A vanilla yarn best suited for bedtime.
Two brothers, their dog, and their dragon conclude their adventures in this final installment of a trilogy.
Orange-haired, pale-skinned brothers Paddy and Flynn live on a remote island that boasts both alluringly titled locales and fearsome fire-breathing dragons. Falling in step with their previous escapades (The Dragon Hunters and The Dragon Tamers, both 2017), the boys, their dog, Coco, and their dragon, Elton John, go for a wild ride up to Mount Astonishing, where the dragons annually congregate. However, the surprise presence of two human boys doesn’t go over well, and Elton John must find a way to save the brothers and get them home before bedtime. As in the two earlier books, Russell maintains a narrative style of lilting quatrains in iambic pentameter, creating a lyrical read-aloud with a rhythmic flow. However, his worldbuilding—with its fantastic island containing such wondrous places as the Ridge of Rising Flame and Magic Terraces—never really breathes any life into the enticingly titled places and only briefly touches upon them in the boys’ expeditions. The overall effect is resigned and docile; those seeking a dramatic dragon offering will be disappointed by the gentle cadence and muted adventures. Choi’s illustrations range from small black-and-white sketches to large, soft-focus, full-color renderings that help reinforce this tale’s quiet nature. Readers drawn by the augmented-reality feature will be disappointed to find it’s just the same map as in the previous two books.
A vanilla yarn best suited for bedtime. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4867-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom.
A multicultural girl-power manifesto featuring a feisty young girl who faces her day as a knight on an epic quest.
The unnamed narrator puts on her “armor” (a rainbow sweater) and fills her “treasure chest” (a backpack). Venturing forth to “explore new worlds,” she drives back “dragons” (neighborhood dogs on their walk), boards the “many-headed serpent” (her school bus, with schoolmates’ heads protruding from every window), and visits “the Mountain of Knowledge” (the school library) to “solve the mysteries of the unknown.” After standing up for her beliefs—by joining a classmate sitting alone in the cafeteria—the young girl returns home to rest in the lap of an older female relative, possibly a grandparent/primary caregiver, to prepare for the next day, when she can be “fierce again.” Birdsong’s repeated refrain—“I will be fierce!”—underlines the unambiguous message of this sassy picture book, and Chanani’s bold and energetic illustrations reinforce the text’s punchy, feminist-y declarations. They depict a joyously multiracial environment, consciously tackling stereotypes with an elderly, white, female bus driver and a groovy, Asian-presenting librarian with a green streak in her hair. The fierce protagonist herself has brown skin and fluffy, dark brown hair, and her caregiver also has brown skin.
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-29508-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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