{"id":5837,"date":"2026-03-17T09:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2026-03-17T09:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:58:16","slug":"weepy-the-dragon-standing-tall-by-j-j-hebert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5837","title":{"rendered":"Weepy the Dragon: Standing Tall by J.J. Hebert"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sweet & virtuous tale about a soft-hearted dragon discovering true strength in the face of war<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Weepy is bigger now. Stronger than he was years ago when he saved his village from a great fire. He\u2019s treated as a hero with a statue immortalizing his greatest moment\u2014but truth is, he didn\u2019t know he would save the village when he did. All he did back then was let himself feel\u2014and cry. His tears doused the flames, and the village labeled him a hero.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s twelve, and an enemy is invading his village with fiery arrows. The villagers look to Weepy for help, but they\u2019re not the only ones looking at him. So is the enemy commander, trying to feel out what the dragon is capable of and how to rile him up in order to defeat him.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019ll take great restraint and support from those who love and support him for Weepy to protect his village, to stay true to his soft-hearted nature, and to stand tall against these adversaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding tall doesn\u2019t always mean striking first\u2026 Sometimes it means letting the other side see that their tricks don\u2019t move you. That you won\u2019t dance to their tune.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Weepy the Dragon: Standing Tall <\/em>is a swiftly moving, values-driven novel for middle schoolers to explore how standing up to bullies doesn\u2019t always mean fighting back. It\u2019s a story of how bullies operate\u2014what they want you to do and why they want you to do it\u2014and what you can do to come out stronger on the other side. Author JJ Hebert makes this theme crystal clear and altogether possible for young readers. It\u2019s an accessible, relatable idea that parents and teachers will love talking about in class and at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The prose is sharp and quite lovely too. \u201cThe day stretched on longer than Weepy thought a day could, like taffy pulled thin and endless.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>The dialogue is natural and resonant with Elin (Weepy\u2019s best human friend) and meaningful when the villagers shout to him how they need his help. They want Weepy to pounce\u2014to stop this deluge immediately before someone gets hurt or worse. Weepy feels pressured to stand up to these foes both for the safety of his village and because he wants to live up to his previously heroic actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot at stake here, and Weepy is such a terrific lead for it. Not because he\u2019s strong and smart\u2014though he is\u2014but because he\u2019s emotional and soft. If there wasn\u2019t real danger, you\u2019d likely catch Weepy overlooking the village on the perch of a building with his best friend, thinking back on what he\u2019s done and hoping for calmness in the future. This is a book for that soft-spoken boy who doesn\u2019t want to fight but gets looped in on the action anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s useful how often the themes are discussed in this book. It makes the moral of the story that much clearer, but the discussions on the same topic can get a bit repetitive over time. The actions from chapter to chapter are similar, but luckily, the book is so short and fast-moving that we don\u2019t overdo it for too long.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All I\u2019m hoping for is that Hebert\u2019s got more Weepy the Dragon<\/em> in the stable for us. This warmhearted, powerful hero is a wonderful character to follow. Sweet kids will flock to this kindhearted dragon as they learn to believe in themselves and find out what it takes to be true and strong at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Weepy the Dragon: Standing Tall by J.J. Hebert<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sweet & virtuous tale about a soft-hearted dragon discovering true strength in the face of war Weepy is bigger now. Stronger than he was years ago when he saved his village from a great fire. He\u2019s treated as a hero with a statue immortalizing his greatest moment\u2014but truth is, he didn\u2019t know he would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}