Tuesday, July 7, 2020

The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup by Rosemary Sutcliff illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark





Tuesday Treasure

I have been reading the Minstrel and the Dragon pup to groups of Grade Three children since 1993 when it was first published. Let's begin with the front cover:

Things to notice - the dragon and his size; the clothing of the man (or some children think this is a woman); the boots; the harp; his bag; the feather; and the background landscape which reminds me of the background in the Mona Lisa painting.


Back to the cover and title: What are some clues that this story might be set long ago? Why would the man be carrying a harp? Can you surmise anything about the relationship between the minstrel and the dragon? Where do you think they might be going? We also discuss the idea of a minstrel and compare this with the more familiar buskers that the children have seen on city streets.



One more thing to note which I only just discovered: Publisher's Weekly suggest the art in this book was inspired by the Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca.

Now open the book and look at the end papers. This pattern looks like tessellated tiles of the kind you might find in a castle - so the scene is set before we read any of the text.



Turn the page again and on the title page we see a peacock feather - go back and find this on the cover. There is also a small speckled shell which is broken into two pieces.  These are all tantalizing story clues.



I love sharing this book with Grade Three classes because this is often the first time they have encountered a 'prologue'.

"One spring, a she-dragon made her nest on the edge of a high sea cliff. She laid three beautiful eggs and settled down to sit on them with her tailed curled neatly round to keep them all together."

A knight rides up, the she-dragon leaps up to fly away hoping to stop the knight trampling her eggs but as she springs up her tail flicks one of the eggs out of the nest.

"One fine spring day - it was the same day on which the she-dragon had lost her egg - a minstrel was walking along the seashore."

The minstrel sees the egg on the seashore and he can see it has begun to hatch. He plays a simple tune "like a lullaby, but whereas a lullaby is for going to sleep to, this was a tune for waking up to."



The minstrel and the dragon pup, now called Lucky, set off along the road. As they walk, over many seasons, we see the pup grown bigger and the minstrel's fortunes change because, with someone to love, he plays even better music. Then one night, a greedy man - a travelling showman, kidnaps Lucky.  The minstrel is determined to find his friend so he sets off walking.

He was "determined to walk all day and all night until he caught up with the showman. But soon the lane branched into three. And while he stood there wondering, a late butterfly hovered past in the sunshine, and danced on down the left-hand lane. The minstrel follow it, there being nothing else to tell him which way to go. But butterflies are not very reliable, and it was the wrong lane."

These are some of my most favourite lines from any book - "a late butterfly hovered past";"butterflies are not very reliable... "

This is a longer format picture book with many plot twists rather like the long journey taken by the minstrel himself. He does find Lucky but how this happens, where this happens and what happens when he finds his true friend will enchant you. Yes there is a HAPPY ENDING.

Rosemary Sutcliff died in 1992. The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup was published posthumously. If you ask me to name my top five read aloud titles The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup would be close to my top choice. This story originally was originally serialized in Cricket Magazine. I have tried to find the actual Cricket Magazine so I can show you the cover but I have not had much success with this. I do own some old copies of Cricket Magazine from 1994 but not these issues - 1994 volume 22 parts one, two and three. Sadly The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup is now out of print but I was lucky and found a brand new copy at a very reduced price.





  • A hero, set apart from his peers
  • Landscape and the seasons as living entities in themselves
  • Friendship
  • Adventure
  • Scenes of slow tension and thrilling escape
  • The sense and quest for justice and fairness
  • A hopeful, ‘song of new beginnings’ ending

It would be so wonderful if readers of The Dragon and the Minstrel Pup were then inspired to read other books by Rosemary Sutcliff (1920-1992).  If you can find some vintage copies of her work you will also see the most amazing illustrations and cover designs by famous names such as Victor Ambrus, Charles Keeping, Alan Lee and Walter Hodges.



I have been mentioning The Minstrel and the Dragon pup on this blog for many years.  Take a look at these posts:

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