The Fire-Breathing Duckling: Toon Level 2 - Hardcover

by Frank Cammuso (Author)

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best List 2025

This graphic novel for young readers ages 5 to 7 updates the story of an ugly duckling becoming a beautiful swan--but the odd duck out is actually a dragon!

It's the classic ugly duckling tale--but this time around, the little one turns out not to be a swan, but a dragon. And when their duckling siblings find themselves in trouble, it's our little fire-breathing friend who saves the day. Whereas Hans Christian Andersen's original is synonymous with inner beauty, Frank Cammuso's loving update turns it into a parable of inner strength.

Author Biography

Frank Cammuso is the author-illustrator of the graphic novel series The Misadventures of Salem Hyde and Knights of the Lunch Table. Frank drew the comic Otto's Orange Day and Otto's Backwards Day for TOON Books, the latter receiving an Eisner nomination. He also wrote and drew his self-published graphic novel Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective, for which he received another Eisner nomination.