Curse of the Were-wiener

Dragonbreath #3

by Ursula Vernon

Danny Dragonbreath and his best friend Wendell thought the hot dog from the school cafeteria looked a little . . . off. Then things got weird when the hot dog bit Wendell, and weirder still when Wendell started to sprout back hair. Could Wendell be morphing into a . . . (cue ominous music) were-wiener? All evidence points to yes. And unless he and Danny can get past the lunch ladies and slay the alpha-wurst, the whole school could be infected.

Written in Ursula Vernon's trademark hybrid style of comic-book panels and text, this is the thrilling third book in the series. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews said Dragonbreath "will leave readers in stiches- and on tenterhooks waiting for the next one." Curse of the Were-Wiener will make kids everywhere laugh, shriek, and take a closer look at their lunches.

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Dragons, Humor, Fiction, Middle Grade

204 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher, is an author and illustrator. She has written over fifteen books for children, at least a dozen novels for adults, an epic webcomic called “Digger” and various short stories and other odds and ends.

Ursula grew up in Oregon and Arizona, studied anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota, and stayed there for ten years, until she finally learned to drive in deep snow and was obligated to leave the state.

Having moved across the country several times, she eventually settled in Pittsboro, North Carolina, where she works full-time as an artist and creator of oddities. She lives with her husband and his chickens.

Her work has been nominated for the Eisner, World Fantasy, and longlisted for the British Science Fiction Awards. It has garnered a number of Webcomics Choice Awards, the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story, the Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Literature, the Nebula for Best Short Story, the Sequoyah Award, and many others.

Reviews

[Angela (Angel's Book Nook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son is enjoying the Dragonbreath series. We are reading it together. It's ridiculously funny and silly.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridiculously good fun. I am loving this series! Wonderful drawings, fun and adventurous stories of friendship and...werewieners!

First finish of 2020 and I'm of to a good start!

[Jessica at Book Sake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is meant for kids a little bit younger than me, but it was still a fun read. I was able to read it quickly and it was entertaining the whole way through. I liked the format of mixing in regular novel writing along with some comic type pages mixed in. The illustrations are cute and add something interesting to the book, especially for those that don’t like to read so much. I didn’t know what two-color illustrations were when starting this book, but it’s what the artist used through out and it was all that was needed for the pictures. (FYI Red and green were the only colors used, even though there are black & white photos as well…those don’t count as colors since it’s pen and the white space of the page.)

This is book 3 of the series and I haven’t read book 1 or 2 (Dragonbreath and Dragonbreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs), but it didn’t seem to be a problem as the story stood well on it’s own. They do mention some of their previous adventures within the story, but it adds to it instead of taking away. I’d recommend this book for the pre-teen kids out there.

Reviewer: Kole for BookSake

[Donalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ridiculously love the Dragonbreath series. The potato salad nemesis from Book One returns.

[Димитър Цолов · Rating 4 out of 5]

След солидния Кингов опус "Другият" имах нужда от разпускащо четиво и го открих отново при "Плеяда", ама тоя път - в детската им секция :) Подозирам, че кака Урсула е любителка на качествената трева или, защо не, има познат лекар, който ѝ изписва антидепресанти и пр. прихофармака с шепи...

В училището за земноводни и влечуги налазват хапещи кренвирши от Трансилвания, които превръщат възпитаниците във (забележете) вам... ъ-ъ, не - върколаци, а на помощ на главните герои ще се притече една... картофена салата, хи-хи... Докато пишех това "ревю" ми умряха поне още три неврона :)

Инак - симпатично, луксозно оформено книжле - крайна оценка 3,5!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5-year-old, my 9-year-old and I all adored reading this together. Hilarious, wacky and fabulous adventure, as always with Dragonbreath!

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good short book.

[Jules Bertaut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very goofy and it was nice to see the potato salad from the first book make a reappearance.

Lucas assured me that the hot dogs we have at home are not were-wieners.

[Ritika Chhabra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow Just A Girl High On Books for more reviews.

This was definitely the craziest book by now! For anyone who has read the previous two books, it is no secret that the food in Danny and Wendell's school cafeteria is no good. There was the potato salad in the first book, and now there are these hot dogs in this one. When Danny first got the food from the lunch lady, he and Wendell felt that it was a little off. Its colour was a little off, surprisingly close to the colour of blood. When Wendell tried to inspect it, something weird happened. The hot dog bit his finger. However, because no adult would believe him, he ended up just covering it up with a band-aid.

Until, the next day, when things drastically change. Wendell now has a swollen finger and hair on his back (quite surprising for an iguana). And he is itching. Everywhere. All the time. Worried about what is happening, Wendell and Danny sneak in to the kitchen where Danny finds the box for the sausages. On the top of the packet was written "Were-wieners." Now if that isn't terrifying then this will be: get this, these "were-wieners" were from TRANSYLVANIA! On the package is also written this: "In case of missing product, damage or LYCANTHROPY, call 1-800-WURST-R-Us."

Aha! So the school already knew this could happen and still bought it anyway. How ignorant! Anyhow, Wendell and Danny dial up the line only to find that the only cure is killing the alpha wiener, which sounds very weird when I read it in my mind. Yet, that's what they have to do. They take the help of the potato salad from the first year because Danny believes potato salad and hot dogs are sworn enemies. How he even knows this is beyond me!

Not only that, but we also see him conversing with rats in this one. How he does that is another thing I won't understand. So that is how the story goes forward. Whether he is able to defeat the alpha wiener or does Wendell turn into a were-wiener is something you can only find more when you read the book. But I have to say this here that I was pretty disappointed in seeing no female character here either. The only ones that were, were very highly stereotypicalized. I wish Vernon would have taken more care to that while writing these books down.

Lastly, I love how Danny and Wendell's easy-going relationship is portrayed in this books. Their informal talks are very funny to go through and it creates a lot of entertaining moments throughout the book.

[Книжни Криле · Rating 4 out of 5]

Дракончето Огнедъх на Урсула Върнън отново е тук! От издателство „Плеяда” пускат третата книга от серията, а заглавието й е по-шантаво от всякога – „Проклятието на кренвирша върколак”! Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":

https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

[Nicole (bookwyrm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute kids' book about were-hot-dogs being served in a school cafeteria and infecting a lot of the kids—including Danny Dragonbreath's best friend Wendell—with lycanthropy. Danny and Wendell have to team up with the sentient potato salad from book one to defeat the were-wieners.

This is a really cute installment of the series, as I have come to expect from Ursula Vernon. The plot of this one was silly (also as expected) but completely fun. Such a fun series.

[Gus · Rating 2 out of 5]

YAAAAWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. This book is SO BORINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third Dragonbreath book begins with Danny having a premonition (whatever that is). Then things get hairy when Wendell gets bitten by a feral hotdog and begins to grow patches of hair! This time, Danny doesn't have any mythological relatives living in Transylvania they can call on for assistance (and Transylvania isn't on the bus route anyway!). Fortunately, there is a 1-800 number on the hot dog package ("in case of lycanthropy").

This is definitely the most ridiculous installment in the Dragonbreath series so far, so if you enjoy the silliness of the first two, this one will not disappoint. You don't need to read these in order, but Danny and Wendell do enlist the help of the potato salad from the first book. It's also neat seeing Danny figure out the secret to breathing fire little by little in each book.

"You can write a letter to the principal after we're out of here... We've got wurst to slay."

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book of my King's Day Haul and I had so much fun reading it! This was such a funny part in the series with were-wieners (yes, really and they can get quite evil, but thankfully a silver skewer helps), cute and helpful rats, a certain salad makes a reappearance, friendship, I was so proud of Danny throughout this story in many places and just wanted to give him a hug near the end, fun illustrations and a couple of comics, there is a lot more happening and it was a ride! I definitely want more of this series, so I guess soon-ish I will be getting a few more volumes~
Recommended!

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite in the Dragonbreath series to date. I think the topic was hysterical (who wouldn't think that cursed hot dogs that bit people who tried to eat them weren't funny?!). I also loved that the book referenced past books, which made my student happy since we have been reading them in order and she liked to reminisce on past events. Additionally, this book seemed to be much faster to read than the others. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

[Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dragonbreath book 3 definitely takes a gentler plot than one and two, and has some great twists as well. It subverts the first two's implied running themes: Danny can't breath fire, and traveling for example, and brings in much more fun times.

While this is not the most harrowing of the series, given book two had ninjas! A hiveminded bunch of school staff is definitely something funny and interesting.

I recommend people read this after #1 and #2 and have a blast!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect chapter book for Alice. Long and challenging but with silliness and dragons. There are tons of pictures spaced throughout the book and some breaks with graphic dialogue boxes to keep her engaged during the longer reading sections. She loved it and has already asked for another in this series.

[Meltem Koral · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains lots of adventure . So if you love adventure, this book is for you. It is about Were-wolves taking over the world. It includes dragons and very interesting and exciting events. I highly recommend this book.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever premise, fun characters, loved the illustrations. I picked this up as part of an assignment for a course I'm taking, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's silly and funny and has great potential as a book for a reluctant reader.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically imaginative and fun. Who thought an evil hot dog could be such an excellent villain (& equivalent foe to our heroes). Loved the reemergence of the potato salad from the first book - what a character arc!

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this. But really it was not bad. Still I prefer my main pov characters to be quite a bit smarter. This was pretty silly. But it was written seriously. And basically worked. Sure I'm not the target audience. But I didn't feel tortured in this one.

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annual tradition of reading a Dragonbreath book at the end of the year so I can get a 'U' author. I enjoyed this one more than the previous one.
(regarding graffiti) 'How can you misspell that? It's only got four letters!'

[Daniel Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series was a random find on Overdrive and I'm loving them, they're funny and self-aware lamp shading the more ridiculous pieces of the stories.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

The boy's rating was 3.5. A few laugh out loud moments in this one.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite book!

[Loren Dillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great humor. Just think about the absurdity of the concept of a were hotdog fighting off a potato salad. Love the adventures hey have. Danny was able to breath fire a bit.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite funny!

[kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When your student brings you his favorite book series from home, you read them. Then you celebrate them in your classroom reading community because that's what the love of reading is all about.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Titirsha Bhattacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny and weird book. Perfect for children and well as adults like me who loves silly stories. It was a fast read and quite enjoyable.