Raising Dragons

Rating:
Summary: The Land of Dragons
Review: This book is a must for all dragon lovers and mystical creature fanatics. This fantasizing book is about a young girl who accidentally stumbled onto a gigantic egg that was a cave. Her parents told her to stay away from the egg but of course curiosity got the better of her. Well when this large egg hatches, the young girl's journey and friendship with this mystical flying creature begins.
As the dragon grows, she reads as many books she can about dragons, in order to teach the dragon the ways of dragons. This girl comes to realize that he needs a name so she names him Hank. Well Hank happened to be a fire breathing dragon and well the girls parents where farmers. So they where defiantly a little worried about their crops. We all know that the whether is never perfect but with a dragon those wings and those sharp claws can be quite helpful in planting and to shade and keeping the crops cool on a hot day. It just so happens that the family wasn't able to sell all the corn that the girl and Hank planted. So Hank came up with a plan. He dug a trench around the corn and breathed fire into the trench and the family thought he had lost it. But it turned out that he made the first ever dragon popped popcorn and the family sold it all for a profit.
After a while the girl thought that she and Hank should go to the dragon-shaped landmass in the middle of the ocean. And it turned out that many other dragons lived there. Well it was soon time for her to leave, but before she left Hank had a very special prize for her. It was a wheelbarrow full of rocks! But she soon found out that they weren't rocks, in fact they were dragon eggs! Dragon eggs of all different colors and sizes. And she then knew that just as farming was in her parent's blood that raising dragons was in hers.
This enchanting book was written by: Jerdine Nolen and illustrated by Elise Primavera.

Rating:
Summary: How will I ever raise a dragon?
Review: This is a book that will let children look beyond the obvious. It is a picture book with a title that attracts attention and pictures with vibrant colors. The fantasy and realism in the book will keep you involved to see what is going to happen next. The wise little African American girl who is very smart and devoted to her family raised a dragon beyond everyone's doubts. The dragon helped on the family farm until he grew so big that he could no longer stay. She takes him to a dragon-shaped island to be with others, but doesn't return empty-handed. She returns with a wheelbarrow full of dinasaur eggs. The magical beasts know they are in good hands. The focus of the book is if you work hard, you can give substance to what most people think is strictly make-believe.

Rating:
Summary: Charming, fanciful, fun
Review: This was the first book I read by Jerdine Nolan and I love it still. It has been one of my favorites for several years now. It's still a pleasure to read aloud to the kids even as they are seemingly growing too old for this kind of book. Ms. Nolan's writing style has an immediate voice and charm. Word choice and rhythm are sweet and folksy. One senses the personality of each character very quickly and again is charmed by them. The illustrations are very pleasing, cheerful and convey the right feel for each character. Great choice of colors. A kids book to keep for the grandkids (someday).