Dragons in Love is a cute illustrated story for young readers. The illustrations by Ronan Badel are sweet and whimsical.

Released 15th Jan 2019 from Quarto on their words & pictures imprint, it's 32 pages and available in hardcover (board) format. It was originally published in 2014 in French and translated into the English by Vanessa Miéville. The text has been translated very well although it does have nuances of cadence in language from the French (which I found charming).

I have to admit, I found the art wonderful. In fact, I spent a little while online trying to find the artist's other work in order to possibly obtain prints or other graphics from M. Badel.

So, the art is superlative and detailed enough to provide amusement to both young readers and their adults.

There are some lovely aspects to the story itself. The dragons in the story appear to be a solo dad and son family unit. Dad is willing and able to talk about feelings and life experiences with Drake, his son, and it never comes across as preachy or strident. I like their relationship. I like that he notices Drake's discomfort with the unexpected kiss and does his best to explain what's going on and help.

That being said there are some issues. The story revolves around the fact that drake gets kissed on the snout unexpectedly by his friend Violet. This confuses him and makes him sad (he avoids her and even avoids going places she likes to go), he doesn't want to eat, etc. His dad notices and tries to help by saying that breathing fire is just what dragons do when they fall in love. I think this is even more confusing to little kids (I might be overthinking things). The situation comes to a crisis when Drake sees Violet being bullied and flambés the mean kid. So is it ok for people to intervene with violence in a good cause? Dragons breathe fire when they're stressed...or mad.... or in love? Or... I'm not quite sure what the author is aiming for here (probably an audience of kids who take the story for what it is and don't try to interpret it).

At the end of the day, it's a kids' story and we adults might be over-analyzing everything... but there are so many really valuable genuinely moving children's books that I can't recommend this one unreservedly. I might have bought it for my own kids when they were small, but I really wouldn't feel comfortable buying it for someone else's kids unless I -knew- that their caregivers wouldn't be offended by the issues.

The art is superlative; a clear 5 stars. The story is iffy; 2,5-3 stars.

Ooohhh! I's so cute!! This would make a lovely story for Valentine's Day Even tho' I only have a Kindle, the illustrations are adorable! Love the little dragon- so cute! This would make a sweet gift for some little.

I have to say, this is a weird little book. I don't think it's really appropriate for its intended audience, and I don't really feel comfortable recommending it in the #MeToo era.

The plot/premise is all over the place. At first, it seems like a story about a little dragon awakening to feelings of love/lust. But then it turns into a story about bullying. So I'm really not sure what the point was supposed to be.

I had problems almost from the beginning, when Violet kisses Drake on the snout without his permission. I know this is something little kids sometimes do, and this is why teaching about consent early is an important thing. Poor Drake is so "hot and confused", and he ends up flying around and breathing fire (which appears to be what happens when dragons get aroused, if his father's story about meeting his mother is anything to go by). I really didn't like the passage that read:

My friend Violet kissed me. It didn't hurt. In fact it felt soft.

What a horrible message to give kids who might be subjected to sexual abuse. If it doesn't physically hurt, it's okay?

I was just as confused as Drake for much of the rest of the book. He seems to be most worried about his body's reaction to the kiss, and not the fact that his so-called friend put him in an uncomfortable position to begin with. Everything is "fixed" at the end with another kiss, this time from Drake, to which Violet gives consent. (I have to wonder: if the genders were reversed, would more people see the initial kiss as problematic?)

The illustrations are kind of cute and have a very European feel. I like seeing Drake's dad in his wife-beater (although I'm not sure why you need underwear if you don't wear any other type of clothing). But the whole consent issue just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe this sort of message still flies in Europe, but I don't think we should be teaching kids that it's okay to kiss their friends without consent. A whole discussion could've been had about how Violet's actions made Drake uncomfortable because of the lack of consent; instead, the focus was on his confusion because of how his body responded. It was kind of a missed opportunity.

Ah, the French must think that young love, and it does look like very young love, is the proper subject for a children's picture book.

The pictures are lovely, but the story is a little odd, at least for an American audience. It seems odd that children, including the dragon, would have such strong feelings and emotions over the love of a first kiss at what looks to be grade school age children.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4902" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-16-at-11.01.07-PM.png" alt="dragons in love" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4900" src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Screen-Shot-2019-01-16-at-11.10.48-PM.png" alt="dragons in love" />

Pictures are cute, as I have said, but the story is how the dragon child overcomes his emotions from his first kiss. Because, when Dragons fall in love, they breath out fire, which wouldn't do for human children.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I'm not sure about this one, it wasn't my favourite. When I first read the title, this was not quite what I was expecting.

I feel like it was very confusing for me let alone for young kids. Why was he so upset that he almost came across as mad? I suppose the idea was that he was scared of his big emotions, but it didn't really come across that way.

It made a kiss seem like a bad thing. Using breathing fire as a show of love. But he also used it kind of as a form of defense. Confusing.

For a kids book it still skipped some details that would have made the story easier to understand.

'Dragons in Love' by Alexandre Lacroix with illustrations by Ronan Badel is a story about a young dragon who doesn't know what to do with his feelings after his first kiss.

Drake is a young dragon who likes to play with other kids. When one of them gives him a kiss, he's not sure what to do. He finds himself using his flame and feeling strangely. After a talk with his dad, things are put back in to perspective.

The illustrations are really great. It's a cute story, but first kisses and young love seem like odd subjects for young reader picture books. I'd like to see more by this team with perhaps a bit more appropriate storyline.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing-words and pictures, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Dragons In Love was a sweet book about new feelings and what happens when you experience those feelings. While the illustrations were adorable and the text simple, the topic didn't seem very fitting for a picture book audience.

An adorable story about dragons first time in love. When dragons fall in love they breathe fire, but that would hurt is a friend so he tries to avoid her. In the end, they stay friends and dragon finds a way to use his fire.

Dragons in Love made me miss Dragon Tales so much! The reminiscing is real. Did they ever put that show on dvd? 

Back to Dragons in Love, I didn't really like it. Don't get me wrong, it's a cute book with cute illustrations. I just don't think the theme is the right one for the audience it's aimed at. This is a book I would pick up for my 5 year old nephew because he loves dragons and dinosaurs but he's definitely not thinking about first kisses. He would want the book to see the 'cool' dragon have an adventure or something 'awesome' like that. 😂 I did like the stand up to bullies message. Kids need to hear that message more. Overall, I would recommend Dragons in Love as maybe a Valentine's gift for a young child or a cute anytime gift for an older child who has their first crush. 💕 

***Thank you Quarto Publishing Group and Netgalley for honoring my review wish.***

I was really excited to read Dragons In Love but was disappointed with the story, and unfortunately the illustrations didn’t really appeal to me either. Drake the dragon had feelings for a girl named Violet which surprised him. This was a cute part of the story as this was a new feeling for the dragon and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with his new emotion.
Drake in an effort to protect Violet from a bully, the dragon burned the bully with his fiery breath. I wasn’t thrilled with this part of the story. This is not the example I’d like to send to my preschoolers on problem solving.
Sadly, this isn’t a story I feel our preschoolers would be interested in.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto for the chance to give my honest review.

The illustrations are cute. The story itself is pretty silly. I don't think my son would ask me to read it again. Not sure the best way to deal with a bully is with fire.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reading copy

A little book that left me with an innocent taste full of sweetness. It' s about a small dragon, who faces his first love shivers. His main problem, however, is that his romantic feelings concern not another dragon but a human girl. On the other hand, he thinks that the girl he loves won't really appreciate much of his dragon habits.
The nice thing about this book is that it teaches that diversity is not a reason not to love one another.
It also gives the child the choice to talk about how it feels to his /her parents. However, the last page is the one that touched me the most: The little dragon not only finds the way to overcome his shame, but manages to "adapt" for the sake of the girl. Unfortunately, I did not appreciate too much the illustration. It occurs to me that it seems one-dimensional.

Dragons in Love tells the tale of Drake's first kiss and how it made the little dragon feel. Badel's illustrations reminded me of the Black Lagoon series and were cute, but some do not seem to relay the story well. Lacroix's story is nice with regards to the father-son relationship, but I do take issue with Drake's response to the mean kid. All in all, I must say that this was not a wholly enjoyable book.

Thank you NetGalley and words & pictures for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.