The Dragon's Dentist by John McLay

The Dragon's Dentist by John McLay
Buy The Dragon's Dentist by John McLay at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Emerging Readers
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: Sweetly illustrated, a funny venture into chapter books for early readers.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 80	Date: February 2014
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
ISBN: 978-1444011043
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Harry would like to be a knight. It seems like everyone else in his family is a knight. Nobody takes Harry very seriously though because Harry is quite small. He's very determined, however, and so he decides that he will go on a mission to prove his worth as a knight. The mission that he sets himself is to catch a dragon!

Eric the dragon is feared across the land, being terribly large and terribly fierce. Undaunted, however, Harry sets off to capture him. When Harry finds him the dragon laughs to himself, at being faced with such a pathetic looking foe. But then, suddenly, the dragon is clutching his jaw in pain. He has a toothache! Harry decides to help poor Eric, and once the poorly tooth is removed Eric feels a lot less grumpy, and he agrees not to eat him but to fly back to the castle with Harry so that Harry can prove his bravery.

This is a lovely first chapter book. There are wonderful colour illustrations on every page, and the text runs between one and four sentences, so it's never too overwhelming for little readers who are just starting to venture out in reading something other than a 'normal' picture book. Each chapter is very short. You could easily read the whole book in one bedtime story sitting, yet still it's easy for children to read it themselves bit by bit too. I like the plot - Harry is appealing as a character, and his resolution of helping the grumpy dragon works well.

What really adds to the story though is the illustration throughout. The pictures are funny and emotive. I personally enjoyed the expressions on the face of Harry's horse, Oats! The dragon is nicely scary, though not enough to cause nightmares! It's lovely to have something to see on every page, and each illustrations helps in decoding the text, so emerging readers can use it to figure out any new words.

I liked this story a lot. It works well for both boys and girls, has nice touches of humour, and is enjoyable for both child and adult readers alike!

You might also like to look at Horrid Henry's Royal Riot (Horrid Henry Early Reader) by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross or Choosing Crumble by Michael Rosen and Tony Ross (Illustrator)

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Dragon's Dentist by John McLay at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

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