The Once-Upon-a-Time Dragon

by Jack Kent

Believing he is really a handsome prince under a magic spell, Sam the dragon decides to use body building to make himself into the man he wants to be

Genres: Dragons, Picture Books, Childrens, Humor

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

John Wellington "Jack" Kent (1920 – 1985) was an American cartoonist and prolific author-illustrator of children's books. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the comic strip King Aroo. In addition to his own books, he illustrated more than twenty books by other authors.

Reviews

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Kent has a dry way with humour that gets Squirt and I giggling. I can't tell you the unexpected bit without spoiling the story, but it's good. Squirt read this to me and it was lots of fun.

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of Jack Kent's "be content with who you are"-morals (i.e. Just Only John and The Wizard of Wallaby Wallow, etc.), here's one about a book loving dragon who wants more than anything to be the happiest man in the world - who he believes to be Mr Johnson, who sits on a park bench daily and feeds the pigeons (all doves deserve love!).

One of the best scenes is the dragon being rejected by a circus, I thought.

Very sweet, quite funny, and certainly worth a few minutes of your time, irrespective of your age. A free loan from OpenLibrary.

And, once more, a plea to publishers - PLEASE do an omnibus/anth. of Jack Kent's work, just like Phaidon's done with A Treasury of 8 Books (though it should have contained more stories, I think). I will BUY it, maybe even twice (to give as a gift!) - a deluxe hardcover edition of all (or at least the lion's share) of Jack Kent's standalone picture books. PLEASE. There's so much CRAP out there, and a hefty tome of Jack Kent would be such a treasure..!

[Raquel Pilar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam is a lovely dragon who enjoys reading bedtime stories. His favourites are the ones with (obviously) dragons in them and because most of the tales said these dragons were cursed and were in fact handsome princes, he took it for himself and decided to become one - especially after seeing a very specific ad on a magazine!

Very sweet and funny story! There is no way you won't smile while reading it.

[Robin L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have absolutely ADORED this book since I was a little kid. Guaranteed if my childhood library still has their copy, my mom and I are 99% of the dates it was checked out. My kid is super into the popcorn tossing and WHOA FIRE!!! It's really a fun story.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. I want to be (a female version) of Mr. Johnson, so I can be chums with a dragon and share bedtime stories with him. Kudos (again) to Jack Kent, and much thanks to openlibrary.org for archiving a copy of this classic.

[Heather Ligman · Rating 5 out of 5]

canaan loved this book. cute story with a few interesting twists. i giggle every time i read this book. fun book to have read to you or for moderate readers to read to themselves.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute dragon that learns it is best to be who you are. It is especially cute that he loves books, because so do we!!

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story how a dragon becomes the man he wishes to be (through an exercise course he saw in a magazine). Unique story.

Illustrations are okay.