Do Not Bring Your Dragon to Recess

August 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-Following on the heels of Gassman's two other cautionary dragon books, this rhyming story explains why bringing a dragon to play at recess is a bad idea. The narrator describes multiple scenarios in which a dragon might behave badly in the hallways and on the playground. The refrain "Do NOT bring your dragon to recess!" is repeated on every other page, which listeners will enjoy echoing. Near the end, however, the narration changes from third person to first, as a little girl explains why her dragon should be allowed to attend recess. This is a bit confusing, but the illustrations help in explaining the change. Elkerton's artwork is reminiscent of Mark Teague's dinosaurs and dragon-and savvy readers will notice dragons from different legendary traditions. VERDICT An additional purchase where stories about school and manners are needed, and where the first two dragon titles are popular.-Mary Kuehner, Arapahoe Library District, CO

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
As if starting school weren't worry enough, new students need to fret about classmates who bring their oversized reptilian pets along. "The rules of the playground are hard for a beast. / He'll break the first one as soon as released." This proves to be the case. A yellow one bumps into the principal in his haste to get outside. A green one's forelegs are too short for the monkey bars, so she pitches a fit until she realizes she can use her tail instead...and bends the whole structure. A long, thin, blue dragon pushes the merry-go-round. "He'll start out slow but soon he will run. / Then the ride becomes more scary than fun." (The illustration for this is particularly amusing.) A final, purple dragon is very well-behaved, but excitement brings out the flames. Still, the child who brought the yellow one makes a case that the dragon is smart and can learn and listen, and the principal, a woman of color, says that he's welcome, a message that few, if any, books in this vein echo. Gassman's rhythms and rhymes are sometimes rough and don't always scan well. Many of the figures have white rather than black outlines, giving them the appearance of cutouts laid on top of the background in the brightly colored, Saturday morning-cartoonish illustrations. The racially diverse students and teachers include a child with glasses, one with an arm in a sling, and one in a wheelchair. Despite the mildly unusual twist, it treads familiar territory and not particularly well. (Picture book. 4-8)

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