By Natalie Jane Prior
My personal reading has found me in the middle of, “The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared,” by Alice Ozma. This memoir tells of the relationship between Alice and her school librarian father and their promise to read aloud together, first, for one hundred nights and then for one thousand nights. For me, it is a confirmation of my strong belief that kids should be read aloud from early on through high school, and when Ozma wrote, “Reading to someone is an act of love,” it really hit the spot!
There are many good read alouds on my list. I have now added, “Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby” to this list. It is a chapter book of 150 pages that is very easy to get into. When the town of Ashby is besieged by a fire breathing dragon, Lily, a young girl, who comes from a long line of dragon slayers, is given the task of destroying it. Lily kind of reminds me of Ronald Dahl’s Matilda and Miss Moldavia, the book’s meanie, reminds me of his evil Miss Trunchbull. As a matter of fact, the few illustrations remind me of Quentin Blake’s black lines ones as well.
This is a fun, endearing, adventurous, fantastical romp through the Empire of the Black Count. One loves the bonding between Lily and the Queen Dragon. One cheers them on as they fight the scourge that has destroyed their town. Finally, when the book ends, one looks forward to the next one in the series. (Great for second graders after they’ve heard, “My Fathers Dragon.” After hearing this one read aloud, stronger readers might want to read the others on their own.)