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Nickerbacher, The Funniest Dragon

Written by Terry John Barto
Illustrated by Kim Sponaugle
AuthorHouse                 3/23/2015
978-1-4969-5454-1
34 pages             Age 5—8
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“Nickerbacher is a sweet-tempered, bushy-browed beast who spends his days guarding Princess Gwendolyn and dreaming of being a stand-up comic—not exactly a profession for a dragon! He’s true to his duty as dragon—as dictated by his Papa—but wants only to make the world laugh. Gwendolyn is supportive and encouraging, telling his he needs to do what makes him happy. It isn’t until the dashing Prince Happenstance comes along, ready for a fight, that they realize that instead of battling each other, they should do what’s in their hearts and pursue their true desires (the Prince wants to e a baseball pitchwer). With a winning set at The Comedy Castle and his family’s newfound support and pride, it’s all laughter, happiness, and dreams come true for the good-natured dragon!” [press release]
Review
The sign by Nickerbacher’s station below Princess Gwendolyn’s tower window states,

“BEWARE OF DRAGON”

Maybe at one time, but Nickerbacher is no threat to any Prince or enemy. The softhearted dragon loves the princess, but he would rather be doing something else—telling jokes—on stage, on the road, or just about any place he might land. Nickerbacher’s papa is not one for tomfoolery. The gigantic orange and red-spotted dragon strictly obeys one commandment,

“Every dragon has a duty to guard princesses.”

Nickerbacher is to be no exception and quickly stands guard—fearfully—whenever Papa checks up on him. Poor Nickerbacher, he tries to explain, but Papa will not budge. Nickerbacher may display his angst but will not disobey Papa. Kids will feel for him, but they will identify more with Prince Happenstance, who would rather be a baseball pitcher than a knight. (Did baseball exist at the time of knights and dragons?) The story is cute and the illustrations are captivating, nicely enhancing Barto’s story. I love the spread where Prince Happenstance flips a coin, which bounces off Nickerbacher’s nose.

Though he looks young for a knight (maybe eleven or twelve), Prince Happenstance is a tad full of himself, which fits his knightly role. Once the prince decides to follow his dream his attitudes takes a major shift. Nickerbacher’s family finally accepts his true self, encouraging him to pursue his comedic dreams. The story does not end there. We see Nickerbacher signing his book How to be Funny with modern appearing people waiting in a long line for his signature. Nickerbacher no longer looks like a dragon as he dons a red hat and an Hawaiian-styled shirt.

Being a tad fussy,]]] I notice out-of-place details: baseball, Hawaiian shirts, and modern looking people in the era of knights and dragons. I doubt kids will care and may appreciate the reference to a game most have played. Those details side, Nickerbacher is a good story about standing up for your true self. Barto gets his message across without hammering them by using kid humor. It is a shame the book is in paperback (eBook is available). Kids may well wear out the pages with repeat readings. They will love the goofy jokes. Parents who like read using different voices will have loads of fun with Nickerbacher, the Funniest Dragon. Barto’s first foray into children’s book was Gollywood (review here).

NICKERBACHER. Text copyright © 2015 by Terry John Barto. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Kim Sponaugle. Reproduced by permission of the AuthorHouse, Bloomington, IN.

Purchase Nickerbacher at Amazon—Book Depository—AuthorHouse.

Learn more about Nickerbacher HERE.

Book’s website:  http://www.nickerbacher.com/
Meet the author, Terry John Barto, at his website:  http://www.tjbkids.com/
Meet the illustrator, Kim Sponaugle, at her website:  http://www.picturekitchenstudio.com/
Find more picture books at the AuthorHouse website:  http://www.authorhouse.com/

AWARDS
2015 Beverly Hills Book Awards Finalist: Picture Books
Mom’s Choice Award Gold

 Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews

Filed under: 4stars, Children's Books, Library Donated Books, Picture Book Tagged: AuthorHouse, baseeball, be yourself, comedy, dragons, follow your dreams, Kim Sponaugle, Nickerbacher, Terry John Barto, the Funniest Dragon

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This girl was inspired by a friend's daughter. She has three shades of pink in her room. Now I like pink, but only in small doses. I had a really hard time overcoming my natural instinct to add complementary colors to this illo. She is 100% into pink!

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I loved Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The plot: an asteroid crashes into the moon, ruining the Earth. It's like The Road, minus the baby-eating. I'm not the only one who loved it. So did teens, who voted it into the Top 10 Books for Teens. [Full disclosure: I am NOT jeaous. At ALL.]

But look at these two covers - for the same book.

Is there any chance boys are going to pick up the pink one? I don’t think so.

As she says in her blog [Where I totally stole these images from]:
“Marion Lloyd Books, a subdivision of UK Scholastic, also published Life As We Knew It. But a different cover design was originally considered by Marion Lloyd Books and ultimately rejected. My good fortune with LAWKI continued, as US Scholastic also decided to purchase the rights for its bookfairs and bookclubs. The other day I received an e-mail from a school librarian in Missouri, who had been kind enough to e-mail me previously to say how much she and her students had enjoyed Life As We Knew It. But this time she was very upset. She had just gotten books from Scholastic for a bookfair and this [the pink version] is what the newest version of LAWKI looked like. No boy will ever read a book with that cover! she declared. Of course she was right. Now I was very upset. I forwarded her e-mail to my agent and my editor. They agreed she was right. Now they were very upset. Harcourt e-mailed Scholastic. Why did you use this cover, they asked, and not one of the other two? Oh dear, Scholastic e-mailed back. Just a misunderstanding. Next printing, we'll change the cover .

Ms. Pfeffer, who has a sense of humor that I like a lot, begged her blog readers to run out to Scholastic book fairs and buy up all the pink ones.

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In this show A multimedia text set focusing on gender issues and definitions of success. Texts Mentioned: Shrek The Pink Party Boy Can He Dance Thanks To: Diana Rodriguez for the multi-media audio Chris Kretz from the Dowling College Library Omnibus Podcast

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