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Dragon Feathers
A poor woodcutter's son must pluck three feathers from the wings of a terrible dragon to win the hand of the innkeeper's daughter.
23 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
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83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 22, 2011
I used to work at a bookstore in college and was fortunate enough to get a hold of it when it first came out. Of course, I was a jerk and lost it somehow.
I spent years looking for it - absolutely impossible to find this book, let alone in English, for years - so about a decade ago, I was able to hunt it down the French edition from Canada. Canada! Dammit!
What the shit is going on in this book? Tiny elves with candles coming out of their heads? Chickens with coats of armor? Dragons with cow-feet. And crazy-ass headgear. Always crazy-ass headgear.
One of the most visually inspiring books I've had the chance to own. Just got stuck in a creative block and it never fails to get me back to the drafting table. I'd read an article, years back, where they take at least TWO YEARS to do the illustrations for just one of their (sadly, too few) book projects. The textures are positively other-worldly.
Personally, my favorite book of the series, although The Brave Little Tailor and The Fine Round Cake are classics in their own right as well.
While The Adventures of Abdi's illustrations are also splendid, it clearly feels they were quite directed. Hell. Read them all.
I spent years looking for it - absolutely impossible to find this book, let alone in English, for years - so about a decade ago, I was able to hunt it down the French edition from Canada. Canada! Dammit!
What the shit is going on in this book? Tiny elves with candles coming out of their heads? Chickens with coats of armor? Dragons with cow-feet. And crazy-ass headgear. Always crazy-ass headgear.
One of the most visually inspiring books I've had the chance to own. Just got stuck in a creative block and it never fails to get me back to the drafting table. I'd read an article, years back, where they take at least TWO YEARS to do the illustrations for just one of their (sadly, too few) book projects. The textures are positively other-worldly.
Personally, my favorite book of the series, although The Brave Little Tailor and The Fine Round Cake are classics in their own right as well.
While The Adventures of Abdi's illustrations are also splendid, it clearly feels they were quite directed. Hell. Read them all.
June 20, 2019
Fiaba sul povero figlio di un taglialegna che, per sposare l'innamorata, deve rubare tre penne d'oro a un drago. Ripercorre quasi per filo e per segno una fiaba molto più famosa, ovvero I tre capelli d'oro del diavolo, dei fratelli Grimm (anche questa rimaneggiata in tutte le salse).
Mentre la storia, quindi, non ha nulla di speciale, le illustrazioni dei russi Ol'ga Dugina e Andrej Dugin sono spettacolari. Mi sembra che gli illustratori russi abbiano un'attenzione al dettaglio incomparabile: le loro illustrazioni sono sempre piene di dettagli e decorazioni che non ritrovo in altri illustratori di diversa nazionalità.
In questo caso lo stile adottato per questa fiaba richiama il rinascimento italiano, forse qualche nota fiamminga qui e là. Lo si vede dai panneggi, dai volti, dalla scenografia. Insomma, a ogni pagina mi sembrava di vedere un dipinto di Piero della Francesca!
Da sfogliare e mangiare con gli occhi.
Mentre la storia, quindi, non ha nulla di speciale, le illustrazioni dei russi Ol'ga Dugina e Andrej Dugin sono spettacolari. Mi sembra che gli illustratori russi abbiano un'attenzione al dettaglio incomparabile: le loro illustrazioni sono sempre piene di dettagli e decorazioni che non ritrovo in altri illustratori di diversa nazionalità.
In questo caso lo stile adottato per questa fiaba richiama il rinascimento italiano, forse qualche nota fiamminga qui e là. Lo si vede dai panneggi, dai volti, dalla scenografia. Insomma, a ogni pagina mi sembrava di vedere un dipinto di Piero della Francesca!
Da sfogliare e mangiare con gli occhi.
December 31, 2017
Una historia muy simple y linda. Me fascinaron las ilustraciones con ese tinte realista al estilo medieval
May 29, 2014
Wonderfully imaginative, beautifully illustrated. Brave, tenacious and compassionate hero. Bad guy gets his comeuppance.
October 7, 2020
Amazing and stunning illustrations that have many references to classic magical stories, legends, and creatures. These illustrations can be viewed for hours
February 28, 2020
Dragon feathers (KS2)
Reminds me of last placement, teaching about dragons and tying it with science an classification of animals - Features of a dragon - whole body mostly resembles a vulture. Has a reptilian, snakelike tail, feathered wings, legs of a bird with hooves. Dragon habitat - the dark forest
Main characters: woodcutters son, Beth and her father.
Highly detailed and fantisiful illustrations, clothing resembles era of knights.
Young woman (Beth) and young man (wood cutter's son) infatuated with each other, but father does not approve because he is poor - discussion on social class.
The father sets a challenge to the boy of fetching 3 dragon feathers. The dragon is known as vicious - perhaps he wants the boy to die?
The young man accepts the challenge. Along the way he meets people who need help from the dragon. The problem is that the dragon is vicious and they understandably do not want to confront it even though it has the solution to their problems
The woodcutter's son offers to help all of the people he meets, without being asked to, which says a lot about his character. He is helpful and caring, not selfish.
The wood cutter meets the dragons wife, who thankfully is a great listener and very helpful. She calms the dragon by gently stroking it and using kind words and is able to pick the feathers as the dragon sleeps and when the dragon wakes up after being "tickled" the wife explains she had a dream and the dragon gives advice needed to solve everyone's problems.
The WCS helps everyone, they give him gold. The WCS is now rich, so Beth's father is okay with them marrying. The young man lies and says he got the gold from the dragon. The father is 'greedy' and goes to get the gold from the dragon. The man and woman marry.
Doesn't say what happens to the father.
Perhaps a bit of prediction happens here: does the father die?
Does he come back with a vengeance?
Did the WCS want the father to die? He knew Beth's father was greedy, perhaps he predicted if he told him he got it from the dragon the father would go seeking gold.
Perhaps the WCS is not so good, as this is putting the life of Beth's father in danger. Perhaps he is vindictive
Tasks: act our beginning and middle, predict the ending and write it out
Reminds me of last placement, teaching about dragons and tying it with science an classification of animals - Features of a dragon - whole body mostly resembles a vulture. Has a reptilian, snakelike tail, feathered wings, legs of a bird with hooves. Dragon habitat - the dark forest
Main characters: woodcutters son, Beth and her father.
Highly detailed and fantisiful illustrations, clothing resembles era of knights.
Young woman (Beth) and young man (wood cutter's son) infatuated with each other, but father does not approve because he is poor - discussion on social class.
The father sets a challenge to the boy of fetching 3 dragon feathers. The dragon is known as vicious - perhaps he wants the boy to die?
The young man accepts the challenge. Along the way he meets people who need help from the dragon. The problem is that the dragon is vicious and they understandably do not want to confront it even though it has the solution to their problems
The woodcutter's son offers to help all of the people he meets, without being asked to, which says a lot about his character. He is helpful and caring, not selfish.
The wood cutter meets the dragons wife, who thankfully is a great listener and very helpful. She calms the dragon by gently stroking it and using kind words and is able to pick the feathers as the dragon sleeps and when the dragon wakes up after being "tickled" the wife explains she had a dream and the dragon gives advice needed to solve everyone's problems.
The WCS helps everyone, they give him gold. The WCS is now rich, so Beth's father is okay with them marrying. The young man lies and says he got the gold from the dragon. The father is 'greedy' and goes to get the gold from the dragon. The man and woman marry.
Doesn't say what happens to the father.
Perhaps a bit of prediction happens here: does the father die?
Does he come back with a vengeance?
Did the WCS want the father to die? He knew Beth's father was greedy, perhaps he predicted if he told him he got it from the dragon the father would go seeking gold.
Perhaps the WCS is not so good, as this is putting the life of Beth's father in danger. Perhaps he is vindictive
Tasks: act our beginning and middle, predict the ending and write it out
August 11, 2017
It's the illustrations. The story follows the conventional fairy-tale rules, and does an adequate job. But stories like that are legion. This book... is special. Because it's freaking creepy. Because of the pictures! I mean, there's a guy on the last page who plays music for the wedding... through a faceless bear-baby conglomeration that happens to have a woodwind instrument built into its head. A mouse-rat-toad thing with an iron mask over its mouth and eyes casually reads a book that it could not possibly see off to the side of the hero's path. A crazy bagpipe-billed platypus with disturbingly human feet just stands there among the other farm animals.
And these things are not part of the story. They're the background in two ways: in that you can read the story without noticing them, and in that nobody in the town ever even looks at them askance. We can assume that these unholy creatures are either a natural part of the world, or that this kind of forced transmogrification takes place so commonly that the wretches are beneath the villagers' notice.
And what is the evil dragon's wife pregnant with?? Her obvious bulging combined with the presence of an empty cradle near the bed imply that, happy as the two (human) lovers may be at the end, things will get much worse for everyone very soon.
And these things are not part of the story. They're the background in two ways: in that you can read the story without noticing them, and in that nobody in the town ever even looks at them askance. We can assume that these unholy creatures are either a natural part of the world, or that this kind of forced transmogrification takes place so commonly that the wretches are beneath the villagers' notice.
And what is the evil dragon's wife pregnant with?? Her obvious bulging combined with the presence of an empty cradle near the bed imply that, happy as the two (human) lovers may be at the end, things will get much worse for everyone very soon.
September 13, 2017
Great little story! Exactly the right length for a bedtime story for the kids. The illustrations are what make this book a masterpiece, though. They are so strange and fantastic that I can't even describe them. They are rich and seem to imbued with hidden, arcane, magical meaning-backward numbers, letters scattered around, strange , improbable, even vulgar creatures lovingly drawn into every nook. Each one of these little wonders BEGS to have a whole story written about it! You have to see this book to believe it.
December 25, 2020
Una bella historia que muestra que con la astucia y la inteligencia se pueden resolver los problemas. Además que la bondad y la humildad de la gente hacen que la vida sea más llevadera y maravillosa. La clave aquí es dar siempre sin pensar en recibir algo a cambio.
las ilustraciones que acompañan al libro son maravillosas y te transportan al mundo medieval :).
Libro que toda la familia puede disfrutar. Y es un fascinante cuento para leer todas las noches.
las ilustraciones que acompañan al libro son maravillosas y te transportan al mundo medieval :).
Libro que toda la familia puede disfrutar. Y es un fascinante cuento para leer todas las noches.
June 26, 2024
The artwork is beautifully done, but the illustrations are some of the oddest I’ve ever seen. Strange, and very tall, hats (some made of small people); weird little elves and dwarves; an obsession with weird, living bagpipes (bagpipes with legs, a bagpipe chicken, an angle made of bagpipes playing the bagpipes; weird creatures playing weird bagpipes (there’s a centaur playing bagpipes while wearing armor with a boars head in its behind).
November 2, 2019
The story is fine but the art is just... wow. It’s like someone has scooped out my brain and shown me how to synthesise all my disparate ideas and influences in a completely new and magical way. New obsession on the way? Oh absolutely
February 20, 2019
Interesantes ilustraciones.
July 9, 2019
Excelsas ilustraciones en un libro infantil. El cuento tampoco tiene la gran ciencia, pero vale mucho la pena.
March 20, 2020
I really really really want to read this as an adult story time and discuss the illustrations.
March 9, 2021
Art reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch and Jim Henson's Labyrinth
Delightfully quirky and bizarre
Delightfully quirky and bizarre
June 4, 2022
Įdomi, pamokanti pasaka su įspūdingomis iliustracijomis :-)
October 4, 2022
Patiko ir pasaka ir paveiksliukai :-)
March 31, 2023
Classic fairy tale with stunning illustrations. I can't decide which I liked more, probably the illustrations.
July 25, 2024
Klasikinė pasaka su stebuklingo grožio iliustracijomis.
December 11, 2024
simple folk tale, and not particularly interesting told in this book.
BUT the illustrations are lovely and intriguing with a definite Bosch feel to some of the figures.
BUT the illustrations are lovely and intriguing with a definite Bosch feel to some of the figures.
February 1, 2021
Es un muy hermoso cuento, cargado de grandes enseñanzas y lecciones, cuenta con hermosas ilustraciones para que quien lo lea pueda apreciar mejor tan bella obra.
February 29, 2016
Ficamos devendo algumas descobertas à Coleção Os Mais Belos Contos, da editora Cosac Naify.
Arnica Esterl, a autora de vários dos títulos, já foi referida como alemã, holandesa (neste volume) e como alemã-holandesa. O que explica a confusão é que ela é holandesa, mas reside há décadas em Stuttgart, na Alemanha, onde é publicada pela Esslinger Verlag. Escreveu muitas adaptações de contos de fadas de vários países e traduziu livros infantis, principalmente holandeses.
Outra descoberta é a do casal de ilustradores russos Andrej Dugin e Olga Dugina, que também moram em Stuttgart. Além de ilustrar livros de contos de fadas, já fizeram projetos para um filme de Harry Potter e ilustrações para um livro de Madonna.
E mais uma: não é que há outra dupla de irmãos que coletavam contos populares em alemão no século XIX, os austríacos Ignaz Zingerle e Josef Zingerle? Este é um deles.
Dos seis volumes da coleção, O Alfaiate Valente , As Mais Belas Historias das Mil e Uma Noites e As Penas do Dragão são recontados por Arnica Esterl e ilustrados por Olga Dugina (em dois casos, em parceria com Andrej Dugin).
A coleção tem contos tradicionais e de autores mais recentes, todos com extraordinário tratamento gráfico e belíssimas ilustrações de artistas russos. De encher os olhos.
E este talvez seja o que mais se enquadra na categoria “de encher os olhos”! Todas as ilustrações, em que predomina um tom ocre, ocupam as páginas inteiras, muitas em páginas duplas. Na maior parte da ação, o desenho mistura várias referências:
– ambientes rurais (chalés, sítios, rios, montanhas)
– ambientes urbanos (vilas antigas, tabernas, casas de enxaimel)
– trabalhos muito detalhados e elaborados
– elementos geométricos (nas páginas no castelo do dragão – influências de Escher? – e como recurso visual para ilustrar o que personagem está dizendo, como um balão de quadrinhos)
É um festival: anões, duendes, armaduras, carrasco, padre, unicórnio, instrumentos musicais, elementos de heráldica e uma profusão de seres impossíveis, surreais! Divertido. E ainda, várias letras espalhadas pelos desenhos, cujo significado ainda se está por saber. Em aparente contraste, belas guardas e folhas de guarda em motivos geométricos – mas com vinhetas surreais.
É um livro em capa dura, tamanho grande (aproximadamente 21 x 29 cm), com tradução do alemão de Tercio Redondo e apresentação na quarta capa de Regina Zilberman. Original de 1993, lançado pela Cosac Naify em 2010.
A edição muito bem cuidada sob todos os aspectos é uma marca da Cosac Naify, importante casa que revolucionou o mercado editorial brasileiro. Infelizmente, anunciou o encerramento de suas atividades ao final de 2015. Então, os títulos tendem a se esgotar com o tempo e não serem reimpressos. Assim, é aconselhável adquiri-los enquanto estão disponíveis.
Veja os títulos da Coleção Os Mais Belos Contos:
O Alfaiate Valente - Irmãos Grimm
O Nariz - Nikolai Gógol
Kachtanka - Anton Tchekhov
O Conto Maravilhoso do Tsar Saltan - Aleksandr Púchkin
As Penas do Dragão
As Mais Belas Historias das Mil e Uma Noites
Arnica Esterl, a autora de vários dos títulos, já foi referida como alemã, holandesa (neste volume) e como alemã-holandesa. O que explica a confusão é que ela é holandesa, mas reside há décadas em Stuttgart, na Alemanha, onde é publicada pela Esslinger Verlag. Escreveu muitas adaptações de contos de fadas de vários países e traduziu livros infantis, principalmente holandeses.
Outra descoberta é a do casal de ilustradores russos Andrej Dugin e Olga Dugina, que também moram em Stuttgart. Além de ilustrar livros de contos de fadas, já fizeram projetos para um filme de Harry Potter e ilustrações para um livro de Madonna.
E mais uma: não é que há outra dupla de irmãos que coletavam contos populares em alemão no século XIX, os austríacos Ignaz Zingerle e Josef Zingerle? Este é um deles.
Dos seis volumes da coleção, O Alfaiate Valente , As Mais Belas Historias das Mil e Uma Noites e As Penas do Dragão são recontados por Arnica Esterl e ilustrados por Olga Dugina (em dois casos, em parceria com Andrej Dugin).
A coleção tem contos tradicionais e de autores mais recentes, todos com extraordinário tratamento gráfico e belíssimas ilustrações de artistas russos. De encher os olhos.
E este talvez seja o que mais se enquadra na categoria “de encher os olhos”! Todas as ilustrações, em que predomina um tom ocre, ocupam as páginas inteiras, muitas em páginas duplas. Na maior parte da ação, o desenho mistura várias referências:
– ambientes rurais (chalés, sítios, rios, montanhas)
– ambientes urbanos (vilas antigas, tabernas, casas de enxaimel)
– trabalhos muito detalhados e elaborados
– elementos geométricos (nas páginas no castelo do dragão – influências de Escher? – e como recurso visual para ilustrar o que personagem está dizendo, como um balão de quadrinhos)
É um festival: anões, duendes, armaduras, carrasco, padre, unicórnio, instrumentos musicais, elementos de heráldica e uma profusão de seres impossíveis, surreais! Divertido. E ainda, várias letras espalhadas pelos desenhos, cujo significado ainda se está por saber. Em aparente contraste, belas guardas e folhas de guarda em motivos geométricos – mas com vinhetas surreais.
É um livro em capa dura, tamanho grande (aproximadamente 21 x 29 cm), com tradução do alemão de Tercio Redondo e apresentação na quarta capa de Regina Zilberman. Original de 1993, lançado pela Cosac Naify em 2010.
A edição muito bem cuidada sob todos os aspectos é uma marca da Cosac Naify, importante casa que revolucionou o mercado editorial brasileiro. Infelizmente, anunciou o encerramento de suas atividades ao final de 2015. Então, os títulos tendem a se esgotar com o tempo e não serem reimpressos. Assim, é aconselhável adquiri-los enquanto estão disponíveis.
Veja os títulos da Coleção Os Mais Belos Contos:
O Alfaiate Valente - Irmãos Grimm
O Nariz - Nikolai Gógol
Kachtanka - Anton Tchekhov
O Conto Maravilhoso do Tsar Saltan - Aleksandr Púchkin
As Penas do Dragão
As Mais Belas Historias das Mil e Uma Noites
July 22, 2014
The story itself is nice. The moral (I think) is to be hardworking, optimistic, and kind, and life will reward you on its own. Although,of course, luck helps out every so often, so count your blessing as well. With the amount of text, I'd think older children will get a better kick of this, but everyone would have fun with the drawings regardless of age.
Take your time with the illustrations, they are mighty good! The way perspective and how people enter/exit each panel is lovely, and the attention to detail is magnificent!
I bought it through bookdepository (yay free shipping to Hong Kong!), and it was worth it.
Take your time with the illustrations, they are mighty good! The way perspective and how people enter/exit each panel is lovely, and the attention to detail is magnificent!
I bought it through bookdepository (yay free shipping to Hong Kong!), and it was worth it.
January 9, 2016
I found myself staring at this book long after I finished reading it to my child (one of many, many reads). This book is absolutely fascinating. I love the tiny details that you find on every page: hidden letters, creatures that seem to have been hiding in the story from medieval bestiaries, etc.
The story, an old Austrian folk tale, is a good one at that. My child, who is certainly younger than the book is intended for, still had interest in the bits he could pick up and I.. well, I'm always happy when I'm not reading Green Eggs and Ham.
The story, an old Austrian folk tale, is a good one at that. My child, who is certainly younger than the book is intended for, still had interest in the bits he could pick up and I.. well, I'm always happy when I'm not reading Green Eggs and Ham.
July 27, 2011
Strange and wondrous illustrations, a quest, and happy ending (but not for the king!).
December 7, 2012
Read this book slowly, so you don't miss the deliciously weird, Boschian details of the illustrations.
November 22, 2017
Incredible illustrations but wasn't really moved by the story.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews