Dragons Lift-The-Flap

Last year my son's 1st-grade teacher suggested that my son be held back in first grade because his reading level was too low. So I pulled him out of school and have been home-schooling him. Getting him to read has been a bit of a struggle. But yesterday he found this book at the library, and he has hardly stopped reading it. I am being informed of all sorts of second-hand facts about dragons. That's a five-star book!

The book I have in my lap at this moment is a picture book it was written by Judy Tatchell, designed by Reuben Barrance and illustrated by Peter Scott. While it is certainly not a novel with characters and plot lines it is a fun and informative read for children under the age of 8. It has many small flaps and mini pages within pages, these may be torn by very young children so be careful. The book is a hard cover without a dust jacket - this makes it durable for it will be looked at again and again. The illustrations are just stunning - the colours and smooth lines are perfect for the 4-8 age group. The content introduces young readers to Oriental as well as classic European dragons and highlights myths and legends surrounding them such as hoarding treasure and the tale of St George. Well worth the price for fantasy loving littlies.

My goodness, what can I say about this splendid novel? For starters, you can enjoy it on so many levels and read into its moral implications in a way that hasn't been true for centuries past. The protagist is not a "hero" in the superficial sense, nor is he an antihero, or even an antagonist. Instead, he is a real soul, trying to find the right path in life without hurting the ones he holds near his heart. The antagonist is splendid to a point of malicious bliss: the evilness he exudes from every literary pore makes me want to exfoliate my metaphorical epidermis. A stunning cast of multidimensional minor characters completes this stunning debut with verisimilitude that took my firy dragon breath away. For a wonderful romp in the world of literature, tune in to this tome!