The Little Candy Breathing Dragons Review

What happens when two little dragons decide to wander away from home and explore the surrounding area? Usually, the image of a dragon would conjure up visions of fire and fear, but these two little dragons are different. They breathe candy, and they are quick to help every animal they meet. This is the basic storyline for The Little Candy Breathing Dragons, a children's book by Gloria Clark with illustrations by Bobbi Switzer.

Book Commentary:

The Little Candy Breathing Dragons is a charming children's book about two dragons with an unusual trait: The ability to breathe candy rather than fire. Everywhere they go, they leave the sweet smell of candy behind. Also, everywhere they go, they come across other animals in need. Rather than turn and walk away, the two dragons do what they can to help the other animals.

Given the book's title and the main characters ability to breathe candy, one would except that the Little Candy Breathing Dragons would be written based on the topic of free- flowing candy. A good, entertaining children's story could easily be written based on a theme like that. But this is not the main idea behind the Little Candy Breathing Dragons. Rather, the core message of the book is that we should always help those in need. It is the right thing to do, and our good works will be rewarded in the end.  

Most children's books are very quick reads, but the Little Candy Breathing Dragons is different. There are only 36 pages, but there are quite a few words on many of the pages, making it a much lengthier read than most children's books. Not only are there many words, but the author including rhyming on with most every sentence. The rhymes caught me by surprise. With so many words on each page, I was expecting the book to read like a serious story. I did not expect any rhymes, but I was glad they were there because they give the book rhythm and help it move along a little faster.

The illustrations in the Little Candy Breathing Dragons are very colorful and cute, and most every child will find them to their liking. Multiple colors are found on the book's pages, and they help create a fairy- tale like feel. Each of the characters in the drawings is presented as happy and grateful. As the two dragons complete one good deed after another, they are depicted as gleeful and content; happy that they made a difference and without any aura of arrogance.

Is there anything that could be improved with The Little Candy Breathing Dragons? I can think of only one thing: The writing structure. With so many words on each page of the Little Candy Breathing Dragons and with so many rhymes, the writing seems like it needs to be broken up a bit. As it is written, it displays one long paragraph on each page. It would be better if it was broken in smaller paragraphs or, at the very least, if the different quotes were separated like an individual paragraph.

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

Taken as a whole, the Little Candy Breathing Dragons is a nice little book with an important message that stresses kindness and generosity toward those around you. The book's presentation could be a little better if it split up the single paragraph on each page and if there were slightly fewer words. But the Little Candy Breathing Dragons is still a very good book and parents will enjoy sharing it with their youngsters. It offers a positive message, cute illustrations, and rhymes/rhythm to help the story flow.