Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
Author Bruce Coville
Illustrator Gary A. Lippincott
Country United States
Language English
Series Magic Shop
Genre Fantasy
Publisher 1991 Harcourt (US), Hodder (UK)
1992 Aladdin
2007 Harcourt
Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages 148
ISBN 978-0-15-206252-1
OCLC 144228043
Preceded by The Monster's Ring
Followed by Jennifer Murdley's Toad

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher is a novel by Bruce Coville and is part of the Magic Shop Books. It was first released in 1991 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich/Jane Yolen Books, and later was reissued in paperback by Aladdin. Fifteen years later, it was rereleased in by Harcourt in an new edition.[1]

Plot

Jeremy Thatcher knows a thing or two about raising animals-after all, his dad is a veterinarian. But after he leaves Mr. Elives' magic shop with a strange marbled egg, it soon becomes clear that this is one pet he wasn't prepared for! How is he supposed to keep a flame-breathing dragon with razor-sharp teeth and out-of-control appetite in his bedroom? If the playful baby dragon is ever to grow up to become a magnificent beast of myth and legend, it needs Jeremy. And though he doesn't know it yet, Jeremy needs a dragon.

Reviews & Interviews

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher has gained positive reviews. Many people find it fun and refreshing. Kids enjoy it. Yet, some say that there is a fine line between "fantasy" and "reality" Kirkus Reviews wrote that it was "A funny, enjoyable, imaginative story whose serious undercurrents lend it unexpected depth."[1] According to Christopher Paolini, it also served as inspiration for his book Eragon, as he had loved the story's dragon-hatching storyline. "Q: As you know, there has been a lot of social controversy about exposing kids to reality vs. fantasy. What are your thoughts about the social implications of "magic" in the lives of our children? Is the use of "magic" in your books just fantasy, just fun? A: Sometimes kids do a much better job at telling the difference between fantasy and reality than a group of adults. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher has been taken off the shelf in one school district for what they called "satanic content"—the presence of the dragon, the chicken livers, the silver gleam, and the use of black and red colors here and there in the book. It went back on the shelf after a protracted discussion and once I got involved in the issue. But I can't address magic across the spectrum because different people have different feelings about it. I can only say that, for me, fantasy is a way of telling an amusing and engaging story and fantasy fiction sometimes addresses important issues at a deeper level than realistic fiction does. C. S. Lewis said "Sometimes the best way to tell the truth is to tell a fairy tale."

Awards

The Utah's children book award in 1994. "Always grab the reader by the throat in the first line," says Bruce Coville, author of "Jeremy Thatcher: Dragon Hatcher," winner of the 1994 Utah Children's Book Award. In 1992 Mythopoeic Award Nominated Coville's Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher for Best Children's Fantasy Literature.

Challenges

In Iowa, parents challenged Coville's novel because it "contained reference to witchcraft and devil worship." Eventually it was proven that there was no references to the devil or witchcraft but the parents thought the mention of silver, red, and black and the symbols of the moon and the stars were all connected to witchcraft and devil worship. The book remained on the shelves.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Barnes and Noble book page". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
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