Dear Dragon Goes to the Library

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.

In this book, the boy is off to the library with his dragon friend. They pile some books to return to the library into the wagon and off they go. Once they arrive the participate in Storytime, but dragon has to be good. After the story they see what the other kids are doing and join in with doing jigsaw puzzles and dot-to-dot pictures. Then it is time to pick out new books to take home. He finds some books with dragons in them to take home to read. A successful trip to the library.

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. A great addition to a family library or a primary classroom.

Dear Dragon travels to the library in this book!  I like that they found Dear Dragon books at the library! The Dear Dragon series is appropriate for independent first grade readers. It is meant to be simple with easy to read words. Dear Dragon Goes to the Library is as solid as the others in the Dear Dragon series.

I wish I could have a library like this with all the bells and whistles. However, I can point out to the kids that the public library has them. I love the reading lever. I can't get enough books that are interesting to read at the beginning level. Definitely on my to-buy list.

I like how the book included everything that libraries have to offer - not just books.

A young boy wakes up his pet dragon and drags him to the library of all places.  There together they discover the wonder of how a library works.  He has books to return and both he and his helper lug armloads of books to the return desk.  Then they realize that libraries are not just a home for books but there are all kinds of different activities happening.  They choose to attend the story time hour.  They settle back with a group of other kids and enjoy the librarian reading aloud a very interesting and entertaining version of  "The Three Bears."  When it is over the kids scatter in all directions trying to find out what other fun activities that the library offers beside lines of books on the shelves.   They discover that although libraries are very quiet places there are lots of wonderful things that you can participate in.  

Written in simple language, perfect for beginning readers, there are 61 words included in the text.  At the end of the book the author has complied a group of activities to reinforce reading skills.  She covers:  Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary Building, Reading Fluency and Text Comprehension through discussion.
She presents a Word List that your child can practice reading and suggests you could perhaps transfer these words onto a card and help your child build automatic word recognition.  The illustrations are colourful, engaging and full of emotions.

* The Beginning-to-Read series is a carefully written collection of readers, many of which you may remember from your own childhood.  The books feature text comprised of common sight words.  The many additional details in the pictures enhance the story and offer the opportunity for you to help your child expand oral language skills and develop comprehension.  Read the story together and discuss the pictures encouraging your child to make connections between the story and his or her own life. Above all, the most important part of the reading experience is to have fun and enjoy it!

Those of us who are teachers or parents of young children may already be familiar with Margaret Hillert's books, including those that feature Dear Dragon. The books have a controlled vocabulary of common sight words and even feature a word list at the end along with suggestions for how to help early readers. In this story Dear Dragon watches as his boy gathers up books from all around his room and loads them into a wagon. Dear Dragon pulls the wagon to the library and helps to carry them up the stairs (see cover illustration). Once they enter the library, the boy sees a notice for story time and wants to go. Dear Dragon sits on the floor with the children and listens to the story, then they see what other fun they can have. They find a floor puzzle of dragons, and choose more books to take home, including Dear Dragon's A is for Apple.

Young readers will enjoy the cheerful illustrations and probably wish for their own dragon. (Who doesn't?) Adults will appreciate the short sentences and sight words that help build reading fluency for their children and students. This would also make a good read-aloud for someone getting ready to visit the library for the first time. Teachers and school librarians might wish to pair it with a short nonfiction book on libraries such as, A Visit to the Library by Mary Lindeen.

Great book for kids and families! And awesome motivation.

Delightful!

Margaret Heller began her career as a first grade teacher and it didn't take her long to discover that there weren't too many books out there that her students could read independently, so in the 1950s she began writing her own children's stories, including the simple retellings of common fairy tales and the introduction of the Dear Dragon series. These were among the first books with a controlled vocabulary similar to the Dick and Jane Readers. 

The Dear Dragon Beginning-To-Read Series became very popular and numerous illustrators (Carl Kock, David Helton, and Craig Deeley) have taken their hand in portraying this loveable character. Dear Dragon is featured in books about holidays and seasons, sports, and visits to common locations such as the zoo or the circus. In the New Dear Dragon books, beginning in 2008 with Dear Dragon, A Is For Apple, David Schimmell has created an adorable version of this creature sure to appeal to both children and adults. In the most current book, Dear Dragon Goes to the Library, our pet dragon friend helps his buddy return a pile of books to the local public library where they join other children in listening to the librarian read a story, putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and drawing dot-to-dot pictures. Then they select some new books from the library shelves to borrow which they read together after they've returned home. Not only is this story readable, it presents the public library as an interesting and exciting place to visit plus it promotes a love for books. At the end of this story are some ideas for Reading Reinforcement, including Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Text Comprehension. There is also a list of the vocabulary from the text to review with the child. 

Hilbert's life spanned 94 years and her passing a year ago on October 11, 2014, is lamented by librarians all over the world. Yet she leaves behind a catalog of over 80 books which children today can still enjoy. 

I wish to thank Netgalley and Norwood House Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Four Stars.