Breakfast on a Dragon's Tail consists of thirteen story beginnings. Stories such as “Icicle Fingers,” “The Book of Wondering,” “Saffron and Licorice” and “Dracula and Son” are a single page in length. After reading the story and looking at the full-page illustration that accompanies it, children can write about what happens next by answering the two to three writing prompts that appear at the bottom of the story.
In the story “The Nattering Tree,” it appears that a talkative tree is going to be cut down because it said “I don’t think so!” one time too many times.
“You can’t cut down the Nattering Tree!” say two little girls who have been sitting contently amongst the roots of the Tree, listening to it burble away.
“Oh, but I can,” said the man. “I own all this land--including the Tree.”
Children can continue with the story by thinking about the questions the author provides at the end of the page. “What was the question that the boy asked the tree? Will the man chop it down?”
This book is designed to spark a child’s imagination. The stories are set in other worlds with never-before-seen creatures like the Sparkly Girl and the Gloomy Spong. They are told with creative words (disturblement) and a rich vocabulary (first they made a grumbling, stony sort of sound, like gravel flowing down a metal chute). Anything can happen in the story because the author has turned the story over to the child to finish.
A two-page author’s note at the end of the book will help children develop their characters and organize their plot.
Tanya Boudreau/2012 for curled
up with a good kid's book
Breakfast on a Dragon's Tail: and Other Book Bites
