This hungry dragon by Heath McKenzie

cover image

Scholastic, 2016. ISBN 9781760151508
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Dragons, Food. This hungry dragon simply does not know when to stop. First he eats the little owl in the tree, then the fox, on to the pig and then the bear. Each time he gorges on another meal, the animal he eats is bigger than the last. Children will laugh out loud seeing the dragon get bigger as the book progresses, the lovely rhyming stanzas prompting them to predict what the rhyming word will be. And the colourful illustrations work beautifully, reflecting the cheeky very hungry dragon. His large frame fills the cover inviting readers to open the book to see why he is so huge.
When he becomes the size of a house and feels a little unwell, he determines to call in the doctor whose x-ray of the dragon's stomach is most revealing. Children will laugh out loud at all the other things dragon has eaten and wonder how the doctor will escape with the other animals inside dragon's stomach. But the doctor comes up with a cunning plan and they are expelled, the dragon learning a lesson he will not forget.
This is a delightful tale, well told in rhyming couplets and beautifully illustrated leading to much discussion about eating.
Fran Knight

booktopia