Jack's Reading List - Five More Knight and Dragon Books to get children excited for bedtime!

By Jack the Knight

Hello again, Jack here.

The last reading list went down rather well in the castle. Sir Henry was very happy with my suggestions, Fire Pud has been recommending the dragon one to everyone he meets, which would be lovely if he didn't announce it in what I can only describe as a promotional voice. He has also started referring to himself as "Chief Dragon Book Ambassador", which is not a real job and he doesn't get any form of renumeration for this!

Anyway. More books.

I have been reading extensively in recent months. Partly because I enjoy it. Partly because there was a siege last Tuesday and I was stuck in the east tower for considerably longer than anticipated and had to do something productive with my time.

So here are five more picture books about knights that I recommend for some bedtime story action. Each one is different. Each one is excellent. And each one, in its own way, made me think about what it means to be a knight, which is either the highest praise or a sign that I am perhaps spending too much time thinking about being a knight.

It is almost certainly both.

I: The Knight Who Said No by Lucy Rowland

Ned the Knight always does exactly what he is told. He picks up his toys, digs the cabbages, helps everyone who asks, and, most importantly, runs inside every night when the dragon arrives in the village.

Until the morning he says no.

I want to say upfront that I have complicated feelings about a knight called Ned who refuses to do things. My instinct is strongly toward doing the things. If the dragon is coming, you go and deal with the dragon. That is essentially the job of being a knight.

But here is what happens. Ned says no. Ned stays outside. And it turns out the dragon isn't scary at all, she is lonely. And the only reason she kept coming back to the village every night was because she wanted a friend and didn't know how to ask.

This is an extraordinarily good picture book. It is about obedience and when to question it. It is about bravery being different from following instructions. And it is about the fact that the thing everyone runs away from is sometimes the thing most worth running toward.

The rhyming text is excellent. The illustrations by Kate Hindley are vivid and funny and full of the kind of detail that rewards a second and third reading. Fire Pud cried at the ending. He denies this. The evidence is considerable. This book is brilliant.

Ages 3–6 · Author: Lucy Rowland · Illustrated by: Kate Hindley

II: Knight Tales by David Melling

This is three books in one, which feels like a rather generous arrangement.

David Melling, who also created Hugless Douglas, has gathered The Kiss That Missed, Good Knight Sleep Tight, and The Three Wishes into one magnificent collection.

In The Kiss That Missed, a king blows a bedtime kiss to his son, but misses, and a brave knight must ride out to retrieve it. In Good Knight Sleep Tight, a baby princess cannot sleep because her pillow is wrong, and the same loyal knight must quest for the perfect feathers. In The Three Wishes, magic, wishes and unintended consequences combine in exactly the sort of situation that seems to follow knights around with alarming regularity.

The knight in these stories is loyal, slightly  bewildered, and absolutely committed to whatever impossible task the royal family gives him, regardless of whether it makes any sense. I love this character but would rather he have a name!

The illustrations are warm, funny and packed with comic detail. This is the collection for children who enjoy quests, castles, bedtime adventures and knights who mean very well but somehow end up in increasingly unreasonable situations. You also get three books with this one, so what more could you ask for!?

III: Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants by Giles Andreae

I am going to be honest. When Fire Pud first told me about this book, I was sceptical. I mean golden underpants!? What on earth is that about and who could think of something as odd as a pair of golden underpants.

The King's golden underpants have been stolen by a giant, and the only knight available for the mission is Sir Scallywag, who is six years old. The quest is to retrieve the underpants before the royal bottom gets cold.

I read it. I read it again. The castle children made me read it a third time. We are now on our fourth reading and I have to say, it is a triumph. Sir Scallywag is small. He is young. He is sent on a mission that most knights would refuse on the grounds of both the danger and the dignity involved. And he goes anyway, on his horse Doofus, with the kind of unstoppable determination that I recognise in the very best knights.

Giles Andreae is the author of Giraffes Can't Dance and understands that the best children's books make both the child and the adult laugh simultaneously for entirely different reasons. The illustrations by Korky Paul are brilliant. The mission succeeds. The royal bottom is saved.

I will not say more. But I will say that this book is considerably more moving than the title suggests.

Ages 3–6 · Author: Giles Andreae · Illustrated by: Korky Paul

IV: The Knight Who Might by Lou Treleaven

The Knight Who Might tries very hard to be a knight. He has a magic horse. He has a magic sword. He has a magic helmet. None of these things appear to be working particularly well for him — things don't go to plan, repeatedly and in increasingly creative ways, and he is not what anyone would describe as an obvious candidate for the kingdom's greatest tournament.

But then he spots the competition. And he decides to enter anyway. Because a positive attitude, this book argues, can achieve things that raw talent alone cannot. This is exactly the approach that Charlotte and I took during The Tournament and it works an absolute treat!

This is the book I would give to any child who has ever felt they weren't quite big enough, quite ready enough, or quite impressive enough to try the thing they want to try. The Knight Who Might is not the most accomplished knight. He is the knight who shows up anyway and means it. The ending is extremely satisfying and entirely earned.

The illustrations are lively and funny. The story moves at exactly the right pace. And the message — that having a go matters more than being certain you'll succeed — is the message I would want every child to take into every room they walk into.

It's basically my entire philosophy, in a beautiful icture book.

Ages 4–7 · Author: Lou Treleaven · Illustrated by: Kyle Beckett

V: George and the Dragon by Chris Wormell

This one I am recommending last because it is, in my opinion, the most surprising book on the list — and the one I would least have expected to affect me as much as it did.

George is a very small mouse. He is not a knight. He has never been a knight. He has no armour, no horse, no sword. What he has is a needle and thread, because George is a tailor, and an encounter, in the dark of a cave, with a dragon who has a thorn in his paw.

The dragon is called Bob. He is the most feared creature in the kingdom. Everyone is terrified of him. George, facing him in the dark with nothing but a needle, is absolutely the wrong creature for this situation.

He helps him anyway.

This is not a book about a knight in the conventional sense. But it is a book about exactly what a good knight is actually for, using whatever you have to help whoever needs it, regardless of whether the situation makes you the obvious choice.

George uses his needle. The thorn comes out. And Bob, the most feared dragon in the kingdom, becomes the most devoted friend in the story. There is a moral here that I think about rather a lot.

The illustrations are wonderous and slightly old-fashioned in the very best way, warm, detailed, funny, and exactly right. Fire Pud said he related to Bob, which surprised no one.

Ages 3–6 · Author and Illustrator: Chris Wormell

A Final Note from Chris

While adventures continue at the castle, the Shield Wall remains open and very much welcomes new members. Join us at thegoodknightbook.com/shield-wall for news from the castle, medieval history, reading recommendations from the kingdom's smallest knight, and a free Guide to Medieval Insults for all new recruits.

As Jack is fond of reminding us:

"It's choosing what's right that sets a good knight apart."

Join Jack's Shield Wall at thegoodknightbook.com/shield-wall. New members this month receive a free Guide to Medieval Insults. 🏰⚔️