By: Elys Dolan
Published on: July 7, 2020

The fun never stops with Dave, who is now part of a book club, and Albrecht – Dave’s “trusty steed and life coach.”

In Wizarding for Beginners, Dave and Albrecht are at their book club when a post card is delivered to Albrecht. It is from his family, but is also a sad moment for Albrecht because ever since a wizard put a spell on him giving him the ability to talk he has never been able to communicate with his family. One thing leads to another and soon Dave and Albrecht are off to become wizards themselves, but there are so, so, so many rules about who can be a wizard and what a wizard must or must not do that it becomes a bit too much. What’s even better is when they begin to find all the ways their fellow wizards are either following or not following the rules.

As in the first book of the series, Knighthood for Beginners, there is a “Where are they now” section at the end, which is probably my favorite part because it makes me laugh at all the crazy stuff they do after the story. The end also include a German to English glossary to help with any of those phrases Albrecht says every once in a while. After all who doesn’t want to learn how to say “my bottom” in German (mein hintern).

I love all Dave and Albrecht’s sillyness and the absurd situations they find themselves in. Sometimes a little silly is what we all need. However, I also found the story didn’t connect with me as much as I wish it had, but still it’s a fun book to read through. The book is full of pictures, but the version I read was an advanced copy and so not all the picture were complete, which made me sad since I know from the previous book that they offer quite a bit to the story adding more humor and context of what is going on around Dave and Albrecht. But as I mentioned, my version is not the published version and I am completely confident that any pictures will be seen in the final version, but am noting it here to indicate what I was able to review upon.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Printers Row Publishing Group for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Description: (from Netgalley)

This illustrated chapter book follow-up to Knighthood for Beginners—starring the now-knighted dragon Dave and his best friend, German-speaking goat and trusty steed, Albrecht—is another high-action, laugh-out-loud page-turner!  

Best friends Dave (now a knighted dragon) and Albrecht (Dave’s German-speaking, trusty steed, life coach, and a goat) from Knighthood for Beginners are back—and they’re going undercover! They must disguise themselves as wizards to enter the notoriously secretive Wizarding Guild, in order to free their kidnapped, talking-animal friends and stop Terrence, the most evil wizard of them all. Luckily, they have the perfect book to help them on their quest, the amazing, the brilliant, Wizarding for Beginners! Copious black-and-white illustrations by the author help bring all the hilarity to life in this eagerly anticipated follow-up to Knighthood for Beginners.