The illustrations are great and it's fun to look at. This one though, was set in what seems like China, and yet the ethnicity of the characters seem varied. It's great to do that in a book set in America, but if this was meant to teach us a bit about China, it's not quite the melting pot America is. Sure there are some different nationalities, but when you walk down a street in China, even in Hong Kong, it really is very Chinese, so to see the wide-variety of nationalities; it just seemed off for the story. There is Chinese text incorporated in illustrations throughout the book. As an educator, I would love to know the translations for this text as it would add to the educational value. Use shared writing to model the writing, pitching it at the right level given your children’s abilities. They can then follow this by writing up instructions for their own different methods for dragon trapping.

Each resource in our Pie Corbett KS2 Non-Fiction Collection contains an original text in Powerpoint form plus a PDF full of ideas for helping children to create their own. Text types covered include persuasive writing, instructions and non-chronological reports. Successful traps offer a Komodo dragon ready for data collection to support research of the species. The data includes measurements, weight and blood sample collection for genetics. Each Dragon is also micro chipped to be catalogued for population study. I'm not understanding why this Chinese New Year seems to be set in the past, a pre-technology kind of feel surrounds the whole book, which wouldn't really be a problem if they book didn't include a whole bunch of characters of different diversities. And perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but I'm kind of baffled as to why a white kid needs to be involved in a book that's portraying a story about a cultural tradition of China. It kind of makes the whole thing feel Westernized, which isn't good.Dragon Display Lettering to make a beautiful display. You could use it to highlight children's completed Dragon Colouring Sheets. Chris Hansen: Well I don't think it's a joke, I mean you even sent pictures. Why would you do that?

The method used to initiate the population survey, once suitable habitat has been determined is to set up camera traps. These devices strapped to trees are supported in their chances of catching dragon on film by meat baited nearby to lure the keen scented dragons. There's something about these books that makes it really hard for me to like them (even though I really want to). I think it's mainly the meter of the rhyming text. It just doesn't work. And I think I know why: My beautiful, precocious, literature loving daughter and I read this together and are reviewing it in 2 parts. The first review will be my (not-so-tiny) munchkin's perspective and then I will chime in with my 2 cents. I really don't know how to feel about How to Catch a Dragon by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Andy Elkerton. On the one hand, I really wanted to enjoy the story, but on the other, it's just kind of missing the mark. And I get that perhaps not all children's books have to make sense, but there are certain things about this book that give me pause. And it all comes down to Chinese culture and diversity. My trip took me to a very remote location to observe and assist catching Komodo dragons. The dragons are found on a small group of islands in Indonesia. This program was situated in Riung, Flores where the dragons have been poorly studied and the population is not well known at all. One of the aims of this project is to fill in gaps such as these.

Games

I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I keep hoping that the issues with the meter will be cleared up in these books, but each one I read seems to be exactly the same. There's more to good hymnal quatrains than simply rhyming the last word of the second and fourth lines. The way these are written keeps tripping up my tongue, making me hesitant to want to read them aloud to a child. This fun book will take you on a chase through a beautifully illustrated cultural holiday, leaving hints of popular traditions and decorations as the group of diverse friends follow a long red dragon tail through town, attempting to catch it at every turn. With bright colors and textured details, this picture book will keep little listeners occupied with its busy illustrations.