John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J R R Tolkien

John Ronald was an unusual child. He loved horses, trees, words, and most of all, dragons. His mother read him stories about knights and dragons. He and his friends held secret tea parties in the library. They performed plays, practiced rugby, and drew pictures. John Ronald and his cousin made up their own secret language.
When John Ronald's mother died, he and his little brother were left to the care of a priest, Father Francis. He sent them to live with their aunt in town, but she was cold and indifferent, so Father Francis sent them to live in a boarding house. At the boarding house, John Ronald met the love of his life, Edith, but Father Francis forbid him to see her for two years; he didn't want Edith to distract John Ronald from his studies. When the two years were up, John Ronald immediately proposed, and they were married before he left for the battlefields of World War I.
John Ronald was fortunate enough to come home again, but some of his friends didn't. On his return, he got a job teaching at Oxford. For an escape from teaching duties, he began meeting with some friends at the local pub, reading each other works that they had written. One day, as he was grading papers, he took a blank page and began to write about a hobbit. He told his four children stories about the hobbit, whom he named Bilbo Baggins. John Ronald followed the hobbit down the trail to the Lonely Mountain, where he finally found his dragon.
John Ronald's childhood comes to life through these illustrations. John Ronald was a boy like us. He had a carefree early childhood where he ran and played and used his imagination. He had interests and quirks like we all do. He was captivated by a certain subject and I can relate to that feeling, too. His later childhood and adolescence after the death of his mother were not as happy, but he persevered and created a happy home. He retained his interest in dragons, and aren't we all thankful for that!
The spread representing World War I is not graphic and perfectly appropriate for small children, depicting John Ronald and others sitting in a trench and machines belching fire on the battlefield but no soldiers.
This short peak into J R R Tolkien's life is rather too short for me! I was left wanting to know more than the text revealed and so the appendices (Author's Note, Illustrator's Note, Catalog of Tolkien's Dragons, and Quotes from Tolkien's Writings about Dragons) were all studied in depth and much appreciated. This book will be treasured by anyone who loves The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

CONTENT CONSIDERATIONS

Other than the aforementioned two-page battlefield scene and the sad circumstances of an orphan's life, none.