Jane Yolen passed away today. I was first introduced to her watching CBS Storybreak. It was a show in the 1980s that would take books and make them into cartoons. I think it was a 30 minute show so I can’t imagine they’d hold up well, but I immediately fell in love with the adaptation of Dragon’s Blood.

I spent the next few years (at least it felt that way), looking for the book. I assumed I had remembered it wrong and spent a lot of time in card catalogs with different spellings. This was the 1980s so we kindof assumed that any book adapted for TV or Movie would have its title and entire plot changed.

It turned out the problem was not my memory. The Dallas Public Library system eventually got a copy in their system and I was able to order it and finally read it. The book was a lot better than the 30 minute cartoon.

I do miss those book quests.