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5th out of 76 books
—
91 voters
The Library Dragon
When Sunrise Elementary advertised for a thick-skinned librarian with a burning love of books, Miss Lotta Scales knew she was perfect for the job.Who could guard books better than a REAL dragon?
"She kept a fiery eye out to make sure no one removed any books from the shelves...
The very thought of sticky little fingers
touching
and
clutching,
pawing
and
clawing,
smearing
and
tearin...more
"She kept a fiery eye out to make sure no one removed any books from the shelves...
The very thought of sticky little fingers
touching
and
clutching,
pawing
and
clawing,
smearing
and
tearin...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
October 1st 1994
by Peachtree Publishers
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Dec 01, 2008
Abigail
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Grumpy Librarians & Those Seeking to Understand Them
Shelves:
picture-books
Review Temporarily Removed.
The book begins with a circled want ad for a children’s librarian before the title page. Sunrise Elementary School “seeks a thick skinned professional” who “has a jealous love of books” and a “burning love of children.” The school’s librarian is a ferocious dragon, Miss Lotta Scales, who protects her books from every danger, including sticky little fingers. This causes the children to miss story time and to eventually stop going to the library all together. The principal and teachers try to step...more
I had seen this book at the library several times and finally took it out this week. Usually, I try to save all books dealing with dragons for Mike to read to Natalie, but since he usually only reads to her at bed time, I read this to her one afternoon. That was probably for the best because this book turned out to be more about libraries and books (my area) than dragons (Mike's area). What I liked about this book was all the funny puns. This book would be an excellent tool for teachers of all g...more
Sunrise Elementary School needed a new librarian and hirded Miss Lotta Scales. Miss Scales is a real librarian, guarding the books with ferocity and scaring students away from the library. Eventually, the students show Miss Scales that "the library belones to the children." Warm fuzzies all around, with a reminder that librarians really DO have to protect the books.
I'm working my way through a bunch of picture books about libraries and this is just the latest. It's an okay, but not great, book...more
I'm working my way through a bunch of picture books about libraries and this is just the latest. It's an okay, but not great, book...more
Miss Lotta Scales loves the books in the library of Sunrise Elementary School, but maybe she loves them a little too much. The librarian is overprotective of the books from which she is responsible, and makes sure they stay in pristine condition. This means the books don't get used by the children. Despite a visit from a teacher delegation asking her to be more lenient, things remain the same. But when Molly Brickmeyer wanders into the library and begins reading, she melts the heart of the schoo...more
Cute. Full of lots of puns on dragons/fire/scales/knights/etc. in both words and illustrations.
The book begins with a want ad requesting a children's librarian--"a thick-skinned professional" with a "burning love for children." Turns out, Sunrise Elementary School has a real dragon of a librian--literally! Miss Lotta Scales believes her job is to guard the library--to protect the books from snotty noses and sticky fingers. No one is allowed to touch the books and storytime is abolished. Everyone fears Miss Lotta Scales (because they often end up singed...even the principal!). In the end,...more
This is a fantastic read-aloud if you really get into it. I always sniffed the book when she talks about the books being all smelly. Fourth-graders seemed to giggle the most.
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This is a funny, illustrative example of those old-school librarians who a "keepers of the books" and don't want anyone taking them or enjoying them. Luckily, this dragon of a librarian learns her lesson when a little girl reads out loud and students come from all over the school to listen. The Latina author, Carmen Agra Deedy, fills the story with idioms and word play having to do with dragons and fire.
The first time illustrator creates fun and fantastical pictures of the library dragon and her...more
The first time illustrator creates fun and fantastical pictures of the library dragon and her...more
This is a fun, eye-catching story. It is about a librarian who appears to be a dragon who hates having children in her library. There is a great deal of word play based on her being a fire breathing dragon. The pictures are bright and extremely detailed. There is a lot for the reader to take in. It ultimately shows how this horrific, frightening, beast can be melted by the love a little girl. It is a sweet story. It would be a good story to use with children when you are teaching them about look...more
This book is good for teaching life lessons to young students. It's about a mean librarian who is a dragon and hates reading. She does not let any of the students read or even look at the books. However, a little girl comes along and starts reading anyways. Once the librarian catches her, she's automatically hooked and the little girl climbs up into her lap and continues to read. The dragon librarian turns into a sweet, kind librarian who now loves to read. I believe this would teach the childre...more
Miss Lotta Scales is the new librarian at Sunrise Elementary School and she is a REAL dragon! She doesn't let the kids check out books because of their sticky little fingers. Storytimes are discontinued. Eventually a little girl who has misplaced her glasses wanders into the library and can't see the sign that tells her not to touch the books. When she takes one off the shelf and begins to read it aloud, a big transformation occurs. The book is full of dragon puns, but I didn't find it particula...more
This book is great for the imagination, and it reminds me of something a child might write if they haven't gotten to know a new teacher and they don't know what exactly they think of him/her yet. Children might think like this all the time and have no other real way but of drawing the teacher like they see him/her to try and make sense of the things that they are thinking in their heads. This is a great book to read in a classroom, or for parents whose child is having a hard time with the teache...more
The Library Dragon is a witty, pun-filled story of a school librarian who protects "her" books with the ferocity of a fire breathing dragon. The teachers and the principal all try to intervene. Nothing changes, however, until a little girl, missing her glasses, wanders into the library. Since she is unable to see the warning signs posted in the library, she unwittingly saves the day by taking a book off of the shelf and reading out loud. A great story about the power of putting real books into t...more
Parts of the book were really great. But it didn't have a really great feel overall. Maybe it is because today's kids don't call strict teachers "dragons" anymore, so the twist here was lost on my kids. Maybe it is because we've never run into someone who is too strict with their books, so taking it to an extreme was only weird, not funny or clever. There were a lot of places where the kids and I were confused as to the character's motivations. For example, my preschooler kept saying, "But WHY d...more
The book begins with Miss Lotta Scales, the colors in book were so vibrant. I couldn't help but laugh. I could tell the book was going to be fun and interesting. The kids at Sunrise Elementary hated going to the libray because of the dragon who guarded the books. I'm sure this is how alot of kids feel while growing up in our schools. So when the children this boook they can realte. Miss Lotty the dragon slayer saw that the library was a place for children. it shows people can change for the bett...more
I love this book! Miss Lotta Scales has been hired as the school's librarian. She is a real dragon lady, protecting the books from grubby little hands. So much of the story is told through puns and pictures and it took me a couple of read throughs to see them all. I particularly like how Molly's dress has bricks on it, Miss Lemon has seeds for buttons on her sweater and yellow hair and the book Molly reads is "Suff The Magic Dragon". There is a cute poster towards the end that has some great les...more
This book is for slightly older kids, who are at an age where they can appreciate puns and running gags. This book is funny, both in text and illustrations. Miss Lotta Scales, for instance, wears a dragonfly print dress, and has a crabapple on her desk. Check the pictures for more in the "dragon" theme. The confrontation in the story between the librarian and the teachers is a hoot. And the pretext for the heroine of the tale to wander into the library is personally hilarious to this reader, who...more
Sunrise Elementary School needed a librarian so they advertised hoping for a perfect match. But what they got was Miss Lotta Scales and she did not want anyone to touch the books. It became very clear she was a REAL fire breathing dragon. So how would they get a book off the shelf and out of the library? Even the teachers came away scorched by the library dragon.
Then one day a little girl took a book off the shelf and started reading aloud and the library dragon liked what she was hearing. She...more
Then one day a little girl took a book off the shelf and started reading aloud and the library dragon liked what she was hearing. She...more
I want to give this one 2.5 stars. I liked the story; my kids like it; it is a fun trip to its moral; but it just isn't a whole lot of fun to read out loud, and the target audience can't read it to themselves. It suffers a bit from all the dragon-related puns, as I think they are lost on my kids (Maybe I underestimate them, but my oldest is a concrete, literal thinker and doesn't get puns.) and they just aren't that entertaining to me. Still, it's a book my kids like about liking books, so that'...more
This book could be used to teach children about taking care of their library books. It emphasizes a librarian who goes to the extreme, but in the end shows that a little protection of the books is needed and that reading books and story time are important. Great for learning new words, since big vocabulary words are sprinkled throughout the text. Also good for predicting. I had no idea the librarian would end up changing and kids will probably enjoy this factor. Good for 1st-4rth grade.
Miss Lotta Scales is the new librarian a Sunrise Elementary School. She great at guarding the books... but she doesn't let anyone check them out. Will the children ever be able to read a book again or go to story time?
Why I started this book: My cousins recommended that I check this book out. My co-workers and I have been chuckling all afternoon.
Why I finished it: Silly puns, great illustrations and a dragon. This book will be a hit in Story Time.
Why I started this book: My cousins recommended that I check this book out. My co-workers and I have been chuckling all afternoon.
Why I finished it: Silly puns, great illustrations and a dragon. This book will be a hit in Story Time.
Miss Lotta Scales is the new librarian. She breathes fire and is scary and nasty. She takes her job so seriously and respects the books so much that she doesn't let the children touch them! She scares all the children and the library becomes a scary lonely place. This book teaches that books are meant to be used (even if they take a bit of abuse along the way). This book was on a list of recommended reading--certainly compiled by the librarians. Nice to know they have a sense of humor about thei...more
This is a fun tale about a librarian who takes a run-down elementary school library and makes it new and nice, but the only problem is that the children are no longer allowed to actually touch and read the books. Oh yeah, she's a dragon, too.
This story reminds me of the Black Lagoon series by Mike Thaler and Jared Lee. The librarian is mean and has lots of ways of protecting her books from the sticky fingers, most of which include fire. The word play is amusing and the illustrations are fun, if...more
This story reminds me of the Black Lagoon series by Mike Thaler and Jared Lee. The librarian is mean and has lots of ways of protecting her books from the sticky fingers, most of which include fire. The word play is amusing and the illustrations are fun, if...more
First week of school read aloud for grades K-4. I used this book to start a discussion with each group about what kinds of rules we should have in the library. Mostly they all started by telling me No running and No yelling.
Lots of fire word-play. Went over the heads of the younger students, but I don't think this is a bad thing. 3rd and 4th graders laughed. Offers the opportunity to share words like "incinerated" and "singed".
Lots of fire word-play. Went over the heads of the younger students, but I don't think this is a bad thing. 3rd and 4th graders laughed. Offers the opportunity to share words like "incinerated" and "singed".
This is funny book about the new librarian, a dragon, who doesn't want the kids touching the books. It's a pretty funny story if it didn't ring so true with some of the librarians I've met. THIS librarian is transformed through the power of story time, which is also sort of funny. I think it might be a good book for the beginning of the year when librarians are talking about how to handle books.
It was a cute story about a librarian who was a dragon. If your kid is afraid of the school librarian, it would be worth reading to them. I did like the bit about treating books like friends. If you wouldn't wipe your snot on a friend, don't wipe it on a book. Unfortunately, I know a lot of kids who'd think wiping snot on a friend is a hoot. Eep. I should send the library dragon after them!
This book gets on my nerves with its exhaustive, self-referential, "Ooh! Ooh! Look at me! I'm punny!" overuse of every fire pun in the history of humanity. However, my 6yo and almost 8yo did not seem to notice, or if they did, they did not care. Fine for them, but reading this book was highly annoying for me, the parent. So if the kids bring this home from the library, brace yourself. I'm just sayin' ...
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This is one of my all time favorite books to teach library manners and some book care. I get a kick out of showing all the little signs in the books: claw sharpener, Library Goddess, etc. I end it by telling students that I prefer being the Library Goddess instead of the Dragon. I love that I have the doll in my new library that flips from Dragon to Goddess! The kids loved watching the change.
This book is great! Miss Lotta Scales is a library dragon who believes that books not to be used by children. It is only because of Molly Brickmeyer, that Miss Scales is transformed into a loving children's librarian, Miss Lottie. At the end, a simple message is sent, every librarian must be part dragon because who else would guard the books. :-)
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Carmen Agra Deedy is an internationally known author of children’s literature, a storyteller and radio contributor. Born in Havana, Cuba, she immigrated to the United States with her family in 1963 after the Cuban Revolution. Deedy grew up in Decatur, Georgia and currently lives in Atlanta and has three daughters.
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