Merry Christmas, Dear Dragon

I absolutely love these books! They're great for kids and the part at the end of it containing phonetics and reading comprehension is great. I know which book we are going to use in class to prepare Christmas. Thanks!

Who doesn't love that first snowfall that arrives just before Christmas.... hurray it's going to be a white Christmas after all!  Donning his winter gear a young boy and his pet dragon engage with the new visitor in town...  welcome Winter!!

Together they shovel, play games and make tracks in the snow, help a poor stranded woman who's car is stuck, hunt down the perfect Christmas tree to take home and decorate, and then curl up in front of a warm cozy fire sipping hot chocolate and eating yummy cookies (with sprinkles on top of course).  All-in-all the perfect rewards after all the Christmas hustle and bustle and busyness!!! Whew!!! MMMMMMM.... nice!!!

The illustrations are beautifully done.  They are crisp,  vibrantly coloured and they invite the reader in to a magical Christmas adventure.  I especially like at the end of story the reading activities and a word list that is included.  Kids can use these to practice and strengthen their beginning reading skills.  This series is reminiscent of the "Dick and Jane" readers that I grew up reading.  Sometimes teaching reading comes full circle and you find that the older, more traditional methods of doing so are still the best.  As a former primary school teacher, having taught beginning reading in Kindergarten, Grades 1 and Grades 2,  I can endorse these books wholeheartedly.

The Dear Dragon series is made up of several books that are easy readers. They use site vocabulary that is printed in the back of the book. It reminds me of the books I learned to read with. This is a reissue of the original book with updated illustrations.

In this book, the boy and his dragon experience several winter activities as well as touching on some of the traditions surrounding Christmas. The dragon helps out with shovelling snow by melting it as well as starting the fire in the fireplace. They cut bring home a Christmas tree which they decorate, push a car out of the snow, make a snow dragon and bake and eat Christmas Cookies. All this with only 70 words. The illustrations are bright, colourful and fun. My grandson, who is too young to read, enjoyed the illustrations and we engaged in a conversation about what was happening in the pictures.

These Beginning-to-Read books capture the imaginations of beginning readers and help them on their way to independent reading. They could also be read aloud to young children who are not able to read yet. At the back of the book they list the vocabulary as well as tips for helping your child develop reading fluency. A great addition to a family library or a primary classroom.

Margret Hillert has done it again! Who would think you could write a Christmas book with only 70 words? That is how many different words this Dear Dragon book has.

They clean the sidewalks, find a tree, make special treats and more in this beginning to read book.

Once again there is a Reading Reinforcement section that includes: phonemic awareness, phonics, reading comprehension, vocabulary concepts, and fluency activities. This section I think is a very important part of these books!

Thank you Norwood House Press and NetGalley for the free digital copy of this book to give my honest opinion!

I remember reading books like this when I was learning to read. It was so exciting to be able to read a real book with a real story. I think this is why I never have to convince the kids that these are good books once they’ve read one. This is why I love Margaret Hillert’s books.

I love this series, so do my students. The dragon is so versatile and very well illustrated.