Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock

Starred review from September 1, 2024
A new gathering of hazards and cautions in rollicking verse from the author ofHatful of Dragons (2020). A dragon smart enough to see through a knight's "I DO NOT seek your gold!" might seem fearful enough. But Madan's collection of poetry, presented in comics format, features plenty of formidable characters, from the boneless "Squishosaurs" ("We glide across the countryside / And in our viscous wake, / TheT. Rexes trudge terrified, /Velociraptors quake!") to a young witch with a lucrative line of ghost pets. Perhaps worst of all is the Nozzlewock, which writhes its way into several poems to suck up the unwary with its prodigious proboscis: "Beware the Nozzlewock, my child! / The nose with super-vacuum strength!" Sharp-eyed readers will find further visual links between various poems, as when a janitor's "Little Oopsie" in a secret laboratory that "messed up time and space" goes on to turn a young explorer into a flaming "super-gal." In varied but consistently tight verses accompanying expressive cartoon images depicting a diverse cast, Madan also trots in other memorable fancies, from a theatrical chorus line of grown-ups singing away a beleaguered child's "Bad-Luck Bogeys" to a mummy happily joining a zombie rock band called the Rolling Moans, on the way to a gloriously glutinous finale in which a group of intrepid children tickle the Nozzlewock into a mighty sneeze of its own. Juicy, joyful, and just right for reading aloud, too.(Graphic poetry. 6-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2024

Gr 3 Up-A delightfully eccentric and quirky collection of poetry, set against brightly colored illustrations and graphic novel comic panels. From the many chapters about the nozzlewock to a man with a black belt in slouching, young readers will enjoy the silly bits told through a variety of poetic forms reminiscent of classic children's poets, such as Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. Approximately 25 poems include characters ranging from woodland animals, aliens, children, and nagging nanas, to the titular dragon and nozzlewock. Some of the forms of poetry include concrete, ABAB, and others that have singsong rhymes to them-including one that is titled as a musical. Because the subject of each poem is goofy in nature, the flow of the book is fast and easy to follow for young readers. Artwork depicts subjects as cartoonlike, with bright colors and lots of movement and action. Some stories are contained in panels and some are more freely illustrated. VERDICT A fun purchase for elementary graphic novel and poetry collections due to the exciting nature of the poems and the self-contained stories.-Molly Dettmann

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2024
Grades 2-5 This follow-up to Geisel Honor book author Madan's A Hatful of Dragons (2020) is an entertaining collection of intertwined stories told in bouncy rhyming lines. The story features a wide variety of eclectic characters throughout, from the standard dragons, ghosts, mummies, and aliens to even stranger creatures, such as a dancing box and "bad-luck bogeys." Holding the story together at its core is the reoccurring cast of characters and classroom of children, who plan to save their teacher from the terrifying nozzlewock, a cryptic creature with an elephant-like trunk that vacuums up everything in its path. Madan's playful book cleverly ties together poetry and graphic storytelling in a volume filled with fun humor sure to please readers. The zany illustrations of the many madcap antics and wild happenings are full of bright colors and amplify the humor in the poems. Hand this to any kid, even the poetry-reluctant, who are looking for a laugh.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2025
This humorous collection features twenty-five story-poems presented in an innovative comic format. Kooky cartoon characters star in the wildly colorful digital illustrations full of vivid purple, orange, and lime green. The zany cast includes (alongside a diverse group of children and grownups) ghost guppies, Squishosaurs, a salesmoose, and of course the titular dragon and Nozzlewock -- "the nose with super-vacuum strength." They tell their intersecting stories in continuous rollicking rhymes full of wordplay, hyperbole, and deadpan humor. Madan delights in infusing his poems with advanced, even complicated vocabulary that will both challenge and intrigue young readers. For example, in "Apocalypse," a mummy tries to terrify three kids: "Beware my wrath! My timeless grudge! / Prepare to face my primal curse! / My hex, unfurled, will end your world / once I recite my vengeful verse!" The kids aren't scared -- it turns out they're zombies -- and all four form a rock band, "The Rolling Moans." Madan employs tongue twisters for humorous effect in "Chores"; a profusion of words beginning with imp in "A Hatful of Imps"; and a poem in panels that can be rearranged in twenty trillion different ways (which he explains) in "T.T.T.S.U.I.T.M." (a.k.a. "This Thing That Showed Up in the Mail"). He plays with the panels on the page, with shifting perspective, and with embedding countless, thrilling tiny details to discover in the illustrations. Sylvia Vardell

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2025
This humorous collection features twenty-five story-poems presented in an innovative comic format. Kooky cartoon characters star in the wildly colorful digital illustrations full of vivid purple, orange, and lime green. The zany cast includes (alongside a diverse group of children and grownups) ghost guppies, Squishosaurs, a salesmoose, and of course the titular dragon and Nozzlewock -- "the nose with super-vacuum strength." They tell their intersecting stories in continuous rollicking rhymes full of wordplay, hyperbole, and deadpan humor. Madan delights in infusing his poems with advanced, even complicated vocabulary that will both challenge and intrigue young readers. For example, in "Apocalypse," a mummy tries to terrify three kids: "Beware my wrath! My timeless grudge! / Prepare to face my primal curse! / My hex, unfurled, will end your world / once I recite my vengeful verse!" The kids aren't scared -- it turns out they're zombies -- and all four form a rock band, "The Rolling Moans." Madan employs tongue twisters for humorous effect in "Chores"; a profusion of words beginning with imp- in "A Hatful of Imps"; and a poem in panels that can be rearranged in twenty trillion different ways (which he explains) in "T.T.T.S.U.I.T.M." (a.k.a. "This Thing That Showed Up in the Mail"). He plays with the panels on the page, with shifting perspective, and with embedding countless, thrilling tiny details to discover in the illustrations.

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)