cover image When You Go to Dragon School

When You Go to Dragon School

Chelsea M. Campbell, illus. by Charlene Chua. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-250-29301-5

Finding “no vacancy” at an overcrowded local school, a group of human children head to dragon school, instead—an adventurous-sounding conceit that belies a deeper takeaway about finding common ground. Second-person narration does its best to sell the institution’s fit (“You’ll take naps on huge piles of gold. Wow, so comfy!”), but the pupils grow incredulous when flying enters the curriculum, interrupting the narrator’s sales pitch: “Okay, real talk. When you go to dragon school, you might not fit in.” Acknowledged concerns range from being deemed “too flightless” or seen as a potential “tasty snack.” But the sly speaker soon offers a counter perspective, hinting at ways that the classmates might be able to work together (“It’s not like you could teach the dragons how to roast marshmallows and make s’mores”) for an end result that leaves everyone looking forward to collaborative learning. Chua’s spray-textured digital renderings play up Campbell’s jolly humor. Human characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 3–6. (June)