The Flying Dragon Room

Disappointed when his parents won't allow him to help paint the house, Patrick is consoled by the loan of some extraordinary tools, from handy-woman Mrs. Jenkins, and proceeds to build an incredible labyrinth of underground rooms with them, while his elders toil above. Inviting his family and Mrs. Jenkins to tour his creation, Patrick leads them through a dazzling array of chambers, from his Subterranean Room, with its Small Creature Garden, and his Bubble Room (accessed by means of the Zig-Zaggity-Ladder), to his Friendly Wild Animal Room, reached by means of his sailing ship, the Jolly Mermaid. Emerging impressed and entertained, Patrick and his family are beguiled by an offer of a similar adventure the next day, in Mrs. Jenkins' show more Flying Dragon Room...

Chosen as one of our January selections in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "Children on Adventures, or Exploring," The Flying Dragon Room is an engaging tale that examines a number of common childhood fantasies, from flying to having a dinosaur pet, and serves as a tribute to the power of imagination, in a child's life. If someone gave you magical tools that allowed you to create any kind of room you wished, what would you do with it? The possibilities are endless - something hinted at in the conclusion of the book, which invites the young reader to imagine that the story goes on. The artwork, done in acrylic by Mark Teague - the illustrator of Jane Yolen's How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?, and its sequels - is colorful and fun, adding to the sense of excitement and adventure.

All in all, a very enjoyable picture-book, one I would recommend to young readers who enjoy games of make believe, and who tend to have a dozen answers for questions of "what if." show less

Although I appreciate the concept (and the illustrations are certainly lush and imaginative), I am not all that impressed with and by Audrey Wood's The Flying Dragon Room. I find both the text, but especially the illustrations rather busy, frenetic and overly involved (the book feels like a rushed tour, and not one I would personally enjoy taking, there being too much action, and not enough room and opportunity for peace and serenity). Just reading the text and looking at the involved, constantly changing illustrations makes me feel rather nervous and on edge, and while I think that many children and adults will likely enjoy the pace of this book, it really leaves me rather unenthusiastic and unsatisfied (although judging from the show more generally high ratings, I guess I am a bit of a minority here, but the book just does not feel all that magical to me, too fast-paced and frenzied). show less

I feel that this a fun book for students to read. The plot was good because of the suspense. For example, each room that the little boy went in, the reader wanted to know what it would entail. It also left off on a cliffhanger about seeing the Mrs. Jenkin's dragon room. The illustrations were great in the aspect that they told their own story. A student could look at the pictures and still understand what was going on without reading the text. The overall message was that you can always have fun no matter what age you are. Patrick, the little boy, had fun finding all of the different rooms, and Mrs. Jenkins, who is much older than Patrick, is also having fun by creating her own dragon room. Fun can be had at all ages.

This book is filled with fun adventure. I loved how different this book was from the other books I’ve read. I thought it was cute how much imagination is put into the book. This little boy gets to have a special toolbox where he could to make a whole other world out of. When readers read this book, they get to picture how different this world is from ours. There are bubble rooms, a bouncy room, small creature garden, and even a room where they go on a boat and almost get attacked by a sea creature. I bet any child would love to have a special toolbox to make its own place. I also loved how each page had something different on it. The story flows nicely but it corporates many different things so that the story is not boring. Whether it show more is climbing a crazy ladder, sliding down a snake slide, shrinking the sea creature, or braiding the buffalo’s hair, each page has a new idea. I just enjoyed how this story did not just focus on one event but focused of multiple events. The main idea of this book was to show that adventure is always out there and that having an imagination is a good thing. show less

Patrick's home is being painted. His parents hire Mrs. Jenkins to come and paint. Before she starts, she gives Patrick her box of special tools and tells him, " I just built something fun with these. Why don't you borrow them and see what you can make?" Patrick accepts Mrs. Jenkins' offer and lets his imagination take over.

A week passes by and Patrick invites everyone (mom, dad, baby Sarah, & Mrs. Jenkins) to come see his big backyard surprise. He created different rooms with a completely different theme. A small creature garden, bubble room, and food room are just a few rooms to name. The illustrator did a fantastic job on creating so much detail to include us into Patrick's imagination. The author also did a fantastic job by creating show more this book with such words that brings us into Patrick's world. The story keeps you interested and on your toes. On each page, the characters travel to new rooms by doing crazy things such as climbing on the zig-zaggity-ladder, pulling on a money chain, and sliding down a snake. They also do things only you can do using your imagination like shrinking sea lizards, tickling a giraffe, and braiding a buffalo's locks.

The end of the book ends with Mrs. Jenkins teasing about how she has a dragon room, which was sorta mentioned in the beginning of the story. This book keeps the reader interesting with what is going to happen on the next page. It has so much creativity and imagination that it is never dull and boring (as mentioned before). With a little creativity and imagination who knows where you'll go! show less

I really enjoyed this book for its illustrations and plot. While the book incorporates characters and a situation that children can relate to, imagination and creative ideas bring the story to life. The main character, who is a little boy, is given a toolbox and told to create whatever he wants. He does so, and decides he wants to share it with his parents and neighbor. Taking them through every room, his creativity runs wild and his imagination is expressed through the illustrations presented in the book. In one room he describes how there are bubbles floating everywhere and they were created by the boys big bubble machine. The main message of the book is for children to use their imagination and go beyond the limits of reality to show more create fun for themselves. show less

I thought that this was a charming book. I liked it for two reasons. First of all, I liked the illustrations of the book. The illustration help support the reader's imagination. The whimsical illustrations add color to the text. I also liked this book because the author's text provides a fast pace and exciting adventure. I think all children would like at least some aspect of this story. The big idea from this book was to not forget about your imagination.