If I Had a Dragon

by Amanda Ellery, Tom Ellery (Illustrator)

Overview

Morton's brother is too little to be any fun — but if he were a dragon, playtime would be great...wouldn't it?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416909248
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	06/01/2006
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Amanda Ellery is a freelance writer and the author of If I Had a Dragon and If I Were a Jungle Animal. She lives in Santa Clarita, California with her three kids.

Tom Ellery is an Emmy Award-winning director and artist and has worked in the animation industry for more than fifteen years. He has illustrated If I Had a Dragon and If I Were a Jungle Animal. He lives in Santa Clarit, California with his three kids.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-Dismayed when his mom asks him to play with his baby brother, Morton wishes that the tot could turn into something fun, like a kite, or better yet, a hulkingly huge, lime-green dragon. In a series of amusing illustrations, the boy imagines the activities that he and his new companion would share, followed by the less-than-fun results on the next spread. A walk seems like a great idea, but the page turn shows the creature flying off into the sky with Morton dangling from its leash. A basketball game might be enjoyable, until he realizes the impossibility of scoring against a wall of towering green flesh. Whistling together is also a bust, as the youngster ends up with toasted hair. Chastened, Morton banishes his imaginary playmate and races home to join his brother in the sandbox. The brief text, interspersed with wordless spreads, makes this offering a great choice for newly independent readers as well as for sharing aloud. The exuberant watercolor-and-charcoal cartoons take maximum advantage of the dragon's girth, and the images sprawl across the pages. The wacky elasticity, breezy hilarity, and unexpected perspectives in the art add a sense of mad motion. This book's theme will resonate with children, who will appreciate the jokes and identify with the mischievous protagonist and his unusual friend.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The Ellerys, both of whom have Disney connections, debut with a sketchy but animated take on a familiar whine: "I don't want to play with my brother! He's too little," responds Morton to a parental command. Morton's unhappiness turns to glee, at least temporarily, when he imagines his toddler sibling transformed into a huge dragon-but then, on second thought, how much fun would it be to play basketball, go the swimming pool or watch a movie with such a gigantic companion? "Eesh." Simply drawn, but with expressive faces and postures, the small carrot-topped lad and his towering green playmate stand out against minimal monochrome backgrounds in a series of nearly wordless setup-and-punch line scenes. Coming around to acceptance at last, Morton runs home to fetch a bucket and is last seen happily playing with his normal-sized brother in the sandbox. Parts of the spread portraying Morton's dash disappear into the gutter, but that's really the only bobble in this brief, cheery episode. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews