Living in a kingdom consumed by conflict between the local king and the local dragon, who has destroyed all of the forests on the mountainside, Boy is for the most part blithely unconcerned. Happy in his life with his parents, who understand his sign language, even if the villagers do not, he leads a quiet, gentle existence. Then one day he strays into the middle of a battle between the king's knights and the dragon, and being deaf, doesn't hear either side shouting at him. When he finally does realize where he is, his innocent question - "Why are you fighting?" - leads to some revelations that help end the conflict...

Originally published in Australia, this delightful original fairy-tale features a number of popular storytelling elements, from dragons to knights, and stars a winsome young hero who just also happens to be deaf. I found the story engaging and the artwork humorous and appealing. I appreciated the fact that Boy is able to communicate with the king, his knights and the dragons, despite not being able to speak with them directly, and I particularly liked that at the end, when his parents and the villagers are thanking him, they do so with sign language. This hints at a hopeful future in which more people learn the skills necessary to communicate with Boy. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about peacemaking and/or tales featuring deaf heroes. ( )

Summary: This book is about a deaf boy who is unaware of a battle because he cant hear it. He speaks to the dragon and knights in sign language and they are mesmerized. He asks them why they are fighting and they realize they don't know and stop fighting.
Opinion: I think this book is really cool. It calls sign language "dancing hands" which is beautiful to me since I'm an ASL student. The boys deafness is not the entire subject of the story which is also nice. ( )