This was a fun read aloud book that my 4 1/2 year old daughter and my 2 1/2 year old niece enjoyed acting out with me. We made big voices out of the rhymes, silly faces to react to dragon, talked about kindness, gentleness, how "bad" behavior doesn't make you a "bad" person because nobody has manners all the time! The book has lovely illustrations that help keep the young minds engaged while they latch on to what a Dragon gets up to when they come to stay. I thought this book was a fun way to introduce the idea of manners, although I think my littles may have learned more bad habits than they previously knew - which gave us a great platform to discuss why others may do certain things and how every home and family is different! Overall, we enjoyed the book and the read aloud factor is wonderful - it is a great addition to Pre-K/Kinder classes as well as a perfect book to gift to friends and family alike.

DRAGON x bedtime book

Whimsical, super-cute, playful, dragon bedtime book. Love the bright colors and charming illustrations. There's rhyming, rhythm, and repeating lines, with a nice energy.

Recommended for toddlers and early school aged. I think it'd work well as an older board book. My kids would've enjoyed ages 2-5. Also, 5-7 might enjoy when first reading.

When a dragon comes to stay is an adorable story featuring a visiting dragon. I loved the illustrations & story. Dragon is a great role model to help children learn about friends & manners.

I loved it. And my 5 yo loved it so much.
The story is simple and intriguing and the illustrations are so beautifull.

I wanted to like this book, and the cover is adorable, but it just didn't do it for me. It felt a bit too predictable, and bursting out of rhyming text occasionally threw me off, as I then had to get my head back around the meter. I just didn't love this one.

When a dragon comes to stay, children can learn how to play!
This delightful, colorful and endearing book moved my four years old daughter to say, "Aw, the dragon is so cute!"
Through this dragon, we see both negative behaviors and what they can look like, but also see the dragon can change those and show positive behavior. I appreciate that the two children play the role of care taker for the little dragon.
Although, I need to mention, that at first my daughter was confused. She said but dragons shoot fire! So it took a bit of mental adjustment from the usual depictions of dragons, but otherwise lovely!

A lovely new title in this lovely little series. I really enjoyed when a dragon comes to school - my little girl is enchanted by these picture books, they're lovely for promoting manners, beautiful illustrations.

The dragon who came to stay taught us how to be nice to each other and how to listen to a parent because "That's just how dragons are!"
This is a low key set of lessons in positive behaviors for children of ALL aged and is beautifully but simply illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook from American Psychological Association/Magination Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

"Dragon" demonstrates how to have good manners, according to the cover description, and the entire book is written in rhyme. The dragon's actions are imagined first, then evaluated to see whether they are positive or negative. Apparently, the answer is dragons just aren't [bad] "that way!"

The story is nice, yet predictable. Saved, in my opinion, by the appealing illustrations with eye-catching colors, settings & movement, with sweet small toys scattered throughout. The characters; two non-white children, may be considered adopted brother and (slightly older) sister.

Only one thing gives me a slight pause. The refrain; "Why, no! Dragons don't do that!" It's a regional habit to begin a non-question sentence with the word "why;" my Mom used to do it. The drawback is obvious; why isn't that sentence a question?

Children not used to little quirks like this could be confused or become resistant because they may feel it's wrong. My usual explanation was "English is messy; it's a combination of many languages, then stirred well."

I think this phrase is important enough to mention before purchase, but it can also create a good chance to talk about language, how it differs in some areas, and how it changes. If I were the publisher, I would remove the "why" for clarity, and save more complex language lessons for older children.

I enjoyed this bright book, and recommend it as a fun rhyming "be like a dragon" story.

4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the free preview of this ebook!

#WhenaDragonComestoStay #NetGalley

Such a sweet book. I like the relatable gentle humour. A lovely books for toddlers and under fives. I wish I’d had this in our collection when my own kids were little.

What a sweet book using a dragon to teach manners. The only thing I deducted a star for was classifying an overtired or sad dragons behavior as bad. Since the American Psychological Association was the publisher I was a little shocked to see that

My granddaughter and I enjoyed this story about siblings who were visited by a dragon. Dragon modeled good habits and behaviour in a few different settings. I kept thinking that my granddaughter would answer yes to the questions asked, if I wasn't sitting with her.😀 They ate, played and even got ready for bed together. We talked a lot about what dragon did and what she should do and how she could be like dragon. We loved the illustrations, they were large, colourful and fun. There was action and emotion shown in the faces in the simple images. This was a cute story that I can see being read over and over whenever a reminder of appropriate behaviour is needed without it seeming like a lecture or reprimand. A fun story that I recommend for family libraries.

This book shows a dragon coming to the house of two children. She follows all the rules. She doesn’t argue or complain. She plays fair and eats politely. She even enjoys bedtime stories and a bath. It is an opportunity for children to recognize inappropriate behavior and to model their behavior after the correct response. The illustrations are fun and colorful.


I received an ARC from Magination Press through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

This book is very reminiscent of the Dinosaur books from Jane Yolen (How do Dinosaurs say Goodnight, etc). This dragon goes through the day with perfect manners. She lets others go first, helps clean up etc. The book has a great rhyming pattern and cadence. This will make it fun to read and to listen to at storytime.

Nice book about a very polite imaginary dragon who somehow always does the right things. Fast read and I think kids will enjoy it.

I absolutely adore this book!
Everyone assumes that dragons are wild, impolite creatures but this book shows us quite the opposite! It seems that dragons have better bedside and table manners than most toddlers! Shocking! It's written in a fun, playful way that is a thrill to read for toddlers and is a perfect book to reinforce good behaviors-after all, if a dragon could eat politely, who are you!

This book is sure to be a favorite with little dragons!

A lovely, but lengthy bedtime story that helps children behave their best throughout the day, using a loveable dragon as a model. With cute illustrations and lyrical rhymes, this book is fun to read for adults and children!

What a fantastic book to help with children’s emotions and feelings. A clever way of illustrating and middling positive behaviour snd showing what negative behaviour can look like. I read this book to my class and we had some great discussions from the story.

Thanks NetGalley for the early copy! My toddler really enjoyed this book. I love reading books that rhyme and have a good message at its core. It was an easy fun read that my toddler caught onto the "Why, no! Dragons don't do that!" page quickly. It felt very interactive and engaging for us. Cute, enjoyable read for both of us!

When a Dragon Comes to Stay is such a precious read! My 4 and 2 yr old boys love dragons, and certainly could use a teachable story veiled with dragon cuteness. This tale shows little readers the types of behaviour that is no fun for everyone at play dates and with siblings then models the correct behaviour. This is definitely one for the shelves! My boys enjoyed the story and dragon, and I enjoyed reading aloud the sweet rhymes and morals.

Thank you NetGalley and Magination Press for an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review!