I just read an illustrated book to a first-grade class. It was a pleasant enough book. They enjoyed it because they knew the story so well that they memorized the words and it represented a time when they don’t have to work. The book was also far too easy for them. Some of the kids were so bored that they simply put their heads on their desks and listened to an all too enthusiastic substitute teacher read it to them. In my experience teaching children, it’s not that they don’t want to read, it’s that they want to read books that are entertaining. The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly, The Coldfire Curse by Jordan Quinn is a graphic novel that classes like that would devour during their free reading time.
The Coldfire Curse is the first in a series of all age graphic novels published on Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. An all-age graphic novel can be a tricky thing for an author or publisher to actually get kids to want to read it. If the book is too cutesy then older readers won’t want to be seen near it. Conversely, if the book has images or material that even appear to be too advanced then it could scare off younger readers. The Coldfire Curse is keenly aware of these needs and goes about telling a story in a manner that will appeal to those young elementary-aged readers in a way that respects their desire to be treated like smart people.
Graphic novels like this don’t talk down to younger readers. They maintain the “all-age” appeal by simply not putting in violent images, action that might be too much, or behavior that parents don’t want their elementary-aged students emulating. Even though The Coldfire Curse can be enjoyed by readers as young as five (yes-5-years-old!), it doesn’t have an upper end of readers that wouldn’t consider it cool.
The action in The Coldfire Curse happens on the island of Crestwood in the Kingdom of Wrenly. It’s a mythical land of mountains, castles, volcanoes, monsters, friendly human locals, and dragons. In my mind’s eye, I see it as a combination of China or New Zealand, minus the friendly humans.
Cinder is the country dragon, who is keenly aware of a problem that’s making dragons cold. Obviously, as fire-breathing creatures, who are most likely reptilian in nature and thus, cold-blooded, being cold all of the time can be fatal. Ruskin is the city dragon, who has been pampered all of this life. He’s more playful and hasn’t seen any hint of the drama or dire consequences that Cinder says is happening to the dragons in Crestwood.
More importantly, Cinder was unaware that any other dragons even existed. Even though they’re the same species and have great personal differences, Ruskin is thrilled to able to speak with someone for the first time. Even though Ruskin isn’t convinced about the problems in the dragon community, much less the fact that he could be the savior of dragon kind, he’s curious to see this place where everyone else is like him.
As the two navigate the top layer conspiracy layers of Crestwood they realized that everyone even if they’re dragons can be trusted or are necessarily telling the truth. The Coldfire Curse is a graphic novel that does an excellent job at telling a story. The book realizes that many of its readers will be younger and paces its vocabulary as such. Early elementary-aged readers will need help reading some of the words, especially the names of the characters. However, the amount of text, when each character is speaking is perfect for those ages. At most a character will have two sentences of conversation in one speech bubble.
That text is complemented with big illustrations. The drawings are realistic but rounded just a little bit that gives the graphic novel its appeal for those hard to reach, younger demographics. This is the hardest part for an all-age graphic novel to successfully navigate and The Coldfire Curse makes short work of this issue. It builds an entertaining story with art that will capture young readers and has enough text to help build their confidence as they learn to read more advanced stories.
Most of all, The Coldfire Curse is fun. The illustrations tell the story, to an extent, by themselves. However, it’s the text that really pushes the graphic novel into something that elementary students will want to read, and their older siblings in middle or high school will borrow also.
The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly, The Coldfire Curse is by Jordan Quinn with illustrations by Glass House Graphics and available on Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
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