Knights vs. Dinosaurs

Starred review from August 27, 2018
In a highly illustrated chapter book, four braggart knights and one underappreciated squire square off against dinosaurs, all while learning about teamwork and honesty. Confronted with a dearth of foes in peacetime, Camelot’s lesser knights feel inclined to exaggerate the “battles with beasties, run-ins with rogue trolls, or fisticuffs with fierce giants” that they purport to engage in regularly. Sent back in time by Merlin for such embellishments, Sir Erec, Sir Hector, the mysterious Black Knight, and Sir Bors (and squire Mel) know as little about “terrible lizards” as they know about true feats of strength. Nevertheless, the team finds itself doing spectacular battle with numerous recognizable prehistoric beasts, complete with one-on-one bouts, team attacks, and rescue missions (tricera-joust, anyone?). Motion-filled art by Phelan (Snow White) depicts anachronisms side by side in standalone and sequential panels. And as the time-traveling knights try to fight their way back to their true place in time, plot twists reveal the heroes’ true identifiers, adding depth to this hilarious slapstick romp. Ages 8–12.

Starred review from September 15, 2018
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* If there's such a thing as catnip for kids, Phelan's produced it with this illustrated novel, which pits a few of King Arthur's knights against a grab bag of dinosaurs. The results are openly anachronistic and absurdly entertaining. Having largely eradicated the threats to Arthur's kingdom?trolls, dragons, giants, and so on?the Knights of the Round Table spend a good deal of their time boasting of their own bravery. One evening, Merlin baits the braggarts with a rumor of a Terrible Lizard, and Sirs Erec, Bors, Hector, and a mysterious black-armored knight agree to vanquish the creature. When they find the monster's cave, it's disappointingly empty, save for a book titled Terrible Lizards. Yet, a tropical landscape now awaits them outside the cave, as does a Spinosaurus-like dinosaur. The clash is comically disastrous, ending with much crushed armor but all lives intact. The brave (albeit dented) knights then decide to split up to find the purported tyrant king (Tyrannosaurus rex), but end up discovering their only chance of success lies in working together. Though final art was unseen, the book will feature sophisticated ink drawings that range from spot art and dynamic page illustrations to graphic-novel-style battle scenes. Gender stereotypes and egos are challenged along with dinosaurs, giving readers a spectacular book that's victorious on all fronts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2018
After Sir Erec lies about slaying forty dragons to King Arthur, Merlin, and his fellow Knights of the Round Table, he finds himself, along with three other knights and a helpful young squire, sent millions of years into the past to face off against a seemingly endless deluge of angry dinosaurs. Readers witness each knight's failure in solo combat against a variety of powerful dinosaurs. It is not until Sirs Erec, Hector, Bors, and the mysterious Black Knight learn to work together as a team that they finally overcome these mysterious thunder lizards and return to Camelot as gallant heroes. Playing fast and loose with anachronisms, Arthurian legend, and the Mesozoic period, Phelan crafts a lighthearted romp of an adventure sure to please readers looking for a chapter book full of both action and humor. The time-travel magic is left unexplained, allowing readers to focus on the engaging cast of characters and their various foibles. Pen-and-ink spot art and full-page illustrations, as well as intermittent comic-style sequential art, bring the swordplay action to the forefront and keep the tone light enough for the book's young audience. Appended with A Note from Merlin dinosaur-fact back matter (unseen). eric carpenter

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
After Sir Erec lies about slaying forty dragons to King Arthur, Merlin, and fellow Knights of the Round Table, he's sent into the past to face off against angry dinosaurs. Playing fast and loose with anachronisms, Phelan crafts a lighthearted romp with an engaging cast of characters. Pen-and-ink illustrations and intermittent comic-style sequential art bring swordplay to the forefront and keep the tone light enough for the book's young audience.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 1, 2018

Gr 3-6-The Knights of the Round Table share a secret: they spend most of their time fighting with each other for the fun of it because the kingdom has too few dragons to battle. To impress King Arthur, Sir Eric and the other knights embellish their tales. Merlin knows that the elaborate tales are too incredible, so he dangles a dangerous adventure in front of the knights. Of course, they take the bait. At the break of dawn, Sir Eric embarks on an escapade to face the most fearsome creature of all: the "Terrible Lizard." Not to be outdone, Sir Hector, Bors, and the Black Knight join the odyssey. This rollicking story is suspenseful and silly. The black-and-white pencil drawings add to the excitement and include double-page, comic book-like spreads that even reluctant readers will enjoy. VERDICT Themes of teamwork and feminism emerge, making this an excellent choice for all readers.-Annette Herbert, F.E. Smith Elementary School, Cortland, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 15, 2018
Who needs dragons when there are Terrible Lizards to be fought?Having recklessly boasted to King Arthur and the court that he'd slain 40 dragons, Sir Erec can hardly refuse when Merlin offers him more challenging foes...and so it is that in no time (so to speak), Erec, with bookish Sir Hector, the silent and enigmatic Black Knight, and blustering Sir Bors with his thin but doughty squire, Mel, in tow, are hewing away at fearsome creatures sporting natural armor and weapons every bit as effective as knightly ones. Happily, while all the glorious mashing and bashing leads to awesome feats aplenty--who would suspect that a ravening T. Rex could be decked by a well-placed punch to the jaw?--when the dust settles neither bloodshed nor permanent injury has been dealt to either side. Better yet, not even the stunning revelation that two of the Three Stooges-style bumblers aren't what they seem ("Anyone else here a girl?") keeps the questers from developing into a well-knit team capable of repeatedly saving one another's bacon. Phelan endows the all-white human cast with finely drawn, eloquently expressive faces but otherwise works in a loose, movement-filled style, pitting his clanking crew against an almost nonstop onslaught of toothy monsters in a monochrome mix of single scenes and occasional wordless sequential panels.Epic--in plot, not length--and as wise and wonderful as Gerald Morris' Arthurian exploits. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)

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