Dragons and Dreams Bedtime Stories by Becca Price

Title: Dragons and Dreams Bedtime Stories
Author: Becca Price
Publisher: Wyrm Tale Press
Rating: WORTHY!

This is one of the most charming little books I've read in a while. Becca Price is talented. I favorably reviewed her children's story The Snarls back in April 2015, and although some of the six short stories, for me, faded somewhat the more I read through this, they reminded me a bit of Kipling's Just So stories, or of simple morality tales from yesteryear. They have a sweet gentle air of bygone times and are told beautifully. They were short, too, and so are perfect for bedtime stories - finally, a book cover that's honest! Who knew!

The stories are very short. Here are the intriguing titles:

• A Princess for Tea
• The Grumpy Dragon
• Sunflower
• The Third Precious Thing
• The Dark
• Child of Promise

The first two stories about dragons were excellent, as were the next two, about a fairy and about three brothers who would be king. The last two, however, were a bit flat for me, but will probably prove quite appealing to young children. The first four make this book worth the price of admission in my opinion, even if you don't like the others.

A Princess for Tea explores a misunderstanding between a dragon and the princess sent to appease it. The Grumpy Dragon is about just that, and you can probably guess what his problem is - but can your children? Sunflower is a weird and wonderful tale about a fairy's wish gone wrong which still turns out right. The third precious thing is about three brothers who want to succeed their father, and how he decides who will be the one. The Dark is about exactly that, and Child of Promise tells the tale of a village stricken with a hard winter and how the villagers seek to fix the problem.

The stories are perfect for very young children. There's no violence here, and while some stories are a tiny, teensy bit scary, but not really, they all have wonderful solutions and resolutions designed to assuage fear and promote a comfortable night! I recommend this book, as indeed I do for keeping an eye on this author for future output.

The Snarls by Becca Price

Title: The Snarls
Author: Becca Price (no website found)
Publisher: Amazon
Rating: WORTHY!

Illustrated by Tanya Gleadall.

This was an amazingly inventive story that makes me wish I'd thought of it myself. It takes those annoying hair tangles and snarls, and personifies them; then it romances this idea into an amusingly exaggerated tale of woe.

Tangles will get you if your hair grows long and you don't spend the requisite time caring for it, but if you really let it go, then the Snarls move in and not only set up home, but build cities! There's no end to their industry!

And there's no end to the giddy passion of the author in detailing their exploits in this crazy tale which reads more like a cascading poem than a simple prose story, with the exaggeration building and building until you wonder how the author is ever going to get out of it.

I have to recommend this because it's so fresh and whimsical, and it really does make you want to go wash and brush your hair out, which for children prone to playing in the dirt, and running around having fun, and climbing trees, and so on, is definitely a good thing!