A gold star for Zog
(Book)

Poor Zog. He's a student in Madam Dragon's class on all the things dragons need to know, but the gold star he so desperately seeks may prove elusive. During flying lessons, he sails head-first into a tree; his voice grows hoarse while practicing his roar; and he catches his tail on fire during the flame-breathing drills. Fortunately, Zog, a curious orange fellow with a unicorn's horn, meets Princess Pearl, and she helps him to earn his shiny star at last. An unexpected, bizarre twist follows, involving the two teaming up for a career in medical services, with Zog serving as the flying ambulance. The rhymes here are often as bumpy as Zog in flight A year went by, and in Year Three the dragons learned to blow. / 'No!' said Madam Dragon. 'Breathe out fire, not snow!' but the bold, bright art is humorous in its depiction of the accident-prone dragon and his comrades. This British import may ease the fears of kids with back-to-school anxiety.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist

In a fractured fairy tale of sorts from the duo behind The Gruffalo and other stories, Zog wants to be the best student in dragon school, but he crashes into a tree during flying lessons, gets a sore throat from roaring, and ignites his wings with his own fire breathing. A nice girl always appears just in time to patch him up, but she has troubles of her own: she's really Princess Pearl, who yearns to escape the royal life and be a doctor. Will Zog and Pearl get the happy endings they deserve? And what of Gadabout the Great, a knight who shows up to "rescue" Pearl? Donaldson's rhymes are somewhat lackluster ("Zog went off to practice./ He tried and tried and tried,/ But he simply couldn't manage./ 'I'm no good at this,' he cried"), but while Scheffler's characters are straight out of fantasy, they exude a sweet, down-to-earth quality that makes them instantly sympathetic. Readers will get a kick out of the genial self-awareness in his cartooning-on almost every spread, a character glances at the audience as if to say, "Can you believe this?" Ages 4-8. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

K-Gr 2-In this rhyming story, Zog is subpar at most dragon skills despite being the largest dragon at school. Though he wants to win a gold star, he fails flying, roaring, and fire-breathing, and each time he attempts any of them his injuries are treated by a gentle human who turns out to be Princess Pearl. The kindhearted girl agrees to be captured so that her friend can finally earn his star. She then remains as medic to all the dragons. When a knight in armor arrives to rescue her, she stops the fighting by explaining she'd rather be a doctor than a princess, and the knight agrees to work with her-with Zog serving as an ambulance. Humorous illustrations feature dragons in primary colors with comical expressions in richly colored forest and mountain landscapes. The artist cleverly captures the dragons' enthusiasm and depicts the princess with a long nose and vibrant outfits. Donaldson's rhymes have a bouncing cadence that guides the story's flow. A delightful new twist on happily-ever-after.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Zog may be in dragon school, but it feels more like the School of Hard Knocks when he crashes into a tree during flying practice. Fortunately for him, a girl in the field where he lands offers him a Band-Aid. As the years go by, she faithfully shows up with different remedies -- a peppermint for Zog's sore throat in year two, a gauze bandage for his singed wing in year three -- and finally gives him the most useful gift of all: she reveals that she's a princess just as Zog fears he's about to fail year four's capture-a-princess test, earning him a gold star. A multicolored, endearingly homely cast of cartoon dragons attends class in the woodland setting, where none of the birds, bunnies, butterflies, or other critters seem remotely afraid of the fire-breathers in their midst. Bouncing smoothly along, the rhyming text shows how the friendship between Zog and Princess Pearl comes to benefit them both. "Zog was proud and happy, and Pearl felt good as well. / She took the dragons' temperatures, and nursed them when they fell." (Her Highness has always dreamed of being a doctor.) christine m. heppermann (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Poor Zog. He's a student in Madam Dragon's class on "all the things dragons need to know," but the gold star he so desperately seeks may prove elusive. During flying lessons, he sails head-first into a tree; his voice grows hoarse while practicing his roar; and he catches his tail on fire during the flame-breathing drills. Fortunately, Zog, a curious orange fellow with a unicorn's horn, meets Princess Pearl, and she helps him to earn his shiny star at last. An unexpected, bizarre twist follows, involving the two teaming up for a career in medical services, with Zog serving as the flying ambulance. The rhymes here are often as bumpy as Zog in flight—"A year went by, and in Year Three the dragons learned to blow. / ‘No!' said Madam Dragon. ‘Breathe out fire, not snow!'"—but the bold, bright art is humorous in its depiction of the accident-prone dragon and his comrades. This British import may ease the fears of kids with back-to-school anxiety. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

In a fractured fairy tale of sorts from the duo behind The Gruffalo and other stories, Zog wants to be the best student in dragon school, but he crashes into a tree during flying lessons, gets a sore throat from roaring, and ignites his wings with his own fire breathing. A nice girl always appears just in time to patch him up, but she has troubles of her own: she's really Princess Pearl, who yearns to escape the royal life and be a doctor. Will Zog and Pearl get the happy endings they deserve? And what of Gadabout the Great, a knight who shows up to "rescue" Pearl? Donaldson's rhymes are somewhat lackluster ("Zog went off to practice./ He tried and tried and tried,/ But he simply couldn't manage./ ‘I'm no good at this,' he cried"), but while Scheffler's characters are straight out of fantasy, they exude a sweet, down-to-earth quality that makes them instantly sympathetic. Readers will get a kick out of the genial self-awareness in his cartooning—on almost every spread, a character glances at the audience as if to say, "Can you believe this?" Ages 4–8. (July)

K-Gr 2—In this rhyming story, Zog is subpar at most dragon skills despite being the largest dragon at school. Though he wants to win a gold star, he fails flying, roaring, and fire-breathing, and each time he attempts any of them his injuries are treated by a gentle human who turns out to be Princess Pearl. The kindhearted girl agrees to be captured so that her friend can finally earn his star. She then remains as medic to all the dragons. When a knight in armor arrives to rescue her, she stops the fighting by explaining she'd rather be a doctor than a princess, and the knight agrees to work with her—with Zog serving as an ambulance. Humorous illustrations feature dragons in primary colors with comical expressions in richly colored forest and mountain landscapes. The artist cleverly captures the dragons' enthusiasm and depicts the princess with a long nose and vibrant outfits. Donaldson's rhymes have a bouncing cadence that guides the story's flow. A delightful new twist on happily-ever-after.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA