Although a great fan of Aiken's work, I confess to being a tad disappointed in The Wooden Dragon, which I had to track down through inter-library loan. Unlike her retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , or her original fairy-tale, The Moon's Revenge , which were both published here in the states, this one was only ever published in London (at least in English), and is therefore more difficult to obtain in the USA. Leaving such issues aside, I found that the story here, although engaging enough, did not live up to the author's better work. The names of the two main characters - Aiken has a penchant for idiosyncratic names - were distracting, and the dilemma of the leaf-buried house somehow felt so obviously contrived, rather than organically magical. There's nothing really wrong here (although I would have preferred Handle to return at the end), so perhaps my lukewarm response was the result of overly high expectations. The accompanying illustrations by Bee Willey were quite lovely, with a gorgeous color scheme, and a leaf motif throughout that was sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious. I found her human faces a little creepy, but perhaps they were meant to have a sort of eldritch enchantment.

All in all, despite my qualifications, this is still a book worth seeking out, if one is a Joan Aiken fan, or enjoys picture-books featuring fantastic tales.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad losses. Creative wild hair, colors, costumes, leaves.

[Summer]

KS2 - Used this for an inference worksheet.
This had some interesting themes of relationships and loneliness
Thought the story was a bit naff though

[Jennifer MD Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adorable little story is a great way for children (or children at heart) to process loneliness and uncertainty, and foster a sense of hope.