Title: Dear Dragon Goes to the Aquarium

Author: Margaret Hillert

Illustrator: Jack Pullan

Publisher: Norwood House Press

Year: 2015

Pages: 32

[Disclaimer: I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my fair review of this book. I was in no way compensated or asked to write a positive review. I was asked to write a minimum number of words and to be honest. Done.]

One thing I did before writing my review of this book was I read it to my nephew who is now in the second grade. I also let him read it to me and when we were finished we talked about the pictures, the words, and whether or not he actually enjoyed the story.

So on a cold, Sunday afternoon me and my nephew sat on the couch together and read the book. He snuggled up to me and we enjoyed the whole 7 minutes together reading about Dear Dragon's trip to the aquarium--alternating who read between the pages. Of course he enjoyed the story and he enjoyed the artwork. I asked him what he didn't like and he said 'the sharks'; I asked, 'why?' And he replied, 'Because they eat people.' His favorite part was the goldfish--but I was unable to get out of him exactly why he liked the goldfish. It could be that he's 7 and just liked the goldfish. Finally, he was able to read it with little effort. So if this book is rated for K-2, it might be too low for those at the high-end of second grade. In some instances, this might be too low for those more advanced first grade readers also. I think each teacher will need to assess if the book is appropriate for a student; although, to be sure, one can't practice too much even with 'easy' books.

Personally, I like the artwork. It depicts happy people at an aquarium enjoying and afternoon or morning looking at various animals that might live at an aquarium including penguins, catfish, sharks, and more. I like very much that there is an adult guiding the children through the aquarium and teaching them about all that they are seeing and I also like the play on words with the various names for fish: cat, clown, gold, and star. This is a fun way to involve the student and help them make predictions and also requires a bit of pre-knowledge in order to make such predictions. Students shouldn't have too much trouble with this exercise. Finally, this book will be helpful in practicing sight/high-frequency words.

At the end of the book there is a section featuring Reading Reinforcement practices for teachers to use in group work or for students to practice on their own with a parent or other. Some of the exercises are phonemic awareness, fluency, and comprehension--all important things for young and emergent readers to practice. I am glad this section is included because, personally, I love to build curriculum and academic games around literature. Having some ideas built into the book is helpful in that regard.

I have two small complaints about the book that I am, frankly, not sure how to handle. First, on page 22 there is a picture of dolphins and the text says, "Look at these fish." Well, in fact, dolphins are not fish. It bothers me that I am clearly looking at dolphins and the text calls them fish. I think this should be corrected. Second, on page 26, the text says, "Oh, I see. I see gold fish." This one is sketchy because I am not sure if the author is saying, "Oh, look at the gold fish" or if the author is saying, "Oh, look at the goldfish." If students are being asked to look at a particular species of fish then it should be written 'goldfish'; if, on the other hand, students are being asked to look at fish that are gold, then it's fine. So I'm not sure what to do about the second issue because I'm not sure the author's intent (even though the teacher in the story is looking at a school of goldfish. The first issue, though, is clearly wrong: dolphins are not fish.

The story reminds me a little of The Magic School Bus which is a good thing. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the useful text and the play on words. It's a good thinking book and the reading is easy enough (although I think it's rated too low for higher readers who may not enjoy the textual simplicity. I should also note that this story is part of a larger series of stories featuring Dear Dragon--when I checked it was 14 stories.

4.5/5 Stars.

The following information is excerpted from the Norwood House Press website:

Grade level: K-2 Dewey: E Subject: Dragon, Fiction, Aquarium Accelerated Reader Reading Level: 1.0 Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 171090 Lexile Level: BR GRL: E

*You can also read my reviews at Amazon.com, Goodreads, and occasionally I will also post at Shelfari. Visit NetGalley also for more reviews.

Adorable. Kids will love the silly element to this book. It is so cute - the guide at the aquarium suggest they look for something like a cat - but cats aren’t found in aquariums. Then the guide shows the kids a catfish. It’s a great tool to teach kids what belongs in an aquarium and what doesn’t.

Cute little early reader about a visit to an aquarium. Many different kinds of fish are being discovered as the children walk through and learn.

This is a cute early reader book with bright, colorful illustrations of multi-racial children and their colorful small dragon friend touring an aquarium. They see many, many, many animals and fish. The book ends with reading reinforcement lessons for parents to do with their children including phonics, vocabulary and fluency. I think the book is cute and should appeal to young readers. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

The Dear Dragon series of books do not have the same appeal as classic children's books like Where the Wild Things Are, however my students love the books. The newest title, Dear Dragon Goes to the Aquarium, will be one that is quickly checked out from my library shelves. The bright, colorful illustrations, and fun Dragon will immediately appeal to young children eager to read of his next adventure. Reading Reinforcement activities included at the end of the book allow parents to interact with their child helping them to become a better reader. By creating a fun character, Hillert (a former first grade teacher) has encouraged young children to want to read and provided parents and caregivers tools to assist in the engagement of these emergent readers. As long as Hillert writes Dear Dragon books I will by purchasing them for my young students because she knows how to produce a fun story which will not only entertain young children, but also motivate them to want to read more. [review will be published 3/9/15]

Thanks to Netgalley.com and the publisher for access to this title.

I grew up reading Dear Dragon, and I am excited to see it return. They were some of my favorite books as a beginning reader.

I read this with my son, and he loved it! I think he enjoyed it even more by reading it in digital format vs. hard copy as he couldn't really "peek" ahead at the pages to see what they were talking about. Each time it was a little bit of a surprise for him.

Colorful, vibrant illustrations are used throughout this book. A great book for beginning readers with lots of sight words and repetition. I liked the activities that are suggested at the end of the story to help children learn how to read.