Cover Image: How to save the dragon: Instrument book for teaching impulse control to children

How to save the dragon: Instrument book for teaching impulse control to children

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Member Reviews

I had difficulty understanding this book.I am not sure which age group this book is targeted to .Good illustrations though

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Thank you to @NetGalley and publisher for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.

I want to be fair in reviewing this book. I’m a mental health professional and it’s important that books like these are written by those who are knowledgeable in the topic. I would have appreciated references at the back or those the author consulted with for the book information.

Having said that, the book just didn’t seem to flow well. There were tools at the back for children and puzzles to solve. The illustrations were cute.

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This picture book is a great resource for young children whose brains are still developing and may be struggling with impulse control. The front of the book details reasons regarding the benefits of learning impulse control for young children and their development.

The introduction to the two characters – Flappy and Wrinkles is a fantastic way to frame impulse control. These two characters characterize the two sides of impulse control – the fight, flight, or freeze and the logical thinking. The animals are popular with children and they can be easily identified with. The two friends work well together and each have a role to play to have a balanced brain and control over your body. The rhymes in the next made it more enjoyable and interesting to read to children. Flappy’s introduction describes the flight, fight or freeze response when a child is faced with a situation and they do not know how to react to it. Wrinkle represents the logical side of the brain – thinking and working through problems and coming up with solutions.

I believe that this is a fantastic resource for parents who have children who lack impulse control.

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This is a good story about impulse control for children (and even adults) and there are pages to fill in feelings and thoughts. A useful, interactive book.

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I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is a story for chikdren about self control in rhyming format. Some areas of the rhyming could have been done better, but i particularly like the second part of the book for parents which is a guide to teaching and encouraging impulse and temper control.
I found some interesting tips and information and thought the sheets to fill in were a great idea as these help you to individualise for your child the triggers and support that may help you.

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The best thing about this book is the activities in the back of it that the kids can do.
I did find this book confusing in parts, but on the whole, it was enjoyable.
I am expecting that younger kids will find this book helpful, especially when they are having trouble expressing their feelings.

3/5 stars

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I had a hard time getting through the formatting of this book, but it has some helpful tips for my kids. I'm sure that the book will be better in its final version for print.

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The illustrations are really good and very eye catching. Match the story being told. The story is self was well written and insightful. I found my own child in the story and could identify emotions with her. Helpful in explaining these emotions in a way both parent and child could understand.

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The book downloaded very awkwardly so it was hard to read and look at. Because of this, I feel it’s hard to give it an accurate review.

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I didn't love this book. I think it might have been better geared as just a tool for adults or even a short blog post or article. I thought the story was a bit jumbled and didn't flow very well. The rhyming wasn't very fluid and I caught myself trying to read to a beat of sorts, but it just didn't fit into that. All the discussion at the beginning and the end of the book seemed a bit much and the book cover didn't really give the impression that it included all the various discussion topics included.

Pictures were cute and colorful, but the dragon with the elephant didn't really work for me. I did like the idea of solving puzzles. I think this could have been directed in a different or more clear way and would have made the story make a bit more sense and flow better.

I also would have liked to see where the author got her information: is she a doctor, personal experience, medical background, studies, etc.

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Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
If you are a parent or caretaker looking for help in guiding children through issues with impulse control, then this book will be very helpful to you.
The illustrations are very cute. The book is written in rhyme, but there are a few places it doesn't rhyme, which made the cadence a little off when reading aloud. The vocabulary, at times, seems over the head of the target audience of the book on the child's side.
However, I do believe that a creative person could use the book, and especially the activities in the back, to help them adapt the story to fit the child's vocabulary and ability.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic resource for caregivers, and can be easily adapted to suit each child's needs if the adults are so inclined.

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Impulse control is an important life skill!! It is one needed by children and by many adults. The idea of helping my grandchildren to learn about controlling their emotions through a story with animals sounded very promising to me. Unfortunately I did not find much of a story in the advance copy I got of this book. There were worksheets for working through lessons taught in the book and there were great explanations of what goes on in the brain when one feels strongly and there was affirmation that those strong feelings were normal but there was not much of a story to work with. I see this book as a resource to be worked through with a therapist or with a parent a little bit at a time but not as the problem solving adventure for children to learn through that I had anticipated.

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This was a sweet book on some breathing techniques. It shows your calm side and your angry side. Elephant is your calmness and dragon is impulsive and angry.

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This book is to help kids understand to take a moment and think about their actions to a triggering event so they can have a calm appropriate response rather than an anger outburst. It’s labeled for 3-5 yrs old as the target audience. I feel the illustrations are perfect for this age group but the vocabulary is way above this age group’s level. I even think the way the ideas were presented are a little abstract for this age group as well. The activities for parents in the back of the book are helpful.
Thanks to NetGalley & Xpresso Book Tours for the opportunity to read this and offer my honest opinion.

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I liked this book and think it's going to be a good resource for teachers, ECEs and parents. I did find some of the text difficult to follow and i wish there were more illustrations. But all in all, a very helpful resource book.

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