Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Viennese girl meets dragon in sweet, poignant fantasy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Born in 1803 in the Black Forest, young dragon Benevolentia Gaudium, known as Grisha, falls prey to a sorcerer using THE LANGUAGE OF SPELLS and spends over a century in the form of a golden teapot before a kind man sets him free just after World War II. Hearing that his fellow dragons are now in Vienna, Grisha goes to join them, only to find them (and soon himself) imprisoned and put to work, if not disappeared entirely. Magic has fallen out of favor while he was enchanted. After about 50 years of this life, he's hanging in a hotel bar with his dragon pals when he notices a small girl sleeping under one of the tables. It's 11-year-old Maggie, who lives an eccentric life in the hotel with her loving father, a famous poet. The two lonely souls become great friends, and as Grisha becomes more and more concerned about the long-missing dragons, dragon and girl are determined to save them.
Is It Any Good?
Garret Weyr's imaginative tale of a girl and a dragon teaming up for a quest in late 20th-century Vienna offers eccentric charm, sweetness, life lessons, Latin, and more than a bit of heartbreak. Katie Hartnett's fanciful illustrations bring the characters and setting to life. The story may be too emotionally intense for some readers, but it delivers plenty of moments with the ring of truth, as here, when Maggie, whose mother died when Maggie was little, realizes something as she becomes friends with Grisha:
"So this is what it feels like to miss someone, Maggie thought. ... It would be like thinking about Grisha with the knowledge that he'd never be at the Blaue Bar ever again. That must be what missing Caroline was like for Alexander. ... She looked at her father as if seeing him for the first time. Alexander's day, no matter how busy he was, would be shaped by not seeing Caroline. Every day was like that for him."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about dragons. Some stories are about slaying them, and others are about making friends with them. Which kind of tale do you prefer? How do you think The Language of Spells compares with other dragon tales you've read?
Do you speak more than one language? When you were learning your second language, did other people who spoke it help you out or make fun of you (as happens to Maggie in the story)?
If you could do or get something incredible that you really want, but it would cost you something you really love, would you go for it or leave well enough alone?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Katie Harnett
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Friendship , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Chronicle Books
- Publication date : June 26, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 256
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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