Book Review: St. George, Rusty Knight and Monster Tamer by John Powell

25814742

When I requested John Powell’s Saint George: Rusty Knight and Monster Tamer from NetGalley sometime last year, I confess I totally thought it was going to be a story of the legend of St. George, who is often portrayed as a slayer of dragons. That, of course, wasn’t the case at all (ha, oops!), but it was a really enjoyable read. Part of the novelty for my daughter was reading together on my Kindle (ooohhh! exciting!), but she really did enjoy the book and so did I.

The Goodreads synopsis is super short:

Humorous tales about an impoverished knight in old England who discovers a way to tame the great variety of monsters that roam the land in the days of Good King Freddie the Umteenth and his prime minister Merlin the Whirlin.

“Humorous” is the perfect word to describe the story. If I remember correctly, Powell says in the beginning of the book that he originally came up with these stories as bedtime stories for his kids – and you can tell! They’re just funny and perfectly geared toward little kids. They follow a predictable structure (all of them start with “Now it was in the days of Good King Freddie…”) and in each story Saint George has to take on some ridiculous monster problem or another – which usually can be solved by providing the monsters with the magical, monster-taming marmorguglehupf cake (my daughter thought that word was hilarious).

The stories are full of all sorts of absurdities with names just as outlandish as marmorguglehupf cake, ideas like George’s “armor-on week” and “armor-off week” (during which he sleeps – for the whole week!), and other silly, non-sensical things (like a king who can’t read!). The crazy names and nonsense action reminded me a good deal of Roald Dahl, and prompted the same kind of laughter from my daughter as did The BFG. There were only two drawbacks for me with the books: 1) each story was a little too long to be a bedtime read-aloud but it didn’t work to break them up so we just pushed through a whole story in each sitting; and 2) there was one entire story that REALLY is not suited for American kids – or their parents! We just couldn’t follow the thread on playing cricket (our loss, though – I’m sure to a British kid the story would’ve been as hilarious as the rest).

All in all, I’d give it 4 stars and definitely recommend it! I think it’ll be another year or two before my next daughter is ready for it, but I’ll look forward to rereading the silliness with her when she’s ready!

Attention: Awesome Book-themed goodies!

Bookshelf

Before I started blogging I was always amazed at how bloggers had these cool posts with giveaways and promocodes and the like, and I was like…. eh I’ll never get there but that would be SO COOL. Well, just this past week I was contacted by Melissa of Literary Book Gifts and asked if I’d be willing to share a review of her products or a promocode with my readers. You guys, I’m SO EXCITED.

I checked out Melissa’s website and, as I told her in our email exchange, these are the kinds of things I ogle and hope someone buys me but I can never justify purchasing for myself… especially right now, being super pregnant and couch-bound! What I decided to do in the meantime is highlight some of the products and designs–most exclusive to Literary Book Gifts and done by Melissa herself–that I find most appealing to give you an example of what her shop has to offer.

First, a “Bookend t-shirt” – I put a picture here of my favorite color but there is an impressive variety of colors available.

Next, because I love a nice comfy sweatshirt, this Moby Dick Hoodie is one of my favorite designs. I couldn’t wear it, though, because I’ve never actually finished the book (I tried – in seventh grade – and kids stole the book, wrote ” ‘s ” after “Moby” and passed it around the room laughing… sigh. The life of a book nerd in middle school.)

Finally, because I’m Mom and these are beautiful, this Peter Rabbit Tote Bag. It could replace the silly Frozen bag I (or my husband, more accurately at the moment) use for our library runs with the kids.

The shop includes women’s, men’s, and unisex t-shirts, tanks, and hoodies, as well as backpacks and totes. The designs are all based off classics — think Moby Dick, Jane Austen, Plato, Homer, Les Miserables — and would be SUCH fun to wear!

Melissa has generously offered 20% off for readers of The Edifying Word if you use the promocode THEEDIFYINGWORD20. The code is good for anything in the store, no minimum purchase, and can be used unlimited times. So, thank you, Melissa, and happy shopping to my readers!

Weekend Coffee Share – Bedrest Edition

Hello friends,

So this is my first time participating in “Weekend Coffee Share,” hosted by Eclectic Alli, but I’ve been reading and enjoying Thomas Fenske‘s weekend shares for a while and started following the tag a few months ago. SO I thought now is a good time to join.

SO – if we were having coffee together this weekend, and I wish we were because it is LONELY in here, I would have to tell you that I am on bedrest with Baby #4. This isn’t my first rodeo (I did this with Baby #2 as well), but this time around I have a job outside the home and THREE kids, not one! Thankfully, I have the most wonderful husband in the world who takes great care of me and the kids! Also, a positive this time – I’m not also dealing with perinatal depression and anxiety this time around. It makes things much easier to handle!

I would assure you that despite being frustrated, I am doing well and so is Baby – as long as I continue to take the super crappy meds they gave me to stop contractions (every 8 hours I get basically knocked out for 2-3 hours) and I sit my bottom right here on my couch, the little guy should stay in there for quite a bit longer. Which he needs to do because I’m only 29 weeks today.

So WHAT am I doing with my time (besides sleeping each time I take a dose of meds)? When I was on bedrest five years ago I learned to knit, read a lot, and made a latch-hook rug. This time I’m betareading, hoping to work on some editing projects, catching up on some book reviews, reading books, and doing some professional development in the way of watching some Great Courses on English and the publishing industry. While also stalking Craigslist for a used Citi Mini Double Stroller or else HOW are we going to make it to the bus stop every day once this baby is born? I missed one for $90 the other day – an amazing price because these things retail for like $450 (eek!).

So, that’s my story! I have some amazing family, friends, and coworkers who have been checking in on me, dropping by food and the mail, and keeping me company. I’m trying to enjoy the quiet before the kids are back and there’s NO quiet – but I do miss the munchkins!

Enjoy your weekend, friends! I’ll be right here on my couch, keeping my little baby safe and secure!