Three Tasks for a Dragon, by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

My five star goodreads review for Three Tasks for a Dragon, by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by P.J. Lynch (October 3, 2023, Candlewick), is as follows--"a lovely book--both the words and the pictures gave me great pleasure. If I had someone in my life who loved beautiful fairy tale/dragon books, they would be getting this as a gift."  

It is the story of Prince Lir, who doesn't particularly want to become the next Wolfhound King--he is a scientist at heart, and the wolfhounds don't even come when he summons them, the way they are supposed to do for the true king, and the way they came for his stepbrother.  So she has him sent away on a quest.....and his reaction made me love him--

"Lir was already heartsore at the thought of leaving his beloved Ladin, most especially his friends in the small scientific community who were building a giant spyglass that would enable the watcher to clearly observe the face of the moon. 

I will never see the moon clearly, he thought." p 7

Lir suspects that dark magic might be afoot, and indeed there is, but there is nothing for him to do but go on a quest to save a maiden from a dragon.

And then this fairy tale goes in all sorts of unexpected direction--the maiden, Cethlenn, is better off working for the dragon than she was before, and she knows it, and the dragon, beset by physical ailments, is sorely in need of Lir's practical, scientific mind. So Cethlenn, the dragon, and Lir end up peacefully coexisting for a while...

Until the instigator of the dark magic Lir suspected was afoot arrives, and brings disaster.  There is a happy ending, but it is tense for a while.

There's more complexity of both character and plot to the story, but I'm not spoiling it.  Suffice to say it is a wonderful read for the romantic, castle dreaming youngster such as I was at 9 ish years old, and a pleasure for even the more cynical, ex-castle dreaming adult such as I am now!  The story carries one along, and the illustrations are lovely.  My only quibble is that I would have liked more words--this is lots more than a picture book, word-wise, but not quite even as long as novella.

In any event, I stand by my first reaction--this would be a great present for the right reader.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

NB--Three Tasks for a Dragon is eligible for this year's Cybils Awards in Elementary/Middle Grade speculative fiction, and has not yet been nominated.  Lots of other fine books haven't been nominated either; here are a few of them.  Please show book love by nominating here before the end of the day on October 15th!