The Truth About Dragons

by Jaime Zollars

Overview

A mesmerizing picture book about the excitement (and often times anxiety) of a new experience, represented by a castle full of dragons that aren't quite what they appear.
 
As a young girl cautiously approaches a castle full of soaring, roaring dragons, she worries about their wildness and their terribly sharp teeth. And indeed, the dragons are hungry and noisy, and they seem to be hovering closer and closer...until the girl notices that some of the beasts are wearing mismatched socks. And some are playing tambourines. And some prefer to color quietly in the corner. Could there be more to these dragons than the girl first realized?
 
In this remarkable debut, every page turn reveals another dragon meticulously transformed into a friend, each child working through their own overwhelming first day of school. Inspired by the author's daughter, The Truth About Dragons encourages young readers to see beyond their fears to the often surprising truths underneath—and to find their inner dragons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316481489
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	240,296
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jaime Zollars is inspired by fairy tales and Flemish painters, nonfiction, forgotten paper, found textures, and flea market photographs. Her art has been recognized by American Illustration, Communication Arts, the Society of Illustrators, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, among others. The Truth About Dragons is her debut book for children. Jaime lives in Thousand Oaks, California, and she invites you to visit her online at JaimeZollars.com.

Editorial Reviews

07/20/2020

Dragons are in the eye of the beholder in this solo debut. Zollars lures readers in with a suspenseful scene of a girl approaching a misty, turreted castle filled with them: “The stories about dragons are true,” the narrator intones. The beasts come closer as the child cowers: “Dragons tower and hover and smother.” A page turn reveals a tone-changing fact: “their socks don’t always match.” Dragons, it emerges, are a lot like children, raucous in the cafeteria and loud in the library. Little by little, the illustrated creatures morph into human children, now the girl’s peers. One spread shows a dragon with a soccer ball bearing down on the girl and her companions. A page turn visualizes his point of view: he’s a human boy, and she’s the dragon. Zollars’s use of evocative action verbs (“they swagger and crow”) makes for taut descriptions, while the transformation of objects (dragon skin becomes human clothing, the towers prove a playground castle) provides food for thought in this exploration of how people perceive those they don’t know—and how wrong those perceptions can be. Ages 4–8. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Truth About Dragons:

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, September 2020
An Amazon Best Book of 2020

"Lushly illustrated.... Beautiful."
—SLJ

"A beautifully rendered, comforting, gentle lesson in overcoming fears."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/22/2020

Gr 1–4—This lushly illustrated picture book is a metaphorical look at problems; they are dragons to be slain. The story starts with a young girl being buffeted by the winds the dragons create as they fly past, but soon she notices that the dragons aren't wearing matching socks. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the dragons are actually kids that are overwhelming the girl with their loud noises and boisterous behavior. The story concludes with the main character becoming a dragon herself, threatening another child, and then somehow they all turn back into children. It's a lovely message, that sometimes problems appear bigger than they really are and that they can usually be solved. However, there is no explicit problem-solving strategy suggested and the metaphorical nature of the story and the content of the illustrations are at odds. The children depicted—young enough to be shown taking naps—are the age that struggles with metaphors, who may not be ready for the high-level text. The kids old enough to make the leap between the metaphorical dragons and the fantasy dragons might find the activities in the illustrations babyish. VERDICT This beautiful book will require shelf-talking to connect with just the right audience. —Debbie Tanner, S D Spady Montessori Elem., FL

School Library Journal

★ 2020-06-16
Dragons are real. Dragons are terrifying. Dragons are everywhere.

The unnamed protagonist, pale-skinned and clad in purple boots, brown corduroy knickers, and a red jacket, seems to be surrounded by dragons. They roam wild, showing their sharp teeth, hovering over everything, waiting to smother. In the beginning the protagonist appears very small, posed against a castle backdrop with large, menacing dragons looming in deep mists of purples, soft browns, and greens. But then the child starts noticing some anomalies. The mist lifts, colors brighten, and lines sharpen. The castle is gone, replaced by a school setting. The dragons are closer to a child’s size and have hands instead of claws. Some are wearing mismatched socks, devouring food in a cafeteria, making noise in the library, and even creating music. Soon many have human bodies and faces, diverse in skin tone. The protagonist becomes part of the group, playing together and challenging the few dragons that remain, even daring to be dragonlike when necessary. In a perfectly seamless blending, the text is spare and beautifully descriptive, focused entirely on dragons and their characteristics, while the illustrations depict the action and the child’s changing reactions. Sharp-eyed young readers will catch on quickly as they are led in entirely unexpected directions, interpreting the child’s circumstance as anxiety on the first day of school or perhaps at a new school. Children and their grown-ups can choose this one again and again when faced with new situations.

A beautifully rendered, comforting, gentle lesson in overcoming fears. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Narrator Marisa Calin introduces listeners to a whole host of dragons using a strong, vibrant voice that perfectly encapsulates the fantastical creatures. With a backdrop of music throughout, Calin energizes the audience by strategically pausing to create anticipation as new information is revealed. As it turns out, dragons have more in common with us than one might think—such as enjoying lunch, playing instruments, and valuing their friends—if we can conquer our fears and get to know them, of course. Listeners will be engaged by this tale, which encourages us to look beyond first impressions to find commonalities among our peers. M.D. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Marisa Calin introduces listeners to a whole host of dragons using a strong, vibrant voice that perfectly encapsulates the fantastical creatures. With a backdrop of music throughout, Calin energizes the audience by strategically pausing to create anticipation as new information is revealed. As it turns out, dragons have more in common with us than one might think—such as enjoying lunch, playing instruments, and valuing their friends—if we can conquer our fears and get to know them, of course. Listeners will be engaged by this tale, which encourages us to look beyond first impressions to find commonalities among our peers. M.D. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2020 - AudioFile