How to Draw a Dragon
By Douglas Florian
Beach Lane. $17.99
This picture book with a rhyming narrative shows the challenges some children face when they try to draw a dragon. As everyone knows, dragons are rather large so you’ll need lots of art supplies to do a picture. Also, because of their size you may have to focus on just parts of the dragon if you can’t get a good view of the entire creature.
As you page through this humorous book you’ll discover how the young artists tackle the task of drawing a dragon. From the dragon’s spiny back, ribbed underbelly and curved claws to its spiked tail and forked tongue, there are a lot of distinct features that the portrait should feature.
If you have someone at home who loves dragons, this picture book will be a hit and fun to read aloud. Although the title may sound like this is a “how to” book with step-by-step instructions on how to draw a dragon, it isn’t! Rather, it is a storybook that focuses on the task of handling the challenging assignment of dragon art. At the end of the book is a two-page fold out that showcases the various drawings that the school children featured in the book supposedly produced for their teacher.
Stories for 7-Year-Olds
Edited by Linsay Knight
Illustrated by Tom Jellet
Random House Australia. $9.99
The dozen short stories here are especially written for young readers and feature high interest topics, large print and a handful of illustrations. They can either be read silently by the child or aloud.
Although written by Australian storytellers, the short fiction here will appeal to children in any country. The reader will meet a rollicking cast of characters including Grumbles the fairy, Aubergine, the daughter of the King of the Goblins, and a little boy who turns into a “were-snail” during a full moon and invades the neighborhood gardens consuming everything he can reach.
The length of these stories varies, there’s lots of dialogue, and most of them are humorous. This reader friendly book will work well with reluctant readers as well as youngsters who may need some encouragement when it comes to handling stories without an adult’s assistance.
Part of a series of high interest short stories, there are also collections available for six, eight and nine year olds. Also, most readers probably won’t even realize that these stories are set in Australia.
Robert Crowther’s Pop-up Dinosaur ABC
By Robert Crowther
Candlewick Press. $19.99
Loads of fun, this clever pop-up book combines facts about dinosaurs with learning the alphabet. Flip or pull the tab that accompanies each letter and up pops a prehistoric creature whose name begins with that letter. You’ll meet an edmontosaurus, janenschia, quetzalcoatius, riojasaurus, and wannanosaurus.
Each pop- up entry contains the name of the creature and some interesting facts. For example, the velociraptor was small but its eighty pointed teeth and sharp claws made it a formidable adversary. The mamenchisaurus, which was discovered in China, apparently used its spoon-like teeth like a rake to scrape leaves from plants. Half the length of an Olympic size swimming pool, the dinosaur needed to consume a lot of plants to keep its energy level up.
A very clever interactive book, this dinosaur compendium will delight not only younger children but also anyone interested in dinosaurs. There are dinosaurs listed here that don’t often appear in other picture books.
Home
By Carson Ellis
Candlewick Press. $16.99
This oversized, whimsical picture book explores homes around the world. There are city homes, country homes, homes of every size and shape and even homes with wheels attached.
You’ll visit Japan and Kenya to see how people live and also go under the sea and into the forest to check out the domiciles of animals and mythical creatures.
While some homes are very messy, others are extremely neat. You’ll also discover that a Slovakian duchess lives in a mansion quite different from the home of an American Indian or a big city apartment dweller.
Once you have viewed all these different homes, you might want to draw a picture of what your home looks like. Or better still, see if you can describe your grandparents’ house or the place where your best friend lives.
Dinosaurs Live On and Other Fun Facts: Did You Know? Series
By Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hannah Eliot
Illustrated by Aaron Spurgeon
Little Simon. $6,99
Find out lots of cool information in this paperback that is filled with information about dinosaurs and their habits. Ideal for readers four years of age and up, this high interest picture book combines humorous illustrations with real facts about these long-gone critters.
For example, did you know that one of the heaviest dinosaurs was a Brachiosaurus? Yup, this big boy weighed in at over 80 tons. That is about the equivalent of 17 average elephants.
Also, the heaviest single dino bone found thus far is the backbone of an Argentinosaurus. It was over five feet long and weighed more than 2,000 pounds.
Although the first dinosaur bone ever recorded in scientific literature was discovered in England, dinosaur remains have been found throughout the world from Brazil and the Gobi Desert to Montana in the U.S. and China.
After you have read this book, you’ll have fun sharing these facts with your friends. This will be a sure-fire hit in any school or classroom library plus a good resource for studying these fascinating creatures.
Olivia and the Pet Project
By Lauren Forte
Illustrated by Jared Osterhold
Simon Spotlight. $3.99
Another in this popular Ready -to-Read series featuring television’s most popular pig, this level one reader focuses on Olivia trying to teach her dog, Perry, some proper manners.
The dog has been a little too rambunctious while out visiting Olivia’s friends so he is now not welcome at their homes since he is a bad influence on other pets. With the help of her little brother, who has to dress up like a dog, Olivia tries to teach Perry to be better behaved.
If your child watches Olivia on TV, he/she will certainly want to tackle this easy to handle reader. The plot is simple and the sentence structure is manageable.