✨Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold (2022)

By Mark Leiknes

4Rbooks                                           5/6                   grades          3-8

Amazon                                             4.7/5              grade level   3-7

Goodreads                                      4.12/5          

Common Sense Media               Not Yet Reviewed

329 pages

Synopsis

            Ned and his best friend Gil have been on a quest to find Ned’s parents and Gil’s wizard mentor who disappeared the same night.  They have been joined by Terra, a 700-year-old elf who looks 11 (Ned and Gil’s age), Boulder, a nice rock troll, and Ash, a dog-pig-thing. As their original quest has gone cold, the team has taken on new quests, most of which have not turned out well, or successful.

            They try to help a village by stealing a pair of pants made from gold from the local dragon.  The dragon caught them and to save themselves, and the village, Ned promised to find more gold and they would create a track jacket of gold to go with the pants. The dragon gives them a year to accomplish their quest.

            This leads Ned and his team through a series of adventures including sneaking into the elves’ halls of wisdom, crossing the acid swamp, getting through the invisible forest, escaping vaguelandia, and then shearing the golden-fleeced rage beast. They face danger, make new allies, and rely on each other’s talents.

Parental Guidelines:    medium-low

A lot of fantasy types of violence and danger.

At times an over fascination with bodily functions, in particular farts.

Ned is not always truthful and gets his friends into dangerous situations.

Recommendation

Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold is the first book in a three-book series.  It is a silly, funny, slightly gross adventure novel which should appeal to many readers, especially boys. It has elements of Lord of the Rings, Galaxy Quest, and Star Wars set in a fantasy land and time.

I don’t think this would work as a classroom or small-group read because of the bodily function humor, but I think this would be acceptable as an addition to a library of upper-elementary age students or middle school age. It will be accessible to struggling readers, intriguing to uninterested readers, and a fun, easy read to proficient readers. There are many opportunities for family discussions about truth, friendship, and bravery, making it worthwhile as a family read.

This is a graphic novel style of book with many pictures and many pages written more in a cartoon style than prose. I purchased this book at Fabled, an independent book store in Waco, Texas, a fantastic shop with a well-stocked middle-school reader’s section.