My Daughter's New Favorite Book!

We're going into the field of children's books today. 

Don't worry - I kept to the fantasy theme.

While surfing through Twitter a while back, I found a tweet by an author that had retweeted a retweet of another author's tweet.

Is it just me, or is this feeling like a story about my cousin's aunt's mother's sister's husband?

How the Dragons Got Their Colors is a children's picture book written by Cheryl Matthynssens.

So what's it about?

One day, a little gray dragon sat on a hilltop and took notice of all the brilliant colors around him. Sad that his scales were so drab compared to the rest of the world, he went to the Fairy Queen for help, and she provided him with the magic to change things for all of dragonkind.

I used a different review approach with this one: My daughter.

She loves magically themed stories, fits the target age group, and gives an honest opinion... sometimes too honest. And unlike with me, no amount of reasoning will get her to change how she feels about a book. The result is an ultra-honest account from an extraordinarily unbiased little girl. She couldn't care less about my opinion in this matter! It's all about her.

As it should be.

My daughter was drawn to the rainbow on the cover, then zeroed in on the contrast between it and the dragons. She wanted to know more, and when I told her she was looking at a book cover, she insisted on hearing the story.

Fine. I thought. I'll read her the sample. I had no intention of reviewing a children's book. Children's chapter books are fine, but I wasn't looking for something at a lower reading level than that. When I finished, though, she wanted more.

"But then what happened???"

I explained that it was only a sample, and I was really looking for something else. 

"But MooOOOooom! I want to read the whole thing!"

Now, how do you say no to that? Sure, I was looking for something entirely different, but when a child really wants you to read something to her, can you really just say, "I don't feel like it," and go back to what you were doing?

I can't.

So I got the ebook. Not only did we get through the entire thing with her sitting at rapt attention, but she wanted more.

"Another!"

I told her that I'd consider it, and the next day, she had me open my Kindle app so that she could read the ebook again.

And again.

She also wanted me to download Not an Egg, which is another of Matthyssens's books. I said no, telling her that she had to have patience. "Maybe later."

"How many stars would you give it?" I asked.

"Ten!" She replied. Then, "No... maybe twelve."

"You can only rate from one to five stars, sweetie."

"Ok, then five."

So... five it is. Judging by her overwhelming good response to it - she made me read it quite a few times - I've elected to give this one Treasured Tome status. It may not have been what I was looking for, but I can't argue with the fact that a child in the target age group is in love with it.

I also have to admit that I enjoyed reading this one, finding the story to be a great teacher on the virtue of kindness. Being kind to others can be quite rewarding, as the little dragon shows us.

This book is definitely a Treasured Tome.

...just as it should be.

You can find How the Dragons Got Their Colors on Kindle, and at Barnes and Noble (sadly, no Nook format).