Review: Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy by Tina Turbin

Book Details:

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy
Written by Tina Turbin
Illustrated by Aija Jasuna
Genre: Children's Picture Book - Fiction
Published December 2008, Imagination Publishing Group
Hardback, 29 pages
ISBN: 9780980072112
Synopsis:
"Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy is a multi award-winning, delightful tale, chronicling the adventures of a friendly dragon and his traveling companion Skipper, and how they befriend a young boy's family in the MOST unusual way. This is the first of many stories in the Danny the Dragon series..."

The first thing I noticed about the book when I picked it up was the gold sticker on the cover that stated "Best Books AWARD FINALIST- USA Book News," and my first thoughts were, "Wow, this book must be really something." The picture on the cover featured a detailed illustration of a dragon, a boy, and smaller creature that looked vaguely like a frog. The illustration of the dragon is quite unique in that it is covered in multi-colored spots and mismatched stripes and wears a yellow-and-blue backpack and red tennis shoes. One of the opening pages shows two quotes, one from the author and one from the illustrator, discussing briefly how they both came to put together this book. The illustrations for the story itself are large, colorful, and fill the wide two-page spread, providing plenty for my two-year-old daughter to stare at and study. I did find it strange that there was no actual title page, but I suppose that would have been redundant.

The boy's name is Jimmy, and his sister's name is Sally, and both children and the dragon are polite and well-mannered throughout the story, using "Please" and "Thankyou" and helping Mom and Dad clean up both the beach supplies at the beginning of the story and the dishes after supper. The smaller green creature from the cover pops out of the green and white seashell with Danny the Dragon, and we are informed his name is Skipper and that he is Danny's navigator, but not what kind of creature he is. Danny explains that water will make him shrink back to fit inside the shell, and a lack of water causes him to come out of the shell as he grows big, which brings to mind the small toys that expand when placed in water (only opposite). All of the characters in the story are articulate and kind to each other, and there is nothing about the story that would be considered scary or bad, which is quite appropriate for the 4 to 8 year-old age group that the book is intended for. The story even promotes healthy eating, as the family has homemade vegetable soup for supper. The book is quite obviously set up for at least one sequel, as at the ending when Jimmy asks Danny where he came from and where has he been, Danny politely answers, "I will tell you some other time. For now it is bedtime. Goodnight - pleasant dreams."

I was also given some Danny the Dragon swag: two bookmarks, two large-ish stickers, and two door hangers with the phrase "QUIET PLEASE I AM READING." I will give these away to two readers using random.org. Just be a follower or subscriber to my blog and post a comment of your email to this review and I will enter you into the drawing.

I will also be doing a review of the soon-to-be-released DVD and an interview of the author, Tina Turbin, in the near future, and any comments to those posts will be entered into the drawing as well.

For more information about the book or author, visit http://www.dannythedragon.com/, http://TinaTurbin.com/, or http://www.glutenfreehelp.info/.



*I received this book free of charge from the publisher for review purposes.*