Tag: Acceptance

Dear Dragon

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deardragon

Image Credit: Viking (Penguin Young Readers Group), Josh Funk/Rodolfo Montalvo

Like the dragon Blaise Dragomir, this excellent book has flown a bit under the radar. Josh Funk writes really amusing books and this is my favorite one so far! Dear Dragon has themes of kindness, inclusiveness and discovery; kids will enjoy watching these characters fall into friendship!

Blaise Dragomir (dragon boy) and George Slair (human boy) are matched through a poetry/pen-pal assignment in their classes. I love how the language they use is formal at first but as they get closer, it becomes more familiar. The boys have no idea that they’re different species; their friendship grows over several months. It’s fun to see how each boy imagines the life of the other; different experiences lead to different perspectives. When Blaise reads about George building a fort with his dad, he imagines two dragons hammering A REAL FORT, that protects a castle! He has no idea that George’s fort is built of cardboard (and that he is human! 😉  ). Their classes finally meet in the spring and though it’s quite a surprise, they roll with it!

deardragon1

Image Credit: Viking (Penguin Young Readers Group), Josh Funk/Rodolfo Montalvo

 

Though dragons and humans don’t have the best history of peaceful interactions, these boys overcome that and recognize the goodness in each other. Children can relate to overcoming differences (and learned prejudices and fear) to connect with others. Also, at first Blaise and George don’t enjoy writing much, but though the project, they gain more confidence in their skills (as they gain a friend).

As with most excellent picture books, the synergy between the text and illustrations is phenomenal. Montalvo’s watercolor, ink and graphite illustrations are warm and so detailed! I happened to see the book’s cover months before it published and I remember being SO excited to see a brown boy with bushy hair! It’s not common to see brown boys on the cover of picture books so I’m glad to have one more gem to recommend. Montalvo brings Funk’s writing to life in a beautiful way.

I really enjoyed Dear Dragon and I hope you will too! In addition to being a very good read aloud, this book is perfect for pen-pal projects. Maybe a new (dragon?) friend is waiting…

 

 

Recommended for: 1st Grade and up
Great for: Friendship, Open-Mindedness, Courage, Acceptance, Read-Aloud, Rhyme, Humor, Pen-Pal, Inclusiveness, Diversity, Adventure, Animals
Book Info: Dear Dragon: A Pen-Pal Tale by Josh Funk/Illustrated by Rodolfo Montalvo, 2016 Viking (Penguin Young Readers Group), ISBN: 9780451472304

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Quackers

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Quackers

Image Credit: Alfred A. Knopf (Penguin Random House), Liz Wong

It’s hard being a cat-duck…duck-cat…cat duckity duck. Something like that.

When it boils down to it, at one point or another we all struggle with our identity and it can be hard figuring out where you fit in. In this delightful book, Quackers knows that he’s a duck since he’s surrounded ducks but why does he look different? One day he meets another duck (that looks like him!!) and learns that he’s something called a cat…curious. After spending a day with the cats, though he does love doing cat things, he starts to miss his feathered friends. The duck life is quite nice; Quackers is happy being a cat AND a duck!

Liz Wong’s artwork is very sweet. With a palette of mostly grays, whites, oranges and beautiful greens, she takes us to a duck pond and the farm. Pretty shades of green, swaying grasses contrast with Quacker’s bright orange and brown fur and the white feathers of the ducks. She’s awesome at drawing expressions! Half the fun of the book is reading the speech bubbles and looking at the characters’ expressions.

Hope you’ll take time to enjoy Quackers with your family and classroom. What a great debut! 🙂

 

Recommended for: All ages
Great for: Humor, Identity, Acceptance, Fitting In, Friendship, Relationships, Family, Discussion, Animals
Book Info: Quackers by Liz Wong, 2016 Alfred A. Knopf (Penguin Random House), ISBN: 9780553511543