Review By HOMA WOODRUM
I received a publisher’s review copy of Gryphons Aren’t So Great and my mother-in-law remarked at the spelling in the title so I looked into it. Griffin and grphyon seem to be variants meant to describe the same mythical creature with the body of a lion (except for the front feet which feature talons) and the head and wings of an eagle. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Anyway, back to this cute little book. My son loved the idea of a knight and horse being best friends — even jumping into water together and having adventures — but he was sad when the knight abandoned her stalwart friend for a flying one, the titular Gryphon. The knight is ignored when the Gryphon meets one of his own kind and realizes she should have stayed loyal to the horse, Edward. I like that the horse has a name but the knight doesn’t, kind of a turnabout.
It is a quick, graphic novel style read and after one go through my son was ready to re-tell the story from the pictures. A good book for beginning readers but probably too short for older kids. Pre-K to 2nd grade is probably ideal.
Kristin // Sep 7, 2015 at 5:32 am
We love this book! It’s such a wonderful lesson about friendship, and the illustration style is accessible and fun. In our family, we had a reflective conversation about how we can relate to each of the three characters at different times. This is a great little book to have on hand in case of friendship changes or drama as well.
Happy Tenth Birthday, First Second! | This Weblog is Unique. Just Like They All Are. // Feb 26, 2016 at 11:36 pm
[…] and explored new interpretations of life lessons via Fable Comics. Other First Second books like Gryphons Aren’t So Great and the Olympians collection, Little Robot and Zita the Spacegirl, and the entire Sardine […]