I love Paro Anand’s books, and when I learned that she had collaborated with a nine-year-old girl to write a book, I was intrigued. As a teacher and creative writing trainer, I’ve read many stories that children have written. Some are excellent, others not so much. A Very Naughty Dragon? I had to read it to find out.
I did, and I loved it. It starts slowly, with a lot of repetition that I associate with books for much younger children, but as I read on, I enjoyed it more and more. I love the place where it sits in terms of a story – between picture books and chapter books, full of colourful illustrations, but with enough text to make the story more than a book for very young readers.
Draco is a Komodo dragon, determined to show his father that he can hunt. Surely he can catch a Timor deer! No, it’s too fast.
A civet cat? No again.
A butterfly? Nope.
But Draco doesn’t give up. He tries again and again – only to find himself a laughing stock for the monkeys! The squirrels join in too, but Draco is not one to give in. He knows there’s only one way to stop all the teasing and bullying – he must show them how powerful he really is!
A story about friendship and forgiveness, kindness and courage, A Very Naughty Dragon is a lovely tale, full of possibility!
Trivia
For once, I think I’ll begin my book with the last few pages. Komodo dragons are fascinating creatures. Through this book, I learned, for instance, that their breath is so stinky that you could faint or even die!
At my book club, I’ll ask the children to find out about other fascinating creatures. Timor deer, macaques, civet cats, or anything else that catches their fancy!
Onomatopoeia
We’ve worked with alliteration and similes many times. It’s time for onomatopoeia! A Very Naughty Dragon is full of sound words. What other words can we think of that are onomatopoeic?
Friendship, Determination, Kindness
At the back of A Very Naughty Dragon, we have these three words. The Adventures of Mooli and the Sticker Trickster has the words ‘friendship’, ‘adventure’ and ‘mystery’. As this is the last book we will be reading at the December edition of my reading programme, we’ll look at the other books – Mira the Detective and Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom – and brainstorm a list of words that we think suit the story.
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