Phoebe and her best friends, Rosie and Stella, are called back into the Magic Forest. There they must foil the Fire Queen’s plot and rescue the creatures who create dreams.
Phoebe and her best friends, Rosie and Stella, are called back into the Magic Forest. There they must foil the Fire Queen’s plot and rescue the creatures who create dreams.
As young Phoebe looks out her window at the moon, she remembers the past adventures she and her besties, Rosie and Stella, have had. Was it all a dream? Surely not. Phoebe is almost certain that they actually became dragons. Dragon girls!
And just as Phoebe is wondering about those seemingly impossible happenings—not to mention wondering when they might all get together for another sleepover—something starts to happen. Not only does the moon shift color, but she hears a song far off in the night sky.
Before you can let out a dragon roar, Phoebe is drawn back into a place called the Magical Forest. And once again, she is large and blue with claws and wings: a dragon! And it turns out that Stella and Rosie are there in dragon form, too.
The Tree Queen—a woman in a moss-green gown who is part human and part tree—has called the three friends to save the very essence of the forest. They must rescue the newest Dreamlet hatchings.
These tiny worm-like critters are essentially young dreams that float through the forest and whisper their stories into the ears of sleeping people and animals. The dream stories let the forest inhabitants sort through their problems and let them learn new things.
However, that isn’t happening because of a magically created Fire Moon that the Fire Queen has put in place. Not only does it hurt and weaken the Dreamlets, it gives everyone a hot, restless night. And then as people become more agitated, the Fire Queen’s Fire Sparks swoop in to pester them like flies on a sticky summer day.
It’s all so horrible. And the Tree Queen is convinced that only Phoebe and her Night Dragon friends can save the day … I mean, the night!
The dragon girls are ready to soar into action. But where do they start? And when they do start, they worry that they’ll need to stay calm—a grave challenge indeed. You see, Fire Sparks are drawn to anger and worry. And even a dragon can’t fly straight with flashes of fire in her eyes.
This is going to be a difficult mission.
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The story all takes place in a magical forest filled with fantastic (and a little odd) magical creatures and things. In this forest, the story’s ordinary school friends suddenly become dragons with massive wings and special abilities. Phoebe, for instance, is a “Moonlight Dragon” so she can manipulate and swing on moonbeams and the like.
The girls are also befriended by a small flying creature called DasherGirl who’s part elk and part racoon, but smaller than an owl. This little critter is never explained, but she pops up to give the dragon girls advice on how magical things operate within the forest. One of those magical things, for instance, is a glowing ball of thread that helps point the way in some instances and becomes a rope-like means of escape in another.
The Tree Queen is the only older authority figure we meet here (we never encounter the Fire Queen). And she is quiet and serene and very earnest in her appeals to the girls.
In fact, all the creature that the dragon girls encounter are honest and earnest. That said, the girls are given every impression that if they ever met the magical Fire Queen, she would be deceitful and full of evil intent.
That’s proven out by the Fire Moon that the queen created. Its moonbeams make Phoebe’s dragon scales tingle—a little like hot sunshine feels on her skin when she’s a regular girl. And then there are the Fire Sparks that feed on anger and distressed feelings.
Phoebe and her friends all struggle with these fiery things, but they come to realize that feelings of anger can be controlled by changing your focus from thoughts that make you frustrated to thoughts of goodness, such as the kindness of friends and their loving actions.
No language issues. We encounter some lightly perilous moments. The dragons are plagued by Fire Sparks, for instance. And they must swim across a large magical stream that threatens to cause them to fall asleep and drown. The dragon girls also let moonbeams sling them high up in the air.
Phoebe must save the Dreamlets at one point, leaving her friends behind in a dangerous situation. (It all works out in the end.) While carrying the Dreamlets to safety, Phoebe scrapes her dragon leg on a sharp, jagged rock. It gives her a lot of pain and bleeds. (The injury is healed later.)
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Have you ever imagined yourself becoming a hero or gaining superpowers? Why do you think we sometimes do that? Does it help us?
It appears, however, that Phoebe values some things even more than her ability to become a dragon. What do you think those things are? How do Phoebe’s friends Rosie and Stella help Phoebe beat the Fire Sparks?
Even though you can’t become a magical dragon, are there choices that you can make in the real world that are like those that Phoebe and her friends make? Are there ways you can be kinder to your friends and focus on positive things more?
Get free discussion question for books at focusonthefamily.com/magazine/thriving-family-book-discussion-questions.
The Dragon Girls books are designed for younger readers. As such, the “hero” stories are written very simply and maintain a focus on friendship. Phoebe the Moonlight Dragon puts special emphasis on kids making the choice to turn their thoughts toward love and concern for others and away from anger and worry.
The only element that parents might concern themselves with is the book’s pervasive magic. But it’s all unexplained and of a broad fantasy type.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
Review by Bob Hoose
