The trouble with dragons

Gliori's (No Matter What) heedless, self-centered dragons think they can treat the earth like a doormat: they overconsume and overpopulate, and they "chop down the forests/ which melts both the Poles/ and punctures the atmosphere/ full of big holes." And as if that's not enough to turn readers green (in a good way, of course), Gliori pulls out the big visual guns: why, that's Santa himself, standing in the puddle that was once his home--and all the waterlogged presents are floating away! 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. It all adds up to a work that's both sobering and encouraging: showing chastened dragons joyfully reconciled with civil society, she writes, "There's enough to go round if we all share." To the rapidly proliferating genre of environmentally conscious kids' books, this is a noteworthy addition. Ages 3-6. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

K-Gr 4-If only all "message books" could be as winning as this rhyming ode to environmental responsibility. Dragons play the part of humans here, and the troubles they create are many: they keep making more dragons, they take up all the space with their buildings and roads, and they never pick up after themselves. Gliori's trademark whimsy defines the wide-eyed characters, and, in a clever illustrative echo of the textual themes, the other animals only appear in silhouette at the pictures' edges until the moment when the dragons realize that they need to clean up their act. When they start listening to the other creatures, they learn how to leave the trees and wild places alone and reduce, reuse, and recycle. What could have been heavy-handed is magical, thanks to the playful artwork and bouncy rhymes. Though the text sticks to the basics of taking care of the Earth, the illustrations offer fodder for discussion; for example, a picture of Santa Claus, pants legs rolled up as he wades into what used to be a glacier, gifts floating in the water nearby, would be a great starting point for talking about global warming. Teachers and media specialists will find this an ideal book for Earth Day and environmental science lessons.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.