The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rebecca Rupp

I have recently completed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, so my daughter recommended this book. So, while I am reading this one, my daughter is beginning the Lord of the Rings for the 4th time in as many months. Needless to say, there is not much comparison between the two.

I am 1/3 the way through (it is a quick read), and so far so good. The book itself follows generally good form for story-telling. Being written for younger children, the plot moves quickly, while descriptions of people, places, and things are rather flat and without atmosphere. Rebecca Rupp is a medical doctor who took to homeschooling her children. Thus, there are many obscure references to obscure facts about geography, history, astronomy, literature, etc. This forced 'cultural literacy'lasts throughout the book and is rather annoying.

The plot, as I mentioned, is about a young family who spend the summer on Lonely Island off the coast of Maine. While on the island, the three children meet a three-headed dragon who tells them stories.

The purpose for the stories is that each child has a pronounced 'behavioral problem' which needs to be corrected. I care little for the behavioral problems and for the fact the father works too much to help and the mother is aloof as to how to help (this book almost advocates youth ministries). On the other hand, the way in which the dragon confronts each child is through the moral imagination, through the stories.