Publication Date: 7 July 2022

The Blurb

An old Polish city fizzes with fear. The townsfolk are at the mercy of a dragon who lurks in the cave below the castle…

Konrad’s dad always used to say, ‘There is a character in a book somewhere that matches you almost entirely. It’s just a matter of finding them’. Konrad never expected the ‘finding’ to involve stepping right into a story, and he never expected his dad not to be there with him.

After his dad’s death, Konrad stops speaking. Not a word at home or school as the year rolls by. But that begins to change when he meets Maya on the beach he loved to explore with Dad. She doesn’t mind his silence. It gives her a chance to be heard, because at home no one seems to notice her. When the pair go on a last visit to Konrad’s family bookshop before it’s sold, they soon get lost in the pages of Konrad’s favourite book of folk tales. Whisked back in time to quest with a dragon, they must find themselves and their voices, as well as a happy end to the story in the book and in real life.

The Review

Sublime storytelling that packs an emotional punch, The Dragon In The Bookshop is an ode to the healing power of friendship and understanding. Make sure you have tissues at the ready if you cry at books – I didn’t make it past the end of Chapter 2 before I needed mine. Ewa captures the rawness of Konrad’s grief and the helplessness of his Mum in the face of it, struggling with her own grief too.

Konrad is trapped in his grief and anger having lost his father on the 4th November the previous year. Life is split into the time before and the time after. The time after has become a world of silence where Konrad no longer speaks despite having plenty he needs to say. His escapes to the beach to avoid people give him space to be the intrepid explorer he was with his Dad. When he meets Maya, he finds he can speak to her without the emotions bubbling up and blocking his words. Their friendship is easy and as natural as the environment they explore together.

Maya is a free spirit who loves everything in the natural world, but she is lonely having moved time and again due to her parents’ jobs. Her desire to heal and help sees her looking for the very best in people and peaceful outcomes for all. Their combined love of knowledge and stories shows in their joy at sharing both as they discover new things together.

Both children have an innate ability to understand and support each other when they are thrown into a world that is as familiar as it is different, a world Konrad has visited time and again with his Dad in a story. Ewa blends her modern characters with the traditional Polish tale of The Dragon Of Wawel Castle seamlessly to create a moving story all of her own, where empathy and understanding rather than fear and destruction are required to save they day for everyone.

Will they all live happily ever after? I don’t know, but I am glad that Konrad and Maya have each other to face whatever life throws at them together.

Great for fans of:

• The Castle Of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson
• The Boy, The Bird And The Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods
• The Afterwards By A.F. Harrold, illustrated by Emily Gravett

If you or someone you know is struggling with grief, You Will Be Ok by Julie Stokes is a fabulous book to help you understand the different waves of emotion you may go through and help to develop strategies to help the light bleed into the dark.

Huge thanks to Head Of Zeus for sending me an copy.