E. Nesbit

As young King Lionel turns the pages of his magical book, a hungry red dragon and other creatures in the illustrations come to life.

Simplified prose retellings of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, The Tempest, King Lear, Macbeth, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and The Winter's Tale.

Tradition says that dragons come in many shapes and sizes but they all breathe fire, whisk fierce, scaly tails and frighten local villagers. Whenever they can, they capture princesses and take them to their caves. But this is not always the case. In these four stories, the authors introduce some very different kinds of dragons. One, for example, just wants to sit quietly in his cave and write poetry and really doesn't want to fight St. George; in...

After climbing to the top of a huge beanstalk, a boy uses his quick wits to outsmart a giant and gain a fortune for himself and his mother.