Dare to Care Pet Dragon by Mark Robertson and Sally Symes

Dare to Care Pet Dragon by Mark Robertson and Sally Symes
Buy Dare to Care Pet Dragon by Mark Robertson and Sally Symes at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Sam Tyler
Summary: Learn all you need to know about keeping your very own pet Dragon in a book that is well illustrated enough to hopefully put you off the idea.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: April 20126
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781847805898
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When I was growing up there was a holy grail of non-fiction and that was the cross section book. These books would take a theme like ships or vehicles and show you in minute detail what exactly went on inside. You could see the pistons in a supercar or look at all the little crew members as they scuttle around a luxury liner. The books were fun to read, but even more importantly, amazing to look at. This eye for illustration in non-fiction does not seem to be as popular anymore, but perhaps modern books are looking at the wrong material. A book on how to look after your Dragon would surely look good?

So, you have thought long and hard about it and decided not to get a pet cat or dog, but instead plump for a Dragon. Dare to Care Pet Dragon is a guide for getting you past those first tricky few months alive. How do you pick your Dragon, feed it, or stop it accidently killing you? Let Robertson and Symes inform you and perhaps persuade you that the kitten was the best idea after all.

Dare to Care is a wonderfully illustrated book that tries to keep a straight face as it tells the reader all about looking after a pet Dragon. The text works so well as it tries to be sensible when talking about something so daft. The reader will be reliably informed that owning a Dragon will likely lead to an untimely death and to illustrate this we may get a picture or two of an unfortunate ex-owner.

The book is split into sections that cover all the main areas that you would need to know from how to hatch an egg to how to clean up after a Dragon. All of these elements are shown with fantastic illustrations. The quality on show from Robertson is brilliant, the colours and detail really capture the eye. You can see the expression on the characters and Dragons as they go about their dangerous business (and sometimes their toilet business).

This is the type of book that will appeal to the slightly mischievous 7-10 year old who has started to read the books they want to. The text is like a standard fact book and offers bitesize chunks that don't overwhelm. You can read as little or as much as you like of the book in one sitting.

There are only a couple of small bugbears with the book that just stop it from being a must have. The item itself is a little odd. It comes as a sturdy hardback, but the cover has no edging so you get unsightly cardboard. This is possibly not an issue with some books, but Dare to Care has illustrations on the luxury spectrum and the book itself should reflect this. I also noticed that some of the pictures seemed to be used more than once in the book, which was disappointing.

The illustrations alone would be enough to draw many young readers to this item and it deserves to be seen. It is a bonus that the text marries so well. It is only a few small finishing touches that needed to be added to make it a triumph, as it is; the book is still fantastic fun for the mischievously minded.

Want to learn even more about Dragons? Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi and Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow, Lenny Lipton and Eric Puybaret may just help.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Dare to Care Pet Dragon by Mark Robertson and Sally Symes at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Dare to Care Pet Dragon by Mark Robertson and Sally Symes at Amazon.com.

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