The first one is:
Title: Dragons Love Tacos
Author: Adam Rubin
Illustrator: Daniel Salmieri
Publisher: Dial Books
Year: 2012
Word Count: approx. 550
Top 10 Element: theme
Summary: What do you do when you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party? That's simple. Just serve tacos. Everyone knows that dragons love tacos. Beef tacos, chicken tacos, big tacos, small tacos, the crunchier the better. Make sure you have lots and lots of tacos. But skip the hot salsa because when dragons eat spicy things there will be trouble. See when happens when a boy makes the mistake of not reading the fine print on the mild salsa jar that reads now with spicy jalapeños peppers.
I've heard a few parents say they weren't completely sold on this on, but their kids found it to be hilarious. I guess I am a kid at heart because I thought it was pretty funny. I also liked that the dragons help fix things in the end.
I found a youTube video for you to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tonrPAKlwZo
Since I have already reviewed Dragon Dinner by Susannah Corbett (see that post HERE), I had to find another dragon book to tell you about. While doing a search on Amazon, I came across this little-known book (at least I'd never heard of it and it has no reviews yet). Of course, I couldn't order the book and get it all in one day so I did another search and was lucky to find a video of the author reading it. I love her New Zealand accent and how she reads the story in an animated way. The children love both her and the story.
Title: My Dad's a Dragon Catcher
Author: Tanya Batt
Illustrator: Helen Bacon
Publisher: Reading Alive
Year: 2012
Word Count: approximately 500
Top 10 Element: dialogue
When children in his class are telling about the cool jobs their dads have, Toby doesn't know what to say. He doesn't have a father who is an actor or a pilot dad who takes him places. His dad spends a lot of time sitting around the house drawing in his notebook, but he couldn't say that. That's not very exciting, he thinks. So instead he blurts out, "My dad is a dragon catcher." That's where the tale begins and it grows and grows from there. Then his teacher announces that all father/grandfathers are invited to come to class and talk about their jobs. Of course, everyone wants a dragon catcher to come to class. Now what will Toby do?
The tale is told in dialogue between Toby and his friends and Toby and his father. I like that the dialogue is "real", just the way a child or father would speak. I also like the details Toby creates about different types of dragons and how to catch them. Eventually, the truth comes out but with a bit of a twist at the end.
To buy this book, visit this page on Amazon.
If you want to hear the book first (and get a bit of a sneak peek at the illustrations) go to this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRJmpM6UWGQ
To see other day 11 posts from PB14:14 participants, use the link below.
http://christiewrightwild.blogspot.de/2015/02/day-11-artist-and-king-by-julie.html
5 comments:
What a fun 2 for Tuesday! Love that New Zealand accent. It gets stuck in my head.
These both sound so funny and sweet! I haven't read either of them, so I'll have to track them down.
My Dad's a Dragon Catcher is new to me. I'll check it out. I did read Dragons Love Tacos and it's not really my thing, but I can imagine children laughing at the pictures.
These look like great titles. I've seen reviews for 'Tacos' but not the 'Catcher' one. Both sound great and the whole idea of a 'critical mass' situation being solved easily is a fun theme. Thanks for the post, Linda.
Two for the price of one, Linda! Thank you so much...I've read Dragons Love Tacos and liked it...but I'd never heard of the other book...thank you for two great reviews. :)
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