Debi Gliori is well known for her picture books, including No Matter What, and her Dead Magic series for middle grade readers. This is her first picture book for Walker.
K-Gr 4-If only all "message books" could be as winning as this rhyming ode to environmental responsibility. Dragons play the part of humans here, and the troubles they create are many: they keep making more dragons, they take up all the space with their buildings and roads, and they never pick up after themselves. Gliori's trademark whimsy defines the wide-eyed characters, and, in a clever illustrative echo of the textual themes, the other animals only appear in silhouette at the pictures' edges until the moment when the dragons realize that they need to clean up their act. When they start listening to the other creatures, they learn how to leave the trees and wild places alone and reduce, reuse, and recycle. What could have been heavy-handed is magical, thanks to the playful artwork and bouncy rhymes. Though the text sticks to the basics of taking care of the Earth, the illustrations offer fodder for discussion; for example, a picture of Santa Claus, pants legs rolled up as he wades into what used to be a glacier, gifts floating in the water nearby, would be a great starting point for talking about global warming. Teachers and media specialists will find this an ideal book for Earth Day and environmental science lessons.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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