Nickerbacher

 Nickerbacher by Terry John Barto     60 pages

I’ve ready many adaptions of Barto’s Nickerbacher. (BTW, I do not know him, he has reached out to me as a reviewer.) However, this version as an early chapter book is the best.

Nickerbacker is a dragon who doesn’t want breath fire, guard princesses or fight princes He wants to be a comedian. And there are upcoming auditions for The Late Knight in La La Land. Nickerbcker wants to go, and with Princess Gwendolyn’s encouragement, he agrees to talk to hi father one more time.

Papa believes his son is being grossly negligent, dragons were not made to be funny, but Nickerbacher has a dream. The next day Prince Happenstance, on behalf of the Princes Guild arrives to save Princess Gwendolyn. Since she doesn’t need saving, the prince agrees to chase them should they leave the Kingdome. The trio locks up the tower, and they take off on their grand adventure. As they learn about chasing dream, they also learn about each other.

The picture book, Nickerbacher the Funniest Dragon, was well done. However, as an early chapter book, it delves more deeply into the story.

An excellent read for children ages four to eight.

Nickerbacker receives 5 stars out of 5 in Julie’s world.