Dragon Pick: Rory The Remarkable Dragon

 

Rory The Remarkable Dragon 

by Katherine Rammell

Illustrations by the author

Orchard Books

an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.

2024

40 pages

ISBN: 9781546109976

Publication date: September 17, 2024

Rory is a remarkable dragon: she has a beak, she doesn't roar like other dragons, she has much smaller wings and is not good at breathing fire. On her first day at school, the other dragons see that Rory is different. When lunchtime comes, Rory loses her appetite when the dragons are served a chicken dinner. The principal senses something is off with Rory from the moment Rory enters the school, but lunchtime proves her point! Rory is a vegetarian dragon! She then declares that Rory can be the treasure guard, the youngest in history.

Rory takes her job seriously, guarding the treasure from plundering knights. In fact, one look at Rory and the knights run away. She is the scariest dragon they've ever seen. Young readers will love Rory, a chicken who is hatched alongside dragons' eggs. 

Rory the Remarkable Dragon is a whimsical picture book that celebrates standing out in a crowd and accepting your own differences. Young readers will smile at the chicken's moxie and laugh out loud at the runaway knights. 

Highly, highly recommended ages 18 months and up. The cartoon like drawings welcome readers in and the humor captures Rory's personality. 

Colorful Columbian Picture Book: I Am La Chiva: The Colorful Bus of the Andes

 

by Karol Hernandez

Illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gomez

Dial Books for Young Readers

An imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC

2024

40 pages 

ISBN: 9780593529201

La Chiva is the colorful and fun bus of the Andes. Up and around mountains it goes, chugging its way to the town where the passengers will shop and sell their goods at the mercado (market). Each day, farmers, makers and bakers depend on the little bus to take them on the breathtaking ride through the picturesque Andes. 

There are farmers with pigs, ladies with big baskets of baked goods and meat pies, children riding to school and other people eager to go to town. A man plays an accordion and everyone sings along on their journey....until they have a flat tire. Now, it takes everyone to come together to save the day.

Once in town, La Chiva waits patiently outside the market for the people to close up their stalls. The little bus will take them safely to their mountain homes. 

Entertaining, rhyming verse and gorgeous colorful illustrations make La Chiva! The Colorful Bus of the Andes a strong contender for many book awards this year. The illustrations are sheer beauty and deserve the highest of praise. A handy glossary of Spanish words is included for young readers who may not know Spanish. 

Highly, highly recommended for any picture book collection and sure to be a hit in classroom read alouds. 

Picture Book Pick: Seoul Food

 

by Erin Danielle Russell

Illustrations by Tamisha Anthony 

Viking 

an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC

2024

40 pages 

ISBN: 978059346438

Every family, including found families, has foods and dishes with shared experiences and memories. When both sets of grandparents decide to visit Hana's family, she wants to do something nice for all of them. How does she bring two cultural identities together and blend them both into a yummy dish? 

Hana remembers eating gumbo in South Carolina with one set of grandparents and  she remembers the pot of kimchi-jjigae in her other grandmother's kitchen in South Korea. She wants to honor both sets of grandparents and begins by making a roux. She adds andouille and bell peppers and then adds kimchi and gochujang to make a delicious, aromatic stew. 

When the grandparents arrive, they are greeting by the delicious smell of the food. They guess it must be soul food. The others think it smells like Korean food. Hana tells them everyone is right, but it's not soul food, it's Seoul food. The two sides of the family bond over the meal and agree that even though they live a great distance apart, they should visit each other's homes and share their familial bond of love and food. 

Seoul Food is a lovely picture book that celebrates the love and laughter that happens over shared food. Different cultures can come together and make a fantastic recipe for happiness. 

Highly recommended for every picture book collection and every child, especially those with multiracial families like Hana's.