Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari, a Review

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari is a cute kids book about a turtle named Roger and a dragon named Padraig. The two decide to spend an entire night out camping, beneath the stars and alone all by themselves. While out, the familiar spooks and noises born from childhood imagination appear, and Roger and Padraig struggle to endure the long night.

One thing I thought funny (and somewhat bizarre) was the high, Old English language the two buddies used to speak to one another. "I say my good man..." "Capital!" "Jolly ho." This stuff was fun to read but slightly odd.

The illustrations (by Vincent Nguyen) are all beautiful and rich. Many forest animals appear and all are drawn very child-friendly. The night landscapes are also pretty. The book is a very full and vivid picture book for young readers.

The themes are great for young kids, teaching them the values of friendship and of helping others. Also, on the back cover of the book there is a collection of questions to ask your kids to prompt them to respond to the story.

Overall, The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari is a fun book for young children that teaches good morals and tells a fun story along with it. There is a lot of verbiage, so a parent may be used to help younger readers. 

FTC Thing: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. 

2 comments:

Donita K. Paul said...

Thank you, Logan, for the review. You are right about the language. The picture book is meant to be read by a fun-loving adult to a child, not read by the child. My grandsons, who are familiar with the book, now chime in with the Right-o," "jolly chap," etc. The youngest loves to do the "Meow" as a leapard cry.
I would love to invite you and your readers to the website www.dragonandturtle.com. We have two fun contests going on with neat prizes. Both end in February. Plus there are activity pages for kids and info pages for adults.

logankstewart said...

@Donita: That's what I figured, but I wasn't sure. The language was definitely fun to read aloud. Thanks for stopping by!