Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock: A Graphic Novel Poetry Collection Full of Surprising Characters!
by Vikram Madan; illus. by the author
Primary, Intermediate    Wordsong/Astra    128 pp.
11/24    9781635928174    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781635928181    $11.99

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.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.