Independent reading for ages 9 and up.
Caldecott Medal. ( )

"The Truth About Dragons" is a wonderful book for students because it tells an exciting story with beautiful pictures that they'll love. It got a Caldecott Honor, which means it's really good! Teachers can read it to the class and then talk about what happened in the story, like how the characters were brave and helped each other. They can also ask students what they think the dragons in the story really mean, and maybe even draw their own pictures of dragons afterward. It's a fun way for kids to learn about friendship and being brave! ( )

Gr 1–2—Gorgeous illustrations full of detail and movement present the adventure of a child learning about dragons
from his diverse family background incorporating Eastern and Western dragon folklore. A wonderful embrace of both
traditions in one child's identity.

Gorgeous illustrations accompany this gentle story about two cultures existing in the same person. A biracial boy is told the stories about dragons from both his grandmothers' heritages (Eastern and Western), and shown that both belong to him.

A mother and son snuggle together at bedtime, as she tells him a story of two heritages, one Eastern and one Western.

Cha's marvelous illustrations, with their decorative borders and frames, show the boy traipsing through the woods, with a red cape and a lantern, to the cottage of a "wise woman" (grandmother #1) who tells "one truth about dragons." But when the boy travels into a different forest and finds an "airy palace" with another wise woman (grandmother #2), she tells him another "truth about dragons." The mother's voice concludes the story, "Most adventurers have only one story to call their own....But my darling, my bao bei, this is the precious secret: Inside your heart is where the two forests meet. Both journeys are yours to take. Both worlds are yours to discover." The Western dragon is fire-breathing, red and reptilian; the Eastern dragon is blue and serpentine.

Caldecott honor, APALA picture book winner.

I wish Hanna Cha had illustrated Neil Gaiman's INSTRUCTIONS. This has a little bit of the same feel, with a different narrative voice and double the amount of cultural folklore/mythology. ( )