A Poor Excuse for a Dragon

by Geoffrey Hayes

"Punchy dialogue and compact sentences should make this a read-aloud delight."—Publishers Weekly

"Part-slapstick, part-fairy tale, the gently humorous plot has enough twists and turns to keep newly independent readers engaged."—School Library Journal

Fred the dragon has a list of tasks he must complete in order to be a successful dragon—none of which comes naturally. But he's determined to make #5—eat people—work. Before you can say "pass the salt" he's gobbled up three people even though he doesn't have the stomach for it. Luckily a local shepherd, with the help of a giant and a witch, knows how to cure what ails him and get those pesky people out of his belly. It's happily-ever-after for everyone in ways you'd never expect.

Geisel award-winning author/illustrator Geoffrey Hayes is a stepped reader maestro. The common threads between his wildly popular Uncle Tooth and Otto SIRs and the more recent Benny and Penny series (Toon Books) are clear and constant. The art is adorable, the characters are bursting with personality, and the stories are humorously subversive. From marauding pirates to misbehaving mice to a dragon who swallows people whole (and then continues to communicate with them in his belly!), Geoffrey always hits that sweet spot for the stepped reader audience—easy to decode, illustrative tales that tickle the funnybone.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Picture Books, Dragons, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Witches, Humor

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 23, 2011

About the author

Geoffrey Hayes has written and illustrated over forty children’s books, including the extremely popular series of early readers Otto and Uncle Tooth, the classic Bear By Himself, and When the Wind Blew by Caldecott Medal-winning author Margaret Wise Brown.

Reviews

[J9]

A book my 5 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 4 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 20 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[Haaley]

This book was very cute.
I liked the story. It was a level four so it was longer and had more detail.
The art style made the characters look like puppets. Kind of strange. But not awful.

[OCLS]

A short chapter book about a dragon that is not good at being scary, but with help from his friends he finds out what he is really good at.

Dream Big (Summer Reading Program 2012) recommended book

Available from OCLS in print and eBook.

[Felicia]

The story is cute, a simple dragon coming-of-age. The illustrations are made to look like everyone is a child's toy. I'd call it a good pick for readers transitioning from simple sentences to slightly more complex structure.

[The Library Lady]

Cute in the good sense of cute--not cloying. Nice little beginning reader.

[Tricia]

Fred is a dragon who doesn't have a strong roar or the ability to breathe fire with zing...yet finds his place the world. Readers will enjoy that he finds his place.

[Amanda_DJ n' Zac]

Very cute book DJ chose for one of his summer reading programs. Good from beginning to end for us both :)

[Beverly]

A very cute transitional reader; funny story and cute illustrations. The characters look like plush animals or toys; some very round and cuddly looking.

[Kim]

Fun story, challenging sentences, cute illustrations.

themes: dragons, giants, princesses, talking animals, witches

[Andrea Labonte]

Very funny book. If you like Dragons read this book.

[Rochelle]

Super cute and fun read!

[Pretty Peony Reads]

Read this story with my first grader. She enjoyed it.

[Jerilynn]

Good leveled reading book for kids. Holds their interest and is funny.

[maria]

Good

Nice the book is good and it is for fourth grade I'm in third grade I don't know how I can do it

[Krystal]

Mrs. Hooty Witch!!!!!!

[Dawn]

So weird!

[Margaret]

A young dragon sets out from home to find their place in the world. Their parents give them a list of things to do to be a good dragon... But their roar isn't so loud, and their fire isn't so scary.

I enjoyed the story. Especially with the art style, it feels like a story you'd make up and tell your kid based on the toys they have in their room. I loved when my dad did that when I was a kid, and appreciate the vibe.

[Michelle Kirk]

Nice short story

My 4 year old said she loved it. The story left a bit of room for predictions and some chatting. Ellie guesses what John little would do.

[Michelle]

Fun kids' book about not being bound by expectations.

[Lily]

SO ICONIC legendary text, this is what every middle age fantasy write wishes they could write

[Bookish_globetrotter]

The story was sweet and easy to follow. I really liked the illustration style.

[L. Leah]

My eight year old’s rating upon completing this book.

[K.]

Try as he might Fred the dragon just doesn't have a ferocious bone in his body. My kids (and me) really enjoyed this cute and funny story of Fred the dragon trying to become this big scary dragon but failing miserably. This book is great for 1st-3rd graders as it does contain bigger and more words in regards to your child reading it. Of course, if you the parent will be doing the reading then younger kids will enjoy this story as well.

[Dolly]

Our girls liked this book, but I just thought it was okay. The narrative is humorous, but just didn't engage me and the illustrations, while colorful really seemed strangely off. Princess Viniver's head, for example, looks like a balloon. Very odd. Still, it's a quick read and will likely appeal to beginning readers.

[Steff Fox]

I love the message in this book. It's one that's adorably sent through the characters of dragons and any kid can pick up on the subtleties of. As a Step Into Reading book, it's definitely a bit challenging with it's vocabulary. I'll be honest, I don't know how many emerging readers are really going to know how to decode the word "amok."

Full review to come.

[Tam]

This is a "Level 4 Reader" meaning it has challenging vocabulary, short paragraphs and exciting stories for newly independent readers who read simple sentences with confidence and recommended for grades 2 - 3.

[Shelli]

One day a young dragon is sent off from his parents to go and cause havoc in the world, something he isn't very good at.

[Amy May]

cute story

[Pinky]

Fred finds out he doesn't need to eat people to be a good dragon.