Dragon Dancing [Hardcover]

Pierr Morgan (Author), Carole Schaefer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2006 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In this preschool picture book, young children show us the wonder and fun of learning. After reading a book about dragons with their teacher, these inventive preschoolers decide to make their own dragon out of colored paper, yarn, feathers, and . . . themselves! Soon they’re out the door, onto the playground, and into another world—the world of imagination. Becoming a magnificent dragon, the children dance over snowy mountains, through tall forests, and into whispery meadows, before returning to school for a wonderful birthday treat.

A perfect accompaniment to Chinese New Year celebrations, Dragon Dancing is both a treat for the eyes and the mind.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 1—A classroom story comes alive in the art room as children decorate dragons for Mei Lin's birthday. An excellent choice for storytime, the text features just a few lines per page and many fun sounds—from the Birthday Dragon's "boink-boink eyes" and "ricky-rack back" to the "stomp, bomp-tromping" of a dragon dancing parade that goes "creep-crouching through tall forests" on one page and "swirl-whirling around whispery meadows" on another. The color of the gouache-and-marker illustrations increases in brightness as the students transition gradually from the classroom into their imaginative fantasy. Line and space convey the celebratory movement of the parade as well as the more hushed wonder of the dreamlike journey. Repeating shapes and elements create rhythm and bring unity throughout the illustrations. Pleasing to the eye and the ear, this book is a satisfying introduction to the dragon of Chinese culture and may also inspire the creation of a few original "sparkly paper and ribbons" dragon crafts.—Julie R. Ranelli, Kent Island Branch Library, Stevensville, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Readers familiar with The Squiggle (1996) and Someone Says (2003) will recognize this book's ethnically diverse classroom and its spare but jubilant depictions of imaginative play. After their teacher reads a book about dragons, a group of children, led by the same pigtailed girl who spearheaded the previous books' pretending games, fashions art supplies into a "sparkle-head dragon" with a ribbon tail. The children then go "dragon dancing" through a playground transformed into Asian-influenced landscapes, their movements expressed in read-aloud-friendly phrases such as "mish-mooshing" and "la-dee-daw-dawdling." The children's immersion in their fantasy is gracefully captured by Morgan's economical artwork, in which the whimsical dragon craft project takes on a life of its own, then dissolves into loose scribbles as the children dreamily return to themselves. The substance of the first two books is not much altered here, but the bustling energy of preschoolers comes through with just as much affection, and the parading-dragon premise will be of particular use around celebrations of the Chinese New Year. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (December 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670060844
• ISBN-13: 978-0670060849
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 10.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Another beautifully book both story & illustrator, October 17, 2007

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Dancing (Hardcover)

It's Mei Lin and her classroom from the books Sqiggle & Someone Says from the amazing team of Carole Lexa Scaefer and Pierr Morgan! Once again the illustrations shine because of the bright colors, simplicity of the drawing which focus on the children and their imagination. This book weaves together many Asian scenes snowy mountains, a bamboo forrest with paper cut pandas, and a pair of Mandarin ducks. The dragon is drawn friendly and playful.

The children playing & pretending to be a dragon using again a long red string, some cut paper decorations and a huge dose of imagination. Is this book is not about Chinese New Year or Dragon dancing .

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduces Chinese culture to children, June 4, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Dancing (Hardcover)

After their teacher reads them a book about dragons, Mei Lin's classmates decide the perfect way to decorate for her birthday is by creating a birthday dragon. Everyone has something to add--from "boink-boink" eyes to "fa-foom!" a dragon-fire nose--until the sparkle-head dragon leads the children off on a magical dancing journey through Asian- looking landscapes--that is until their teacher calls them back for a snack.

Dragon Dancing, the newest collaboration between Carole Lexa Schaefer and Pierr Morgan, once again focuses on imaginative play. Schaefer uses language to create a feeling of motion and sound within the story, with these lines often printed in bold or in a wave reminiscent of a dragon's tail. This is a story parents and children will enjoy reading together. Children will have sound effects to make with their feet "Then all of us--in a long dragon line--go stomp, bomp-tromping away..." and parents can have fun with volume and onomatopoeic words featured throughout.

Snip, twirl, flip.

"Look at me!" Mei Lin shouts.

"I'm Birthday Dragon!"

Morgan's line drawings of the dragon capture the energy and excitement of a preschool class. Her art takes on a decided Asian influence to capture and differentiate the imagination sections of the book. The children in the classroom reflect a great diversity, ensuring all children should find someone to identify with in the pictures.

Armchair Interviews says: Dragon Dancing is a wonderful way to introduce children to Chinese culture and Chinese New Year.