When a Dragon Moves In is a wonderfully written book for young kids with wild imaginations and an inkling toward mischief. The book is written by Jodi Moore, and I feel I would be remiss not to mention the illustrator who does such an amazing job giving us the whole story: Howard McWilliam.
Although the main character in this book is a young boy, this is an awesome book for boys and girls alike; filled with imagination, fun, mischief, and ultimately learning to do what’s right. A little boy goes to the beach with his family. When he builds the perfect sandcastle a dragon moves in, and they become fast friends.
The dragon seems to make beach fun even more exciting. He helps the boy with all kinds of beach activities: floating, roasting marshmallows, and of course, flying a kite. He is even there to protect the castle from bullies looking to stomp on it. But, when the boy tries to tell his family about his dragon and no one believes him mischief arises. The dragon eats all the sandwiches, puts claw marks in the brownies, and even sprays sand all over the older sister. When the parents confront the little boy about his misbehaving he protests that it wasn’t him, it was the dragon. When the parents say they’ve had enough of this “dragon business” the little boy sends the mischievous dragon away until he can learn some manners.
The pictures are adorable and tell the other side of the story. Although, the dragon is on every page doing all of these things, the family is also there helping roast marshmallows and keeping bullies away. Even though, the boy uses the dragon as his scapegoat for his own bad behavior, he eventually decides that good manners are more important than simply having fun. The book ends with him vowing never to make a perfect sandcastle again, “At least until tomorrow”. The entire back cover displays a beach covered in sandcastles, and dragons of all colors and sizes playing with the children allowing the imagination to run wild.
Although the main character in this book is a young boy, this is an awesome book for boys and girls alike; filled with imagination, fun, mischief, and ultimately learning to do what’s right. A little boy goes to the beach with his family. When he builds the perfect sandcastle a dragon moves in, and they become fast friends.
The dragon seems to make beach fun even more exciting. He helps the boy with all kinds of beach activities: floating, roasting marshmallows, and of course, flying a kite. He is even there to protect the castle from bullies looking to stomp on it. But, when the boy tries to tell his family about his dragon and no one believes him mischief arises. The dragon eats all the sandwiches, puts claw marks in the brownies, and even sprays sand all over the older sister. When the parents confront the little boy about his misbehaving he protests that it wasn’t him, it was the dragon. When the parents say they’ve had enough of this “dragon business” the little boy sends the mischievous dragon away until he can learn some manners.
The pictures are adorable and tell the other side of the story. Although, the dragon is on every page doing all of these things, the family is also there helping roast marshmallows and keeping bullies away. Even though, the boy uses the dragon as his scapegoat for his own bad behavior, he eventually decides that good manners are more important than simply having fun. The book ends with him vowing never to make a perfect sandcastle again, “At least until tomorrow”. The entire back cover displays a beach covered in sandcastles, and dragons of all colors and sizes playing with the children allowing the imagination to run wild.