Inferno or no, this book’s gentle call to show appreciation to others adroitly conveys its message.
Is your dragon flagging? Use this charming French import to put the spark back in your relationship.
A young child wearing a pink homburg is faced with a bit of a pickle: Their dragon, a morose fellow with a bright red head and teal body with black polka dots, isn’t breathing fire these days. “Not even the tiniest flicker of flame.” Acting as a kind of guidebook, the second-person narration instructs the child on a multitude of possible cures. Have you given him “a good shake”? Bounced on his belly? Made him angry or jealous? When (much) silly trial and error yields bupkis, child informs the blaze-impeded reptile that no matter what, they’ll “always love him.” Elation finally fuels conflagration, and the dragon spurts a sheer rainbow of happy fire (his pleased owner merrily ducking for cover). Happily, the dragon does not suffer in the least from the protagonist’s various forms of experimentation, looking, at worst, mildly perturbed. Though the text evokes instructional booklets, the art is a wild and wonderful amalgamation of bold colors and striking design. The typography almost steals the show with its marvelous variety. Yet it is the message to sit down and tell someone that they are loved that gives the book its true firepower.
Inferno or no, this book’s gentle call to show appreciation to others adroitly conveys its message. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65197-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Encouragement for moguls-to-be and fun for everyone else.
A young entrepreneur is ready to sell homemade lemonade, but everyone else has already staked out the best spots.
The nameless narrator rolls a colorful stand through the diverse city neighborhood and just keeps on going until reaching the countryside. Pushing it up a hill, the kid loses control, and the tall stand with the lemon on top goes careening through the woods until it finally stops near a river. Unexpectedly, a customer arrives! The kid serves up, and then a steady stream of customers float by: an octopus, two alligators, a sea monster, a diver in an old-fashioned helmet, and more. The kid needs to make more lemonade on the spot. After selling out and trudging home, the kid sleeps through the night dreaming about a future riverside lemonade empire. Careful readers will spot many reminders of the adventure in the kid’s bedroom. A toy octopus’s tentacles overflow from a chest, a diver’s helmet sits on the floor, pictures of sea animals and boats adorn the walls. The lines between reality and fantasy blur…but the tip jar is full. Bright cartoon illustrations are full of funny details (the lemonade-stand sign smiles and frowns expressively), and the alliterative text begs to be read aloud: “I sat for a long while, feeling terrible as a turnip,” the kid grumps at one point. The narrator has textured black hair and a ruddy complexion. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Encouragement for moguls-to-be and fun for everyone else. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2828-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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