#18 – When a Dragon Moves In

When a Dragon Moves In

Written by: Jodi Moore

Illustrated by: Howard McWilliam

Scholastic

2011

31 pages

Fantasy Book

            This book is all about what happens when you build a perfect sand castle at the beach. It follows the pattern of the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. One thing always leads to another. The little boy in the story builds a sand castle, and a dragon moves in. The little boy has so much fun with all of his dragon’s talents. He can fly, roast marshmallows, and he makes a great pool float. The dragon begins to get into a little mischief. He sprays sand on the boy’s sister, eats all the food, and many other things. The young boy gets into trouble when he can’t convince his parent that the dragon is the one doing all these naughty things. The boy has finally had enough! He demands that the dragon leave and vows to never make another perfect sand castle… until the next day.

            The images were drawn with pencil on paper and painted with digital acrylic paint. There are a lot of warm colors like yellow, red, and orange that create action to go along with the story. Most pictures take up the entire page, but some are done in panels to show a sequence of events. The pencil outlines are very thin and light. They are almost invisible. The text is very informal, and the text is mixed together with the pictures. The picture placement varies a lot and makes the pictures very interesting. I really enjoyed the pictures. The character’s showed tons of expressions, and the beach setting was very fun.

            This book could be used in younger elementary classrooms. This book would be another great book for sequencing skills. Everything is done in a precise order. It would also be a great book to use for writing. Older grade students could write their own story about a creature moving in and what they would do.