How to Ride a Dragonfly

by Kitty Donohoe, Anne Wilsdorf (Illustrator)

Overview

Like a laugh-out-loud spin on Thumbelina, this whimsical, beautifully illustrated picture book stars an adventurous little girl who shrinks down to the size of a bug and takes a tour of the swamp on a dragonfly's back.

Have you ever wanted to ride a dragonfly? Well, there’s one problem… You’re too big! But if you follow these simple steps, you'll be sure to have a fantastic journey:

• Step 1: Put a rose petal in your pocket at sunrise, which will make you shrink. But don't forget: you must return by sunset— or else you’ll stay shrunk!

• Step 2: Pick a blade of grass and lasso the first dragonfly that buzzes by—we'll call her Priscilla. Climb aboard!

• Step 3: Joust a bumblebee, groove to the Beetle Band, dine with fairies, and have an adventure. Watch out for the frogs! They love to eat dragonflies, and Priscilla looks quite tasty...

Oh, dear! The sun is almost touching the mountains. Can you and Priscilla zip back in time before sunset?

With a delightfully funny text by an elementary school teacher and deliciously playful artwork by a beloved illustrator, here is the perfect picture book for any child in search of adventure!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593175644
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	05/23/2023
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.31(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.39(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kitty Donohoe has enjoyed teaching students in Santa Monica for many years. She received her BA as well as a Master's in Education from UCLA. Every summer, she attends institutes at Columbia University's TCRWP on teaching reading and writing to young people. Originally from the Great Central Valley of California, Kitty now lives with her husband outside of Los Angeles. HOW TO RIDE A DRAGONFLY is her debut book.








Anne Wilsdorf has illustrated over twenty books for children, including Pat Zietlow Miller's beloved Sophie's Squash which received four starred reviews, in addition to an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor and a Charlotte Zotolow Honor. Anne also illustrated its sequel Sophie's Squash Go to School, as well as Peggy Archer's A Hippy-Hoppy Toad, Susan McElroy Montanari's My Dog's a Chicken, Elizabeth Bluemle's Dogs on the Bed, and Eileen Spinelli's The Best Story. She lives in Switzerland.

Editorial Reviews

03/20/2023

Surrounded by the pleasures of a summery meadow, a blond, pale-skinned child in a red polka dot shift shrinks down and takes a dragonfly as a trusty steed. With a little simple magic (“Put a rose petal in your pocket at sunrise”), the child becomes small enough to catch and saddle the eager-eyed insect, which wears a dapper blue jacket and red striped pants. “Let’s call her Priscilla,” suggests the omniscient second-person narrator about the dragonfly. The intrepid duo joust with a bumblebee, attend a mishap-filled tea with two fairies, escape a hungry frog, and boogie with the Beetle Band before returning to the original place of enchantment just in time for the child to avoid staying permanently tiny. Donohoe (There’s Something About Sam) strikes a tone of matter-of-fact commentary about the fanciful scenarios: “I’ll bet you didn’t know that fairies loathe stains and have bad tempers. You’d better hide if you want to avoid being turned into a toadstool.” Thin-lined watercolor and ink illustrations by Wilsdorf, making a picture book debut, combine a Victorian floral sensibility with an action-packed arc, resulting in small-scale-focused visuals that are equal parts magical and impish. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges and April Prince, Studio Goodwin Sturges. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2023-02-25
A child takes readers along on anAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland–esque adventure.

If you want to ride a dragonfly, first you need to shrink yourself, and the narrator has just the way to manage it…and to become big again, but be careful you don’t miss the sunset deadline or you’ll be tiny forever! Once you’re small, it’s easy to make a grass lasso and capture a dragonfly to ride (Priscilla in this case). Once astride, you can joust against bees with thistle spears, have a tea party with fairies, dodge hungry frogs, rock out with the Beetle Band, and do some acrobatic trick riding, though none of this is without incident (and the scenes with the bee queen and the fairies can seem a bit judgmental and lacking in evidence: “Bees are sore losers”). The child has blond hair, light skin, and a red-and-white polka dot dress, while Priscilla (at least when the child is tiny) sports a blue shirt and red-and-white striped pants. While the child and fauna in the watercolor-and-ink illustrations are cartoony and delightfully anthropomorphized (the Beetle Band and jiving bugs are highlights), the flora at times looks like the stained-glass scenery panels done by Tiffany, especially the water lilies and the cattails, which provides for an interesting contrast and gives the eye a place to rest. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A beautiful and interesting flight of fancy. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"A child takes readers along on an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland–esque adventure....A beautiful and interesting flight of fancy." —Kirkus Reviews

"Thin-lined watercolor and ink illustrations by Wilsdorf.... combine a Victorian floral sensibility with an action-packed arc, resulting in small-scale-focused visuals that are equal parts magical and impish." —Publishers Weekly

"Soft watercolor and ink illustrations match the text's fanciful tone; the engaging pond creatures bring liveliness to this magical world." —The Horn Book

From the Publisher