Green Smoke (Dragon, #1) By Rosemary Manning

Not everyone can meet a dragon. But reading this book is the next best thing! Green Smoke (Dragon, #1)

Wonderful, evocative children’s book originally published in 1957, featuring eight-year-old Susan who meets a lonely dragon living in an isolated seaside cave. In Cornwall on holiday with her parents, Sue’s allowed to explore the local surroundings in her free time. one day wandering a nearby beach she spots a puff of green smoke, and ends up befriending a grumpy, centuries-old dragon. In exchange for a daily sugared bun, the dragon tells tales of his past, that range from stories of Merlin and the court of King Arthur to Cornish fairies, giants, mermaids and snippets of local myth and legend. It’s a really lovely, bittersweet story filled with bursts of droll humour, the first in a short series by author, teacher, and in later life queer activist, Rosemary Manning who’s also known for the cult classic, lesbian coming-of-age story The Chinese Garden. Beautifully illustrated by Constance Marshall. Paperback Ein wunderbares Kinderbuch zum Vorlesen und Selbstlesen, in dem ein Drache eine kleines Mädchen die Geschichte um König Artus erleben lässt.
Ich habe die Geschichte als Kind bestimmt Dutzende Male gelesen und sie hat mich immer wieder begeistert. Paperback When my wife and I were expecting our daughter, I started buying some of the books I remembered fondly from my childhood. This was top of the list, and it was just as delightful as my memories.

A tale of a girl, a dragon, currant buns and the cornish coast. Wonderful. Paperback I devoured this book and (two of) its sequels as a child and now I'm reading it to my own eight year old, who's enjoying it nearly as much as I am.

I hadn't realized until this re-read how strongly this book is structurally influenced by Puck Of Pook's Hill, whose template it adopts wholeheartedly. But that's not a ding -- the structure isn't the source of the value, it's just a frame off of which to hang a charming series of anecdotes, fairy stories and modest meditations.

Here we find plenty of Athuriana but also Child Rolande, a dash of Greek myths and a mermaid tale which parents whose kids have read Julia Donaldson will immediately recognize. Paperback Some years ago now, I began to have a memory of a book series I loved as a child.
There was a boy, who lived in St Albans, and there was a dragon and adventures ensued.
I read them while at primary school - books still existing back in those days - but in my adult life I could not find anyone who remembered these books.
Then, fortune favoured me. A clear out of my old stuff at my mum's house revealed three books - Dragon In Danger. The Dragon's Quest and Dragon In The Harbour.
OK, the hero was a girl and the town was St Aubyns - BUT, I wasn't mad and these books existed.
So HA!
Then, brilliantly, Green Smoke was pointed out to me - the first in Rosemary Manning's series and the one where Sue meets R. Dragon (nope, can't reveal that, sorry) while on holiday in Cornwall with her parents.
Essentially, Green Smoke is a series of short stories - told by Dragon to Sue - strung together by the loose holiday narrative.
Some of the stories are popular fables, some are the work of Manning, but to be honest the provenance doesn't really matter because a) it's a children's book and 2) they're still well told.
The secret of this book's long lasting success lies in the relationship between sue and Dragon.
Here Manning creates a warm friendship built on mutual trust and buns. The book teaches you that people can get along just by getting to know each other, even if one is a young girl and one is a green dragon from the time of King Arthur.
The book just has warmth and love oozing from every page, the author's affection for her characters - and, it has to be said, Cornwall - drawing you in and keeping you safe while people fly around meeting mermaids and the like.
Reading the other books in the series as a child fired my imagination and cemented my love of reading.
Discovering Green Smoke as an adult rekindled that first love, and brought back those feelings of discovering a new world and new adventures.
I suspect I shall be re-reading the rest of the series before long... Paperback

Read Green Smoke (Dragon, #1)

My absolute favourite book as a child. I still think of this book often. Can’t wait to read it to my daughter when she is older. Paperback I have very fond memories of my teacher reading this story to the class in Primary School. I re-read it today, 40+ years later, and found it very charming. It is a series of stories within a story about a holiday friendship between 8 year old Sue and the dragon she discovers in a cave on a Cornish beach. Despite its age, there is plenty of wonder in this book to keep today’s children engrossed. Paperback This was one of my favourite books when I was younger. It's quite dated but not too much as to be inaccessible to modern readers. It's an easy light-hearted read. R Dragon is an interesting character, with flaws and a past. I particularly liked how the book included stories of King Arthur and the Round Table, as well as the British fairy tales Molly Whuppie and Childe Roland. It's a good way for young children to be introduced to these things and maybe go on further to explore them themselves. And of course, there's a huge focus on cake and buns which is always important! Paperback Very sweet book for young chapter book readers about a little girl who meets a dragon. Paperback Read this book back when I was the sweet age of 10 years old back in 1983. Read it again as an adult and it bought my childhood flooding back. Never realised they made a series out of these books but this will always be one of my favorites. Paperback