My Best Friend Is a Dragon

Rachael McLean

Penguin, 2020

14pp., board book., RRP $A13.99

9780593093993

Way back when, when I had the Dream Team and we were learning to write persuasive letters, I read the class a story about a dragon – can’t remember which one – but I do remember telling them that the dragon had appeared in the school playground and they had to write a letter to the principal explaining all the reasons that we should let it stay! Thirty years on, I still remember some of them like using its tail as a ladder to climb so they could slide down its back and bounce off its neck!  Now, in this board book for our youngest readers, Rachael McLean seems to have gathered up all those reasons that my students thought of to produce this delightful little story of a boy whose BFF is a  dragon and all the things they do together in a day. But to add extra interest, the dragon’s contribution is hidden behind a flap creating a golden opportunity for the little one to summon what they know already about dragons to predict how this one might help.  If walking feels too slow, how could it help? If your room is dark at night, what could it do?

Books like this that not only entertain but encourage the child to actively engage with the text are so important in developing those early skills and behaviours that are the foundation of reading independently in the future, so this is an ideal one to recommend to your parent body who have young families and who want to give them a head start.