A “talon-ted” tightrope walk between character education and entertaining whimsy.
There are many reasons to be friends with dragons, yet they, just like humans, can make mistakes.
While dragons’ fire-breathing abilities mean their friends will always have perfectly toasted marshmallows, flames unintentionally come out of their mouths when they get mad, which can be dangerous indeed. Dragons can help you reach items on the highest shelves…alas, they are not always the best at sharing what they find up there. Fortunately, although dragons can sometimes “forget to be good friends,” they do know how to apologize and “clean up any mess they have made.” These are just some of the many attributes that Locke weighs in this thinly veiled attempt to teach young children good behavior, such as sharing and taking turns, and positive values, such as patience and compromise. A casually diverse cast of children (including a boy using a wheelchair) and endearing, facially expressive, multicolored dragons make this engaging book worthy of readers’ time. The bright, colorful cartoony illustrations are rambunctiously fun and include witty subtleties, though some details get swallowed by the gutter. The text is at once lighthearted and instructive as a reminder of qualities that are important to find in both ourselves and our loved ones.
A “talon-ted” tightrope walk between character education and entertaining whimsy. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7624-7324-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying.
A story-reading dragon—what’s not to like?
Duncan the Dragon loves to read. But the stories so excite him, his imagination catches fire—and so do his books, leaving him wondering about the endings. Does the captain save the ship? Do aliens conquer the Earth? Desperate to reach the all-important words “The End” (“like the last sip of a chocolate milk shake”), he tries reading in the refrigerator, in front of a bank of electric fans, and even in a bathtub filled with ice. Nothing works. He decides to ask a friend to read to him, but the raccoon, possum, and bull all refuse. Weeping, Duncan is ready to give up, but one of his draconic tears runs “split-splat into a mouse,” a book-loving mouse! Together they battle sea monsters, dodge icebergs, and discover new lands, giving rise to a fast friendship. Driscoll’s friendly illustrations are pencil sketches painted in Adobe Photoshop; she varies full-bleed paintings with vignettes surrounded by white space, imaginary scenes rendered in monochrome to set them apart. Duncan himself is green, winged, and scaly, but his snout is unthreateningly bovine, and he wears red sneakers with his shoelaces untied—a nicely vulnerable touch. Though there are lots of unusual friendship stories in picture books, the vivid colors, expressive faces, and comic details make this one likely to be a storytime hit.
Like the last sip of a chocolate milkshake, it’s very satisfying. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-75507-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fairy fodder, nothing more.
A brand-new fairy godmother tests her skills on a group of children determined to catch her.
The latest installment in the popular How To Catch series follows the protagonist as she leaves Fairy Godmother Land as a recent grad who’s nervous about her first job (“I should know how to do this, / but all I feel is stress. / Chosen for these children, / I don’t want to be a hot mess”). As she observes the children she’s been tasked with helping, they spot her and decide to catch her for show and tell. Though they set several traps, including a “selfie with a unicorn” station, she evades capture, leaving behind a snapshot as a gift. Readers never see the fairy godmother’s face until the final page reveals her photo—an effective way to keep kids wondering. While the moral of the story—trying new things is scary but worth it—is an important one, the plot is a bit thin. Sure, the fairy godmother “helps” the children by leaving them with a photo of her, but that feels almost like a happy accident; readers never find out why she was “chosen” for these children. Fans of the series who adore all things magical will enjoy this title, but those seeking an engaging tale should look elsewhere. The fairy godmother presents Black, while the children are racially diverse.
Fairy fodder, nothing more. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781728293004
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
