cover image Over at the Castle

Over at the Castle

Boni Ashburn, , illus. by Kelly Murphy. . Abrams, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-8414-1

The dragons from Hush, Little Dragon are back with a new twist on a familiar rhyme. Instead of “Over in the Meadow,” the scene is set in a castle, and readers are encouraged to count servants, guards, weavers, and even a prisoner in the dungeon. Ashburn twice interrupts the counting with a couplet about a waiting baby dragon (“ 'Now?' begs little dragon. 'Not yet!' says his mother”). At the end of the day, the dragons present a surprise display of flames and fireworks. Murphy's sun-drenched illustrations, featuring gentle humor and child-oriented characters, beget a fanciful medieval world. Ages 3–6. (Mar.)