Review - Marmaduke the Very Different Dragon

Marmaduke the Very Different Dragon
by Rachel Valentine
illustrated by Ed Eaves
Date: 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Marmaduke's not like all the other dragons - his ears are too big and he never even tries to fly. He just doesn't fit in, however much he wants to, and so he feels terribly lonely.

And Princess Meg? Well, she wears trainers and breaks into dance at the most inappropriate of times, which means that she sticks out like a sore thumb. She doesn't really have any friends, but then she's far too busy having fun to notice . . . Until one day when Marmaduke and Meg's lives collide in the most exciting, brilliant and surprising way and they both realise just how much they need each other.

And, who knows, maybe a princess and a dragon will make the most perfect best friends.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I might've enjoyed this one more if it didn't strike me as an attempt to write a picture book without using the word "said". To be fair, it's used four times, although two of those are embellished with adverbs. This leaves the characters to laugh, call, sigh, chuckle, cry, gasp, shout, ask, grumble, mutter... and, my favourites (ha... not really), sniff, puff, and smile their speech. My patience for this sort of writing ran out a long time ago.

It's a shame, too, because the pictures are really kind of cute. I don't love the "not like other dragons/princesses" trope, though, since it implies rigid roles. Meg is a princess whether she acts like a subservient (and silent) woman or not. Marmaduke is a dragon by virtue of his biology. It's great that they found each other, but they shouldn't have been ostracized by their peers in the first place.

I think that's my problem with this one: there's no real learning going on here. The other dragons don't come around and realize the error of their ways in ostracizing Marmaduke. They simply get jealous of him and wish they could be different, too. I'm not fond of that message. (We don't even find out what happens to the snooty princesses; presumably, they're still being seen but not heard in their pretty dresses.)

The book has its heart in the right place, but the messaging is off.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5