A review by fairychapters
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

5.0

i have always loved reading fairy tales so i chose to go with “victorian fairy tales” for a project i had to prepare for uni. not gonna lie, it took me quite a lot of time to decide which fairy tale i wanted to work on but eventually, it was no other than “the reluctant dragon” (1898) by kenneth grahame.

to begin with, i expected it to be rather conventional as regards to the plot or elements of fiction in general but to my surprise, it was nothing like that at all !! it was so diverse and ground-breaking. i mean, having a gentle, peaceful and rather sassy dragon who writes sonnets and loves drinking tea as the protagonist says a lot at the first place!

dealing with timeless issues like racism, xenophobia and social stereotypes, kenneth graham manages to subvert all of them and make this fairy tale a celebration of diversity and acceptance of your true self. such a heart-warming and witty story... definitely NOT your usual fairy tale!