Sweet, silly, yet meaningful.
Rory isn’t like other dragons, but she still finds a place among her peers at the Dragon Academy.
From the moment she hatches, it’s apparent that Rory is different. (Readers will love being in on the joke: Rory is no dragon at all; she’s a chicken!) At school, the principal notices that there’s something off as Rory struggles with flying lessons (“She flies so fast, we can’t even see her!” concludes her teacher), has trouble breathing fire (her teacher lauds her for her self-control), and loses her appetite at lunch when her classmates sit down to a meal of roast chicken. Finally, the principal realizes why Rory stands out: She’s a vegetarian dragon! Despite all her differences, Rory’s discipline earns her a place as the youngest treasure guard in dragon history. This story upends readers’ expectations and celebrates Rory’s very obvious differences. The skills that set her apart from her peers also make her uniquely talented. It’s a humorous tale about standing out in a crowd that works on a surface level but also hits a little deeper. Rammell’s illustrations are appealing and cartoonish; the principal is full of personality with oversize pink horn-rimmed glasses, a beaded necklace, and overdrawn lipsticked lips. Rory has wonky eyes and a fitting, perpetual look of confusion. The other dragons are cute and friendly, depicted with different colors and horns and teeth of various shapes and sizes.
Sweet, silly, yet meaningful. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781339043159
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...
The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.
Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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
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