The Trouble with Dragons

This review appears on my blog: Seasons South and North:

Debi Gliori is one of the illustrators and authors I most admire, for she seems to write her stories from the heart and to give great whimsy to her drawings. This bright book is true to her style, with its story one of concern to us all and its illustrations full of charm.

Many books warn of the problems of global warming, pollution, and overpopulation, and I have written often about how to help children to cope with this frightening knowledge. Ms. Gliori has chosen to tell the story not with ungrateful people who mindlessly destroy the environment that sustains them. She tells the story with dragons.

In rhyming couplets, she tells of dragons that overproduce, hatching from spotted show more eggs. It is orange and purple and pink dragons that cover the earth with roads and houses and leave trash in the rivers. She skips round the complicated explanation of the warming of the atmosphere by having it be caused by too many dragons breathing too much fire....and Santa is left in a pink pool where the North Pole once was.

Gradually, all of the colours are sucked out of the illustrations as all of the life is sucked out of the planet, and the dragons are a lonely species. Realizing their fate as the last animals leave, they call out for help. "OK, start by not chopping down trees," they are told, and so start the recommendations -- so simple, really -- that lead to the return of life, colour and health for all.

As a gentle and not frightening way for young children to learn about the subject, this book is among the best, and Bloomsbury is to be commended for publishing it. It will bring discussion, including the most difficult question of all : if we know what we are to do to end the terrible effects of pollution, and we are teaching our children to do it, why are their elders not doing as they recommend?

Indeed, why are we not? show less

I have to roll my eyes at the reviews that say, "I'm a huge environmentalist, but this was too much for me." Really? This fun, rhyming, dragon-filled book is much better than most didactic picture books, which tend to be somber, serious, and boring.

I agree with Publishers Weekly ("Gliori's impressive gifts are finely showcased: her flair for detailed, dramatic landscapes, her ability to create characters that are cute but still emotionally authentic, her conversational writing style that scores points without sounding preachy") and School Library Journal ("If only all 'message books' could be as winning as this rhyming ode to environmental responsibility").

This eco- message book was a little surprising to me, since I'd anticipated something more along the lines of, "what happens when you have a dragon in your house". Instead, "dragons" are a giant metaphor for humans, gobbling up resources, and ravaging the world. For that, I'd say it was a friendly intro to the concept of environmentalism, climate change, etc.

This eco- message book was a little surprising to me, since I'd anticipated something more along the lines of, "what happens when you have a dragon in your house". Instead, "dragons" are a giant metaphor for humans, gobbling up resources, and ravaging the world. For that, I'd say it was a friendly intro to the concept of environmentalism, climate change, etc.

I love this story! It speaks about the trouble with dragons and how they don't take care of the earth, but ultimately its an environmental lesson for students and compares dragons to humans. I think this story would be perfect to use when learning about protecting our environment and the degradation that can happen if we don't! It's also humorous and very relatable to young children which is important.

The trouble with this book is that it is disturbing and could be terrifying for kids. I found it quite unsettling and would not share it with the children in my life or my storytimes. In the story, the trouble with dragons is that they are destroying the earth. They are smoking and drinking in addition to cutting down trees, creating holes in the ozone and causing the polar caps to melt. The book is preachy and troubling. The ending tells children that if they know any dragons they should ask them if they know what they are doing to the planet. I would not recommend this book to anyone (and anyone who knows me knows that this is highly unusual!)

Such a clever story poem: dragons are ruining the Earth and they must be stopped before all the wildlife is gone. This is a new twist on a common topic - the use of dragons instead of people makes it less preachy.