Book Review of Tell the Truth, Dragon!
The Children’s Book Review
Tell the Truth, Dragon!
Written by Bianca Schulze
Illustrated by Samara Hardy
Ages 3+ | 32 Pages
Publisher: Clever Publishing | ISBN-13: 9781954738034
What to expect: Dragons, Telling the Truth, Kindness
Dragon is back with another adventure, much to readers’ excitement everywhere. And this time, she is in a bit of mischief – because it’s time for Dragon to tell the truth!
The palace cooks are making a splendid, three-tiered, mouth-watering cake for someone special. Dragon, of course, wants to help! Who doesn’t love frosting and rainbow sprinkles? She helps clean up, and then, oh dear, she wants a taste. But it’s not time for cake, so the palace cooks need our help to distract Dragon while they hide the cake in the refrigerator for later.
Only…dragon finds it! Uh-oh.
The cooks are dismayed when the cake is missing a large chunk from the top. Who could have done this? They worked so hard, and now the cake is ruined. When they check with Dragon, she tells them it was the cat.
Oh, dear. As Dragon licks frosting off her adorable, untruthful snout, she realizes she did wrong. She admits to the palace cooks that it wasn’t the cat at all; it was her. She apologizes for taking a big bite from the top of the cake and blaming the cat. But not only that, she takes it in her stride to make amends!
Filled with our favorite adorable characters and sweet interactive elements, TELL THE TRUTH DRAGON is the sensational addition to the DRAGON series by the dynamic duo Bianca Schulze and Samara Hardy. Dragon, as always, is perfectly sweet and relatable (who wouldn’t want to sneak just a teeny, tiny bit of cake?). She’s so cute that we want to wear her on a t-shirt! The palace cooks and adorable orange cat friend are rendered with personalities that jump off the page. And just like their previous books, TELL THE TRUTH DRAGON is filled with many fun illustrative details that you’ll find something new to adore in each subsequent reading.
The prose is sprightly, imaginative, and compelling. Children will adore the dragon’s relatable story and dive right into interacting with the text. They can’t help but answer the book’s questions out loud. Dragon becomes a sweet little friend they can dance along with and empathize with. What a great way to make story time get-your-wiggles-out time and a wonderful way to broach telling the truth! As a parent, I appreciated the opening into the subject of lying and that Schulze and Hardy portrayed Dragon not only fessing up to her tiny crime but making amends. We could all learn from our friend, Dragon.
A perfect gift for a young reader, or an excellent addition to a classroom, TELL THE TRUTH DRAGON is a surefire instant hit!
Highly recommended.
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About the Author
Bianca Schulze is the founder and editor of The Children’s Books Review – a resource devoted to children’s literature and literacy. Bianca is also the bestselling author of 101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up, an Amazon “Book of the Month” in 2016. She is a reader, reviewer, mother, and children’s book lover. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, Bianca now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.
For more information, visit biancaschulze.com
About the Illustrator
Samara Hardy is an illustrator and designer who has created artwork for clients across the globe for greetings cards, stationery, homewares, children’s books, and much more.
For more information, visit samarahardy.com
Tell the Truth, Dragon! by Bianca Schulze and Samara Hardy was reviewed by Denise Mealy. Discover more books like Tell the Truth, Dragon! by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Bianca Schulze, Cake, Dragons, Picture Book, and Samara Hardy.
1 Comment
The colorful illustrations are whimsical and make me smile. I’m sure that many kids would like this tale including my 4 grandkids. The title reminds me of how often people stretch the truth, even children.