Dragon Dancing (review)

After their teacher reads them a story about a dragon, the kids in Mei Lin's class collectively create a group dragon costume. That's when the adventure really begins: lined up in a row, dragon parts in hand, the children imagine themselves as a dragon "zig-zagging over snowy mountaintops," "slip-sliding across foamy seas," and "creep-crouching through tall forests," until they hear their teacher calling them back for snacktime. As in Someone Says, which features the same group of kids engaged in similar play, Schaefer's energetic story pays homage to the wonders of the imagination. The dragon's parts are described in onomatopoeic verse ("boink-boink eyes," "ricky-rack backs"), contributing even more playfulness to the already lighthearted story. Morgan's illustrations make use of thick lines and bold colors to depict the multicultural cast of kids clad in multicolored play clothes. The art works closely with the text to foster the sense of the fantastical; the key illustration, wherein the children are huddled together in a dragon-like shape, holding their dragon noses and eyes, is overlaid with the outline of a festive dragon, thus heightening the illusion of their illusion. The dragon's linework body goes on to its own independent life, its back appealingly sprinkled with geometric, candy-colored moons and drops and polka-dots. This lends itself well to either early childhood classrooms or public library programs for the younger set; either group will likely be willing to work together at imagining a dragon to take them on an adventure to a faraway land.