Dragon Mode product reviews

Dragon Mode is a very clever picture book. The front cover attracted us immediately with a huge cartoon flying dragon and bright colours. It isn't a long and wordy book so appeals to the young kids. The main character has two modes: dragon and boy. The pages alternate: If I am in boy mode..., If I am in dragon mode... No guessing which was the page the children commented on more. There is just something about mythical creatures and being able to transform yourself that appeals to us all.

The illustrations are very well done. I didn't realise until I was half way through the book that the boy was dressed in the same clothes as the dragon with a cool dragon hat that I'm sure any child would love. The dragon is a fun one, after all he is wearing sneakers and a stripey shirt. Yes he does scare people but he is so cute and adorable that the young readers don't feel threatened by him. No worries about nightmares with this dragon tale.

I love this book and it is very popular with all my kids especially the two 4 year old boys I have for home based care. Both of these boys rarely engage in a book independently unless it is a TV character but I found them both returning to Dragon Mode repeatedly. Any book that gets reluctant readers engaged gets a huge thumbs up from me.

Since reading this book to the children I have introduced dragon mode. If the children don't do what they are asked (usually it is tidying up) they are warned that I will go into dragon mode with a warning roar. This has proven to be a very effective method to get them to tidy up and for me to let of some steam in a fun way without using a traditional growl.

The boys are back in care with me tomorrow, I wonder how many times they will ask me to read it? Hopefully after a few more run throughs they will know it off by heart and I will only have to read it to them once a day. The rest of the time they can read it to each other. Thankfully (at least for now) it is a book I enjoy so I'm happy to read it regularly but I have a feeling their enthusiasm will last longer than mine. Another book that will be read to death by the kids.

Dragon Mode seemed the perfect book to give a read since my six year old and four year old both love dragons and big fans of How to Train a Dragon.

I quite like the illustrations in this book, they're nice and bright and look like lots of fun, my four year old was very taken with them but my two year old loved the illustrations the most, just taking her time to look through the book and throwing a hissy fit when her siblings wanted me to read it to them for the first time. I found it quite funny on one page where the mother is reading the newspaper and it has 'Multiple Personality Disorder' nice and clear on the paper, thought it was a funny little joke. Also liked where he was showing his teacher a book, Dragon Mode. :P

As for the story itself, I didn't find it catchy or anything so it hasn't really stuck in my head except for the title. It's fun and suits a child who does a lot of pretending to be someone or an animal of sorts and switching between being a kid and doing what you need to do to being mischievous and getting into trouble at times. I found the ending a little flat, but my kids still enjoyed it, though they aren't in a rush to read it again.

Not a bad book, none of us are in a rush to read it again but still al little bit of fun.