Super-Dragon Hardcover – February 1, 2011

Nice book

In dragonland there will be a flying competition. Unfortunately, young dragon can't fly so he can't compete. After feeling dejected he asks a bird to teach him how to fly and then quickly masters figure 8s. When the competition comes around he shows everyone how awesomely he can fly figure 8s and wins!Normally, I don't give away the story, but this book is definitely not for you (if you are reading this review), so we should be good. This book is for very young children who are being read to. My 3 year old loves it, for example. I say definitely not for you because I didn't enjoy reading it. There just isn't much to root for. It's a rushed story, with no perserverance, and little pay off. The young dragon learns to read on one splash page! (Which is like 20% of the book, since it is so short.)So what has this book got going for it? It looks great. The art is fantastic and colorful. The hardback and cover are very well done and give the impression of richness.What's wrong with the book? The dragon doesn't learn a lesson; he teaches a lesson. "Take that older dragons who didn't believe in me based on facts, like I couldn't fly" he seems to be saying. It's compressed and over in just a few pages. The listener won't learn any lessons.Overall, a pretty book with a story that is actually a little off morally that children will enjoy. A very mixed bag.

Every kid hates being told they are too little to do something, and they all want to do what their parents do. My son is no exception, so he understood this story well. The little dragon is too little to be in a flying contest with his family, but practices in secret and then wins the contest, proving he can too do it.I like the theme a lot and so did my son, but I think the illustrations and writing were not so great. I just didn't love the drawing. Also, I thought the story was a little too trite for my child - the parents are in the flying figure 8's portion of the contest, which the little dragon just happens to be great at, so he wins it for them. However, I don't think the idea of a flying contest and figure 8's was really all that engaging. My son loves dragons - but the kind that breathe fire, fight, and that heroes ride to magical islands. A flying figure 8 contest just didn't do that much for him, although he did appreciate the idea that the dragon could do what his parents said he couldn't. Also, the prose and dialog are a bit uninspired.So I give this 4 stars for a good, relevant idea, but not five because it just didn't connect that well with my little reader (and I suspect it will miss the mark a bit with most). Nevertheless, it is about dragons and proving you're not too little, so I do think that kids will like it, if not love it. Possibly a slightly younger child (maybe 2-3 instead of my 3-4 year old) would appreciate it more.

This is not my favorite book to read to my kids right now but my kids like it so that is what truly matters. They love dragons and the illustrations in the book are great. The structure is setup a bit like a comic book so it makes reading to younger kids a bit harder since some of the dialogue is not as descriptive as other books. It is a short read and I find the ending to be a little disatisfying. Most children's books have some lesson to be learned and this book leaves me wondering what lesson I'm supposed to teach.To quickly summarize the book, a little dragon that cannot fly yet wants to participate with his family in the upcoming games. His family tells him he is too small so they don;t help him at all. Instaead, the little dradon asks for help from a bird who teaches his how to fly. So, without spoiling the end, the lesson I got from the book was that if you want help, don't ask your family, ask a stranger. Ok, maybe that is a bit harsh and maybe I should focus on the fact that the dragon had the desire to learn and make his family proud. But, as an adult, we come away with different meanings and we can help our kids pick up on what's important (unlike Drago's family...cough...cough..) So I've been teaching my kids the lesson of trying and proacticing and don;t let anyone tell them that they can;t do something.So, I gave this 4 stars because my kids like the book. As I stated earlier, that's what is important.

Steven Kroll wrote and Doug Holgate illustrated this short (28-page) tale of Drago the young dragon. Drago is the youngest sibling in a dragon family and everyone thinks he's too young to fly. His sibs are going to compete in a big flying contest (figure eights) and they are the usual older siblings - cocky in their own talents and dismissive of the younger dragon's talents.Drago enlists the help of a little bird to help him learn to fly, and he sneaks away at night to practice without his family knowing. Eventually, at the big day, Drago can't help himself and he's the best flyer in the family.This is a nice little story of personal achievement, daring, and hard work. I don't understand why it has to be so short, though. The little bird is not fleshed out at all as a character - why does he help Drago? Why do Drago's siblings perform so badly on the big day? These are questions that my six-year old asked when we read the story together, and I admit that the book would have been better with four or eight more pages. It just feels incomplete.On the good side, the drawings are terrific and there are some little comic gems in here (I won't spoil it, but the name of the rival dragon flying team is hilarious).Recommended, but not a classic.