Max's Dragon

Banks, Kate. Max's Dragon. Pictures by Boris Kulikov. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2008. Max likes to make up rhymes and he has a rich imagination. He skips out to where his two brothers are playing croquet, and says, "Found, ground". "What are you doing?" asks his brother Karl. "I'm looking for words that rhyme", says Max. Then he finds an umbrella decorated with a dragon. When a croquet ball makes a trail in the grass, Max follows, telling his brothers that his "dragon's tail has made a trail" and he is "following it". Max lies down in the grass and looks up at the clouds; he tells his brothers that his dragon is practicing flying. Max's brothers join in the play. His brother Ben characterizes a dark cloud as a dinosaur, and Karl says, "It's going after your dragon!" It begins to rain and Max says, "My dragon's roar has made it pour" and Karl cries, "What can we do to stop it?" Max says, "You need to make a rhyme"; it turns out that not only do rhymes make the rain go away but also rhymes can make the rain come back. Colorful paintings capture nicely the mood of the three brothers as they play, talk, and imagine together. In one dramatic double spread some billowing rain clouds represent an imagined dragon falling into a well. The illustrations brim with exuberance and exaggerations: a lizard watches Max as he first peers intently at the ground, and then scrunches up under a bright red umbrella that is decorated with a yellow dragon. A dark purple cloud depicts a dinosaur chasing after a fire-breathing dragon who then turns and blows the scary dinosaur away. This creative picture book will appeal most to children, ages 4-8.

This book is wonderfull. How many of you have hidden under an umbrella with friends or watched dragon shaped clouds overhead. Great fun.

Max's earnest search for rhyming words, sends him through a croquet game, rainstorm and adventures with his dragon. Initially an annoyance to his brothers, Max keeps up his lines, "If my dragon isn't faster, there'll be a big disaster" until brothers Karl and Ben are contributing too. When the dragon is threatened there is only one thing to do--create another rhyme to save the day. As a speech-language pathologist I like to offer tips to build your child's language and literacy: What a delightful introduction to poetry and rhyme! Since the understanding of rhyme is a precursor to reading, it is important to play with rhyming words with your child. Read the rhymes to a younger child, emphasizing the changing first sound (the "f" in faster and "d" sound in disaster), and then just repeat the two words: faster, disaster. With a child 4 years old and up, create your own one-liners. Start them off with a phrase such as "I can't wait or I'll be (late)." Look at a fun illustration and create rhymes based on the pictures. Throw out a word and see how many rhyming words you and your child can generate. A first or second grader can write his own poem based on a favorite activity, imaginary friend, or object. Sometimes starting with an illustration will help generate the language.