Dragons - for the Young Flyers

Dragons!

If your child is fascinated with dragons,
there are some wonderful books out there.
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame*
is a gentle, funny fable about a misunderstood
dragon and the boy who helps him find a way
to coexist with those who fear him
(for a contemporary graphic novel take, 
look at The Monster on the Hill-a dragonish
creature who isn't scary enough).
The Reluctant Dragon boasts a Disney movie

and a play based on it as well.
You may already know the How to Train Your
Dragon movies are based on the books by Cressida
Cowell. They're fun. (I've a special
liking for the picture book that started it all-
Hiccup the Viking-but it's not Dragony).
Elsewhere on the blog I've discussed
My Father's Dragon, an excellent series 

for read aloud or early chapter books.

Dav Pilkey's Dragon series is as funny

and goofy as you would expect from the Captain 

Underpants writer, but much sweeter than

you might think and bridges the gap

between picture book and chapter book.

Next week I'll give some choices for more
advanced readers. I already wrote about
my favorite for tweens/teens here.
*a note about today's links - "Monster" & "here" take
you elsewhere in the blog. "Dragon" takes you to Amazon
and the lush Michael Hague illustrated edition.

Full disclosure: If a lot of you click through and buy that, they'll give me a credit.

Not to worry, I've earned one $20 credit in the five years I've blogged.

Back to Johnny Boo

Currently my boy with autism is struggling with The Odyssey.
I really don't have anything to say about that yet,
other than that it's slightly ridiculous to expect him
to understand The Odyssey.
But if you want your kid to get a regular diploma .  .  .
My reluctant reader without autism is reading
Johnny Boo.
A few things about this make it relevant to this blog:
1  Full color pages with a few words per page invite
many reluctant readers.
2  Graphic Novels/Comics appeal to kids.
For more of those, see this post.
3  He's reading it in the car.
With both boys, if I hand them a book in the car, 
or leave a book in the car, they at least look at it.
This puts that book a few dozen nags ahead of 
other books.

On another note, if you're in the Nashville area,
don't forget The Billy Goats Gruff Creative
Dramatics Story Time at Green Hills Library
at 10:30.

Billy Goats and Trolls at the Library

Since my boy loves to trit trot over any bridge,

this story seemed a natural one for our kids to 

enjoy and act out.

I hope to see some Nashville area friends

at the Green Hills Library at 10:30 this

Saturday morning to share a fun, no 

pressure to perform, freedom to make noise,

stim, or hide away, good time.

Saturday, September 20, 2014 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

at Green Hills

Play some games and act out a story with Christine Mather, PhD, a playwright and theatre educator. A time for kids to do as little or as much as they want (and maybe catch the acting bug!). Sign up is encouraged but not required.

Contact: Green Hills Library (615) 862-5863

Here's the link to the library website description.