Great splatters of draconic mucus aren’t enough to make this story soar.
Enzo the dragon has a most disastrous cold.
“When cinders come showering down from the skies… // And thunder is rumbling, / and smoke burns your eyes… / Then run like a rabbit! Fly like the breeze— // Enzo the dragon is starting to sneeze.” Enzo’s mother tells him to cover his sneeze, but he does not. It is so explosive it launches him into the air, and the wingless dragon flies over fields and pastures toward town. The peasants, a diverse bunch, flee their thatched homes. A dark-skinned royal magician appears on the scene at the behest of the king and the queen and sensibly prescribes fluids and rest. Like many a cold-sufferer before him, Enzo resists: he wants to be made well instantly and doesn’t need a nap. Along come the knights, but even they can’t get close to Enzo. The magician makes a vat of “abraca-brew,” which Enzo drinks before falling asleep. Once he wakes, he’s better. The text closes by counseling readers to “be a good dragon” and cover their sneezes. Cyrus’ double-page spreads are bright and full of sneeze-driven energy, and green-scaled, knobby-crested Enzo is appealing. The rhyming text amusingly reproduces Enzo’s stuffy-nosed entreaties for help among other onomatopoeia, but the story is the weak link. Literal-minded youngsters will wonder what’s going on when both the wizard and Enzo seem to capitulate to each other, the former by brewing the brew and the latter by drinking it and then napping. Is it a trick? A sleeping potion? Or just inconsistent?
Great splatters of draconic mucus aren’t enough to make this story soar. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58536-383-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series.
Another creature is on the loose.
The long-running series continues its successful formula with this Hallmark card of a book, which features bright illustrations and catchy rhymes. This time, the mythical creature the racially diverse children set out to catch is an absent mom who does it all (lists of descriptors include the words banker, caregiver, nurse, doctor, driver, chef, housekeeper, teacher, entertainer, playmate, laundry service, problem solver, handywoman, cleaner, and alarm clock) but doesn’t seem to have a job outside the home and is inexplicably a dinosaur. As the children prepare gifts and a meal for her, the text becomes an ode to the skills the Mamasaurus possesses (“Day or night she’s always there. / She meets every wish and need”) and values she instills (“Sometimes life can mean hard work,” “kindness matters,” and “what counts is doing your best”). This well-intentioned selection veers into cliche generously sprinkled with saccharine but manages to redeem itself with its appreciation for mothers and all that they may do. Endpapers include a “to” and “from” page framed in a heart, as well as a page where young gift givers or recipients can draw a picture of their Mamasaurus.
A syrupy tribute to mothers that may please fans of the series. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781728274300
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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