Naomi HowarthRecensioni

Maud is a night dragon, but he isn't a typical dragon! He couldn't fly or breathe fire like the rest of the dragons. The other dragons made Maud feel so sad as they made fun of him. One day, all the dragons got together for a party, but Maud wasn't invited. The other dragons all fell asleep at the party, so there was no darkness or clouds in the sky. His only friend, Mouse, encouraged him to be brave and try to fly so that the sky would get dark at night. Just then, Maud took off flying, breathed fire and smoke, and instead of the sky turning dark, it was filled with beautiful colors as the sun set. Maud learned the importance of being himself and continued make colorful sunsets!

Based on a Lenni Lenape Native American legend, this beautiful picture book tells a story of courage and sacrifice, as a once-colorful crow gives up his feathers for his friends’ lives.

Marcus the Arctic seal can't figure out where that rumbling sound is coming from...it seems to be following him. He enlists the help of his friends, other Arctic animals, to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Illustrations are in watercolor and lithography with digital rendering. The final endpapers have pictures of each animal in the story, with interesting facts about each.

hungry arctic sea creatures

With school starting very soon, this is an excellent book to read to your children, or to a classroom at the beginning of the year. Tortoise is having difficulty making friends, in fact, elephant and hippo are downright mean to him. They make him believe that he is small, ugly and stupid (I dislike this word very much, but it is used). When he finally comes up with an idea to show them that he is very brainy, the big, macho animals fall for it. Of course, they realize how wrong they are in the end and all become friends. I wish life were that simple. With a discussion about what the issues are, what is the correct way to act and treat others, this book could help young children to become better citizens and not fall into this trap of judging others based on their appearance before it happens. The illustrations are amazing. They are large, detailed and colourful. I think reading this to younger children might not get the message across but could elicit some conversations and vocabulary development just be discussing the illustrations. A wonderful addition to a school, class or family library. The publisher, Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens, generously provided me with a copy of this book to read. The rating, ideas and opinions stated are my own.

Maud is a dragon with beautiful multi-coloured wings who doesn't believe she can fly. She watches her siblings every night and wishes she could join them in the sky, but never tries. Her siblings are not very nice to her about it either. When faced with a situation where she absolutely NEEDS to fly, her best friend Mouse lets her know he believes in her. He climbs on her back and trusts that she will be able to fly. When she flies, she is also able to breath fire, but her fire is bright and colourful, just like her. This is used to explain colourful sunsets, which is kind of cute. This is a wonderful story about developing self-confidence. The illustrations in this book are wonderful. Maud is the most colourful part of all of them, drawing the eye to her on every page. Her siblings are darker, scarier and larger. Children love dragons and they will enjoy Maud's story. I thought it was interesting that a mouse was used as his muse and encourager, just like Dumbo the Elephant. I read this to my grandchildren. My granddaughter did not understand the story, but she kept talking about the pretty dragon. A good story for primary classrooms and families, especially where someone needs some confidence boosting. The publisher, Lincoln Children's Books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own.

This book very much reminds me of Dumbo, except we have a dragon that can not fly instead of an elephant. What makes the pairing is the little mouse telling them that they can do anything they set their minds too. This book has wonderfully colorful and unique illustrations. And the story, while a bit long winded, is perfectly attuned to the message it is sending. I hope for this to be a new classic.½

I am sorry I just did not like this book. And I think it all hinges on the word “stupid”. Tortoise wants to make friends. But the elephant says he is too small. The hippo says he's not big enough. Later in the book the elephant calls the tortoise “stupid” for challenging him to tug of war. It just sits wrong with me. I see what the author was trying to do. This is a more modern, slightly different Tortoise and the Hare story, but the word choice just turned me off. I do want to give a shout out to the illustrator because they did an excellent job.

British author/illustrator Naomi Howarth, who made her debut with the well-received folkloric retelling, The Crow's Tale, delivers an engaging look at bullying and the triumph of brains over brawn in this second picture-book. When Tortoise is cruelly rebuffed by both Elephant and Hippo while trying to make friends, the little creature is downhearted. But after a discussion with Bird, he realizes that just because he is small, doesn't mean he is inferior, setting out to prove it by tricking his two gigantic foes into a tug-of-war content - with each other!

I enjoyed Tug of War quite a bit, appreciating both the story, with its inbuilt message about size not necessarily equaling worth, and its gorgeous artwork. In truth, although I found the story sweet, it was Howarth's illustrations which really made this one stand out for me. She utilizes a vivid color palette, and her animal characters appear both stylistic and yet somehow also realistic. Recommended to anyone looking for new children's stories about using one's smarts to outwit a physically stronger opponent, or about standing up to bullying.

I liked "The Crow's Tale" for many reasons. First, the language and AABB rhyming scheme was engaging. For example, "In the dark depths of winter, far far away, snow started falling at the cold break of day." This the language creates a flow to the story and is engaging. Second, the moral of the story is important for readers of all ages. The crow is worried about his appearance; however, the sun tells him, "Pretty or ugly, slim, thin, or fatter, your beauty inside is the heart of the matter." This message is a lesson that every should read and the author tells it in a different way.