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Serendipity
Muffin Dragon
A dragon is eating all the muffins the villagers can bake, leaving them nothing to sell. They will have to come to learn about sharing and cooperation for everyone to be happy.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
August 27, 2020
Not a great book, but my original review was worse, so it's gone.
kr/eg '19
kr/eg '19
September 28, 2016
Woooo!! They don't title books like this anymore.
We all knew that dragons are a bunch of d-bags. Gimme Gimme Gimme... I need some more. None for you nasty dragon!
In a poor village lives a poor King who is also the poor master baker. Hush! I said baker!
Everyday he travels to deliver tasty muffins to get money to survive. One day, a mean old fat hungry dragon is of course a muffin hoover. Moves underneath a drawbridge and makes his demand.
Gimme ten muffins and I won't burn down this bridge!!! Har har har!!
Who invited this fat putz along?
Lets hope that the king just burns the top off this muffin man!
We all knew that dragons are a bunch of d-bags. Gimme Gimme Gimme... I need some more. None for you nasty dragon!
In a poor village lives a poor King who is also the poor master baker. Hush! I said baker!
Everyday he travels to deliver tasty muffins to get money to survive. One day, a mean old fat hungry dragon is of course a muffin hoover. Moves underneath a drawbridge and makes his demand.
Gimme ten muffins and I won't burn down this bridge!!! Har har har!!
Who invited this fat putz along?
Lets hope that the king just burns the top off this muffin man!
October 25, 2016
Read this to my son. It has his baby stamp of approval because he fell asleep after 3 pages.
I kept reading it anyway because I'm a dork and I liked the story. *nostalgia*
I kept reading it anyway because I'm a dork and I liked the story. *nostalgia*
September 18, 2019
Ignoring the slightly off name, this was a favourite as a child! Very fond memories of the subverting of tropes e.g. a poor king who has to bake to keep his kingdom from going bankrupt - pulled at my heartstrings and encouraged compassion.
August 25, 2015
1974 must have been a gentler time in the United States if an author could put the words “Muffin Muncher” on the cover of a children’s book and expect it to sell. These days the media would have a field day with such a title.
Of course, even in 1974, I doubt this book was a best seller. It’s kind of boring. There’s a dragon. He munches muffins. First he steals (I guess “extorts” is a more accurate word for what he does) muffin from poor villagers. Eventually, there’s no more money to buy firewood, since the dragon is eating up the muffins that would otherwise be sole to buy supplies. The dragon and the villagers decide to cooperate. Happily ever after!
(My sister bought this book and sent it to me based solely on the title.)
Of course, even in 1974, I doubt this book was a best seller. It’s kind of boring. There’s a dragon. He munches muffins. First he steals (I guess “extorts” is a more accurate word for what he does) muffin from poor villagers. Eventually, there’s no more money to buy firewood, since the dragon is eating up the muffins that would otherwise be sole to buy supplies. The dragon and the villagers decide to cooperate. Happily ever after!
(My sister bought this book and sent it to me based solely on the title.)
July 3, 2017
The title has been changed to "Muffin Dragon" no thanks to the way words are used nowadays so I was glad that when I ordered my two lots of Serendipity books that I had the original title. This was one I didn't read as a child so it was new to me.
The Serendipity dragons seem to be in a league of their own with them mostly being peaceful, loving and adorable. This muffin-eating dragon is different from them for he isn't against throwing his weight around and demanding his rights even though there he has none. Will circumstances of poverty save the people or will their drawbridge be destroyed by this terrorizing dragon?
The Serendipity dragons seem to be in a league of their own with them mostly being peaceful, loving and adorable. This muffin-eating dragon is different from them for he isn't against throwing his weight around and demanding his rights even though there he has none. Will circumstances of poverty save the people or will their drawbridge be destroyed by this terrorizing dragon?
October 4, 2019
I remember reading the Serendipity books when I was in elementary school. They were pretty popular. I decided to read one again with my children to see if they were as great as I remember.
Muffin Dragon is about a small and poor kingdom which bakes muffins and sells the muffins to keep up their meager existence. One day a muffin eating Dragon comes along and decides to move in under the draw bridge to the kingdom and to steal the fresh baked muffins. It is eventually decided that the muffin transportation will pay a toll at the draw bridge of 10 muffins every time it crosses the bridge. Eventually there is not enough money to pay for supplies or even fire wood in order to continue to bake muffins and the dragon storms into the castle to find out what happened to his delicious muffins. The baker, who is also the king of the kingdom explains that he can no longer make muffins and he and the dragon make a deal and work together to bake muffins.
My boys thought it was really cute. I thought it was funny how every time it mentioned the baker it also let us know he's the king, in case we forgot. The illustrations are fun and the story is entertaining. I do wish the text was in a better font or looked more appealing on the page, it looks a little like a book report or something that way it appears on the pages.
Muffin Dragon is about a small and poor kingdom which bakes muffins and sells the muffins to keep up their meager existence. One day a muffin eating Dragon comes along and decides to move in under the draw bridge to the kingdom and to steal the fresh baked muffins. It is eventually decided that the muffin transportation will pay a toll at the draw bridge of 10 muffins every time it crosses the bridge. Eventually there is not enough money to pay for supplies or even fire wood in order to continue to bake muffins and the dragon storms into the castle to find out what happened to his delicious muffins. The baker, who is also the king of the kingdom explains that he can no longer make muffins and he and the dragon make a deal and work together to bake muffins.
My boys thought it was really cute. I thought it was funny how every time it mentioned the baker it also let us know he's the king, in case we forgot. The illustrations are fun and the story is entertaining. I do wish the text was in a better font or looked more appealing on the page, it looks a little like a book report or something that way it appears on the pages.
November 21, 2025
This is a review of the first hardback edition from 1974. I found it at the Internet Archive. They have more editions of this book there, but sometimes in later editions of Serendipity books, embarrassing changes were made. Best stick with the original.
This was one of the first Serendipity books, and it shows. It blends the bizarre with more normal fantasy tropes like castles, kings and dragons. It has an interesting, yet somewhat baffling premise, but then it suddenly ends with some rather large questions left unanswered, such as:
* Why does the Kingdom only have one horse?
* Why don't the villagers diversify, instead of devoting their entire existence to making motherfucking muffins?
* What happened to the dragon's pony?
* Why doesn't the dragon have a name?
* Did Stephen Cosgrove know in 1974 that "muffin muncher" had another meaning?
This book is really the Robin James show. She makes a cute, vaguely equine dragon, has a bedraggled horse and a very thin king/head baker, and a castle that looks a lot better than how it was described by Cosgrove. The dragon also likes jam with his muffins (eww.)
In real life, someone who demands a protection tax from you is never, EVER going to feel sorry for you.
This was one of the first Serendipity books, and it shows. It blends the bizarre with more normal fantasy tropes like castles, kings and dragons. It has an interesting, yet somewhat baffling premise, but then it suddenly ends with some rather large questions left unanswered, such as:
* Why does the Kingdom only have one horse?
* Why don't the villagers diversify, instead of devoting their entire existence to making motherfucking muffins?
* What happened to the dragon's pony?
* Why doesn't the dragon have a name?
* Did Stephen Cosgrove know in 1974 that "muffin muncher" had another meaning?
This book is really the Robin James show. She makes a cute, vaguely equine dragon, has a bedraggled horse and a very thin king/head baker, and a castle that looks a lot better than how it was described by Cosgrove. The dragon also likes jam with his muffins (eww.)
In real life, someone who demands a protection tax from you is never, EVER going to feel sorry for you.
May 17, 2021
I got this book back in the 1979-1980 for our children, and I am now reading it to our grandchildren. It is a delightful book and, of course, all little children love dragons, and especially fire-breathing dragons, but the end of this particular story didn't seem to hold their attention as much as some of the other ones by Stephen Cosgrove. The illustrations are amazing though.
July 23, 2019
This book is pure gold. Simple. Sweet. Poignant. Pick it up today! I loved it as a kid and had to read it to my kiddos! We ate muffins and everything!
November 3, 2019
Had to reach my reading goal for the year. Lol! 😆
February 12, 2020
A story about resourcefulness, bravery, and ingenuity. This is a tender tale for girls and boys.
March 1, 2020
The kids liked it.
Read
March 2, 2020One of my favorites as a kid! This whole series!
Read
August 19, 2025The title has been updated to another one due to obvious reasons . Regardless, I love Serendipity books. I never knew about this one as a child.
November 10, 2025
This was a cute read. I believe any young reader would enjoy this book 📙.
October 31, 2016
This is book 6 of the Serendipity Books. books that tell a story but have a moral at the end for children to learn by.
In this one a dragon wants muffins and he takes over a very poor bakery-castle because he's selfish and wants what he wants. But soon he learns that the king can no longer afford to make the muffins because he doesn't have muffins to sell to make the money. Because the dragon has ate them all. The muffin dragon realizes since he was the one that caused the difficulty that he would help fix it.
In this one a dragon wants muffins and he takes over a very poor bakery-castle because he's selfish and wants what he wants. But soon he learns that the king can no longer afford to make the muffins because he doesn't have muffins to sell to make the money. Because the dragon has ate them all. The muffin dragon realizes since he was the one that caused the difficulty that he would help fix it.
May 12, 2025
Basic plot: A dragon learns about sharing and cooperation.
I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.
I think I got my first Serendipity book through a Scholastic book order or book fair. I quickly became obsessed and collected a ton and a half of them as a child. I would spend hours just looking at the pictures because the art is simply gorgeous. The stories were whimsical and fun, and always ended with some sort of life lesson for kids. I kept reading these books long after other picture books had been set aside.
March 29, 2012
The Muffin Muncher was the one book out of the Serendity series that I really liked as a kid. Most of them were too preachy for my tastes. But this one has some humor to it. A poor kingdom that lives hand to mouth by selling its wonderful muffins is over-run by a muffin munching dragon! What will they do to survive? What will the dragon do when the muffins run out?
January 12, 2009
Serendipity books are great young children's books. This one is no exception. My father gave a copy of this to my little sister years ago, and I was always a little envious. Now I have my own copy to read to my daughter.
July 4, 2015
Yes, I know, the title. Good for a laugh. I enjoyed this book as a kid, and I still had it, so I brought it along while babysitting for a friend's four-year-old. And she seemed pretty captivated, which is about all you can ask for from a book you're reading to that age.
February 1, 2008
My favorite read as a child.
January 12, 2009
Again, another childhood read that stands out as being memorable in a positive way.
January 23, 2011
Check out my blog, Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing for my thoughts and memories of the Serendipity series!
April 3, 2009
One of my favorite books when I was a kid.
August 12, 2009
the best book ever!!
February 11, 2010
Cosgrove's are my favorite. I've been waiting 25 years to read these to my kids!
March 9, 2010
not as wonderful as I remember from MY childhood, but enjoyed the cute purple PJs the dragon wears!
April 15, 2012
book name changed to 'the muffin dragon'
November 4, 2012
I wanted to be a muffin munching dragon
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews