The town of Lesser Scrump has a rule: NO BOOKS ALLOWED!
The school teacher Mr Percival has to write on bark, slate or even in the dust, which doesn’t make reading a very pleasurable experience. When Rosehilda announces that she wants stories written on pieces of paper which are somehow joined together, she is sent home with a stern note scratched onto a leaf (this passage made me snort with laughter)! Her grandfather has to explain that the Book Dragon hoards books in a deep cave in Scrump Mountain and will come to steal books from any house which has one, returning the next night to terrorise the neighbourhood, therefore it is not safe to own a book.
However, Rosehilda is undeterred, and the full-page picture of her, tucked up in bed reading a book which she has bought from a peddler, is utterly gorgeous – conveying the sheer joy of reading for pleasure. When her book goes missing during the night brave young Rosehilda travels to the Book Dragon’s lair to investigate.
I absolutely love this story by Kell Andrews with its glorious illustrations in a subdued colour-palette of oranges, reds and yellows by Eva Chatelain. It is deeply imbued with a love of books, libraries and reading and gently presents a message of understanding another person’s (or dragon’s) viewpoint and resolving problems in a positive manner. An amazing addition to school library shelves, and a joy to read aloud to whole classes or as a bedtime story for all children of 4+.
Add it to your “read for empathy” collections!
V'sViewfromtheBookshelves 