Dragon! A story told in two languages

PreS-Gr 2--Pierre and Paul (Avalanche!) are off on another dual-language adventure, this time to take out the trash. Of course they'll need to use a map, fight a dragon, and wade through a poisonous swamp before they are rewarded with not just trash but treasure too. The text alternates between French and English without including direct translations, allowing readers of only one or the other language to understand by context, but it is still one cohesive story for those who read both. French-speaking Pierre has brown skin and curly black hair and wears glasses; English-speaking Paul has spiky orange hair and cream-colored skin with freckles. But the two are of one mind, which readers willl discern from the childlike brightly colored pencil and watercolor illustrations. A more simplistic and superimposed style is used to differentiate what the boys are imagining from the more detailed scenes of what is really happening. This is one of those terrific adventures that gets better with every reading; adults might pick up a few new words themselves, though it may involve some pronunciation homework before using it as a read-aloud. VERDICT Highly recommended entertainment, and a first purchase for most collections, whether seeking bilingual books or not.--Hillary Perelyubskiy, Los Angeles P.L.

Two friends battle a dragon and hunt for treasure in this bilingual adventure story of imaginative play. Paul, a pale-skinned redhead with freckles, and Pierre, a brown-skinned boy with tight curls, are "friends and explorers." They draw a treasure map, which they bring with them to take out the garbage. When they hear a roar, they use swords (sticks and rolled-up paper) and shields (a pizza box and the garbage-can lid) to defend themselves against a dragon, which is drawn on the page in Harold and the Purple Crayon fashion. Paul dies in the great battle but is revived by a lick from a passerby's dog. The friends escape a poisonous swamp and arrive at the ocean. They take to sea on a boat but must swim to shore when a tsunami hits. The illustrations alternate between the real world inside and outside of Paul's house in a city neighborhood, with pale, subdued backgrounds, and the fleshed-out world of the children's imaginations, with playful transitions between the two. The blend of English and French in the text is a clever way to support bilingualism. Rather than repeating the same sentences in both languages, the story works like an early reader whose sentences alternate languages but repeat vocabulary words: "Suddenly they hear a roar. Un grand rugissement!" This allows both bilingual readers and second language learners to engage with the vocabulary in both languages without stopping the flow of the story. The pictures also support comprehension. Educational content made entertaining. (Picture book. 4-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.