We’re so excited to round out the ZKSHT (Zilpha Keatley Snyder Holy Trinity) with The Headless Cupid. Along with The Egypt Game and The Witches of Worm, this book developed Grace’s little brain into a spooky kid mystery machine. Madeleine’s jonesing for a trip to the Winchester Mystery House and is very upset with Amanda; we’re both reminiscing about the power of playing pretend. Join in the glory of ZKS’ unparalleled work - articulating children’s inner monologues with such specificity and zero condescension.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It’s Badgerin’ Time. We return to the joyous, violent, and feast-laden world of Redwall with Mossflower, by Brian Jacques! Grace breaks down the reasons why this is her favorite of his works, we continue the great “Humans in Mossflower???” debate, and Bella and Boar become our gods. Grab your candied chestnuts and join us.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We’re heading back to Valdemar with Magic’s Pawn, by Mercedes Lackey! This absolute doozy of an episode showed us that we could talk about this book for the rest of our lives. Vanyel and Tylendel’s love story, revenge mission and subsequent Bad But Life-Changing Stuff are at turns stirring, sweet, cathartic and crushing. Tune up your mind speech and listen in - and let us know if you have a concrete internal monologue along the way.

This episode was a listener request - thank you, Gyuri! If you’d like to request a book for us to cover, email us at [email protected].

CW - Mentions of suicide. To reach the suicide hotline, call or text 988 (in the US).

There is a wee bit of static on this episode, we will vanquish it next time (and are only recording separately for 4 more months thank god).

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Head to the nearest midden and abandon all hope - The Ragwitch has you in her thrall! We have a blast discussing Garth Nix’s first novel and following Paul and Julia’s external and internal journeys. We consider the ways in which this work shows the beginnings of the Abhorsen series and do our best to start a rumor that Garth is a necromancer. Typical Dragon Babies stuff. Grab your creepiest doll and join us!

This episode was a listener request - thank you, Rachael! If you’d like to make a request, leave a comment or email us at [email protected].

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Have you been craving a close reading of the final passage of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen? No? Well, you should probably listen to this Grace’s Reading Corner not-so-mini episode about why society loves a snowy queen anyway.

This episode focuses specifically on the illustrated edition by the wonderful Mary Engelbreit, which remains a personal influence.

This is a very vibes-forward Cold Book Episode, so grab some cocoa and a blanket and snuggle up for a listen!

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A translation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Sneedronningen" by Jean Hersholt (original fairy tale)

The Santa Claus Book

A Summary and Analysis of Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Snow Queen’ Fairy Tale by Dr. Oliver Tearle

Visit our website to view the Mary Engelbreit illustrations mentioned!

MUSIC - "The Snow Queen" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

We’re so excited to launch our Babetreon - and we’re taking the first episode out from behind the paywall! We're discussing the 2006 Ghibli film Tales from Earthsea in all its messy glory.

Join for $3/mo to get an extra episode every month. We’ll be covering a broader range of materials than we typically do on the main feed - reviews of film and TV adaptations of our favorite books, fantasy picture books, inspirations for our favorite authors' works, voting on our next episodes, and much more!

These exclusive episodes will also be a little freer form and they'll delve into Dragon Babies After Dark territory (some good ol' cussin'). Plus, you'll get your very own Pretend Food enamel pin when you sign up (just look at how beautiful they are).

Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/dragonbabies

*Please note that this episode is explicit.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Enchanted poet-donkeys assemble: we’re covering The Arkadians, by Lloyd Alexander! You’ll love this meta retelling of various Greek mythologies and epics as told through the adventures of Lucien, Joy-in-the-Dance, Fronto, and the approximately 500 other goofy characters they encounter along the way. As the self-proclaimed Emo Fantasy crowd, we love Lloyd Alexander very much and it was a delight to reread his Greek Romp Experiment. Plus: if you’re a fan of the 1994 CD-ROM game Wrath of the Gods, then boy do we have a treat for you. Join us!

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The Arkadians on the Lloyd Alexander Wiki

The best computer game of all time, Wrath of the Gods

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

In which gods become dogs and get stuck in their bods! We’re discussing Dogsbody, by Diana Wynne Jones in all its celestial, dog-brained glory. Sirius the dog star is punished for a mysterious murder by being trapped in an earthly pup form - and his only way back to his galaxy is to find the enigmatic Zoi that he threw down to Earth. Leave it to DWJ to make this conceit at turns heartbreaking, hilarious and ultimately bittersweet. Madeleine maintains that for those similarly traumatized by The Tigger Movie, this is a tough read. Grace is too consumed by big dumb dog thoughts to ponder anything other than dumpster leftovers and the lure of the Wild Hunt. Join us!

This episode was a listener request - thank you, quemmegalaxy! If you’d like to make a request, leave a comment or email us at [email protected].

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Mondragon Books in Lewisburg, PA

The Green Ribbon

As would-be dragon riders and adolescents during the early 00’s, we’re perfectly positioned to discuss Eragon, by Christopher Paolini. This one has haunted us since we started the podcast - we knew it was inevitable and yet we procrastinated until our 101st episode. We break down our conflicted feelings about this teen-penned dragon epic and own up to our own teenage jealousies of both the protagonist and the author himself. Is it a good idea for a child to have a book published by a major house? Is Saphira too subservient to her puny human friend? Is it cool to openly lust after an unconscious woman? Our answers won’t surprise you, but we think you’ll get a kick out of listening anyway!

Note - the audio is a bit crummy on this one due to issues with a non-standard setup, definitely still listenable but not at our usual quality.

Shoutout to listener Bailey’s long-ago request for an Eragon hate podcast!

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Dragon - Focal Point of Movie box office rankings

To celebrate our 100th (!) full-length episode, we’re re-covering the book that began it all: Sabriel, by Garth Nix! In between some very involved gushing about Tim Curry’s audiobook performance, we consider the YA fantasy and book podcasting lessons we’ve learned along the way. This is a goofy one because we’re just so delighted to be here - thanks to you all for your support over these last 6 years!

There are a few minor audio issues in the first half of the episode where Grace’s audio is briefly lower quality, sorry about that!

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/