Dragons Don't Cook Pizza

The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #24

by Debbie Dadey, Marcia Thornton Jones, John Steven Gurney (Illustrations)

The hugely popular early chapter book series re-emerges with a new look! Brand-new eye-catching cover art brings a modern feel to this classic monster series for young readers.

There's a hot new pizza joint in Bailey City and Mrs. Jeepers brings the kids there for a special treat. The castle-shaped building and medieval-style costumes on the waiters are fun, but when a rumble from the kitchen shakes the restaurant's foundations, the kids get suspicious. George, the owner, says his cook is temperamental and the earth-shaking fits he has are nothing unusual, but the kids are pretty sure the owner is St. George the dragon slayer and that his cook is a captive dragon. Can the kids uncover the truth before the disgruntled cook becomes a real problem?

Genres: Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery, Chapter Books, Juvenile

80 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 162 books for children, including the Mermaid Tales series from Simon and Schuster and the beloved Adventures of The Bailey School Kids from Scholastic. Ms. Dadey is a former teacher and librarian. Please like her at Facebook.com/debbiedadey.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series.

[Amanda L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot:
The students of Bailey School go on a field trip to Jewel's Pizza Castle. This restaurant has a castle like appearance and style. The owner of the restaurant has an odd, creepy vibe. The whole place seems a little suspicious. It is dimly lit. They all hear a growl coming from the kitchen. Howie, one of the third graders, is convinced that a dragon is in the kitchen that needs help to escape. While on the other hand, Eddie is not convinced. They argue about whether or not there is a dragon and decide to go there one day to investigate. Tired of waiting outside the door, Howie decides to go inside. The kitchen is dark and creepy. When Howie doesn't come back, Eddie and his friends go inside, too. They hear a roar and see two red, glowing eyes. While running out of the kitchen, they run into George, the restaurant owner. He is going into the kitchen claiming that his chef has a problem. Howie went inside the kitchen once again. A few weeks later, Howie still didn't tell his friends what happened while in there. He claimed that dragons need sunlight, so the restaurant was remodeled and brightened up. Howie and his friends ate there again, enjoying a pepperoni pizza made by a special chef.

Opinion:
This book was a quick read, just for fun. I think it's a cute book when you just need a fast book to read. Overall I think it is a good book that is written well and has good characters. From this book I learned that looks can be deceiving. Although Howie thought there was a dragon in the pizzaria, it was really just the old oven. Also, people can play a big role in how you see things. For example, some of Howie's friends started to believe that there really was a dragon. No matter how far fetched the idea is, if you sound factual and are influential, people will begin to believe you.

Characterization:
George, the restaurant owner, at the beginning seems very mysterious and somewhat evil. His appearance and attitude makes him seem this way. At the end of the book, he is happier and more kind. He is nice to the kids and doesn't seem evil.

Rating/Reason:
3 out of 5 stars
I give this book three of five stars because it was an okay book. It was nothing exciting or jaw-dropping. It wasn't a book that kept my attention or I would read again. Although it was well-written and good for certain audiences. Overall, it was nothing special, but not poorly written.

Audience:
I would recommend this book to ages nine to thirteen. It is meant for younger ages. I think younger ages would like it because it is a good book for if you are just learning to read or if you aren't an advanced reader. It keeps your attention if you are looking for a short, easy read, if you are older than thirteen. There isn't a gender-limiting-factor for this book.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bailey School Kids is a best-selling children's book series by Marcia Thornton Jones and Debbie Dadey. Its main characters are a group of four children (Eddie, Howie, Liza, Melody) who suspect some persons in the stories are popular folk lore or fairy tale characters. They are appealing because they mix a familiar story in with this group of kids. Mid-grammar school

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

After just recently reading the Ghoul one, this was already too soon to be reading another, especially considering this played out in exactly the same way. Howie is the only one who believes, Eddie makes fun of him for it, he relays the information he got from reading, the girls halfway get invested and then it ends with nothing being proved.

The class goes to this old pizza place on a field trip where there’s an old wrinkly man who is not wrinkly at all on the cover or in the illustrations and looks quite young. There was a rumbling and smoke coming from the kitchen. Liza asked if they could learn the secret ingredients and George went white and said the chef guards the recipes as if they were treasures. Mrs. Jeepers suggested a tour of the kitchen and he said it wasn’t possible. The kids knew he was hiding something. Melody jokingly suggested he was hiding a dragon but Howie believed it. She noticed the sword hanging under the dining room entryway sign was missing.

Howie said a line that was used in at least one of the other books. He had an idea, but didn’t think they were going to like it. Just recycling the same material!

Howie mentioned the monster and the man who captured it, and Eddie asked how someone could be so smart in math but so dumb in life, which was a little funny.

On the way back to school, there was a rumbling that shook the bus. Liza mentioned dragons knowing riddles, like the ones 3 of the kids got at the pizza place. “Inside me deep, There is much heat, Captured sadness, Lonely madness, My only joy, To cook for girls and boys.”

Howie told the story of knights making their fortunes battling dragons. Dragons burned crops and ate girls. The knights destroyed all the dragons except the most dangerous one. The dragon ate the knights who came after him. The king sent the most famous knight who had a magic sword that would hypnotize dragons. His name was St. George. He didn’t kill the dragon because their scales hold the secret to eternal life. What’s the secret?? How do they hold a secret?? Or do they just give immortal life by being near them??

Howie set about freeing the dragon from cooking pizzas. He snuck into the pizza place and the other 3 followed but couldn’t find him and thought he’d been eaten. Howie showed up and told George he wouldn’t be in charge unless he listened and went into the kitchen by himself. George went in after him. The others couldn’t get in because the door was locked.

Cut to a week later and Howie hadn’t told them what happened. What??
The pizza place got a makeover and had a fence around the back that said danger. Howie couldn’t let them in because dragons are shy. He didn’t even see the dragon because it was so dark. Howie had read that dragons don’t like the cold and dark. Don’t they live in caves??

So, George cleaned up and the dragon can soak up the sun in his day off. Okayy. The kids had a pizza and heard purring from the kitchen. They asked George what the noise was and he said the sound of a happy chef. What did you think it was..a dragon? And laughed.

Just weird. How is the dragon cooking?? How did he write the riddles? Why didn’t Howie free him like he wanted? It’s just random.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
The kids saying Eddie having dragon breath was funny because some kids on the school bus called this boy dragon breath when I was a kid. That must be a saying.

I liked the story of St. George and the last dragon. Knights made their fortunes battling dragons, who terrorized people by scorching their crops and eating young girls. Knights destroyed every dragon but one, the most dangerous one. Knights would set out after him none returned. The king sent the most famous knight, St. George, with his magic sword that hypnotized dragons.
And the restaurant owner’s name was George!

He didn’t kill the dragon because a dragon’s scales give you eternal life. But then why kill any dragon? Wouldn’t a lot of people want eternal life? He tamed the dragon so he could live forever.
Using one to make pizzas seems like a waste but I guess it makes sense.
How is the dragon getting the riddles out to guests of the pizza shop? Why would George allow that?


“Have you ever thought about what Bailey City would be like if there was a dragon flying around?”
“Toasted Bailey City,” Eddie snickered.’

‘“I’m not worried about him getting arrested,” Liza said. “I’m worried about him getting turned into French fries!”
“Pizza,” Eddie corrected her. “This is a pizza joint. They don’t serve fries.”’

It was frustrating the way howie ran in to investigate and the kids went after him but then the door was locked and they never saw what he did and he didn’t see anything!
This was alright, wish it was longer and that they actually found evidence.

[paige turner ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a good one. If I were George though I totally would have told the kids a story about how I captured a dragon and have it making the best pizzas in the entire world!

But it still had to be a mystery because that's what these books are.

I had fun with this one. Maybe it was the pizza, maybe it was the castle, maaaaaaybe it was the dragon. It was fun. And sure, even if dragons don't really exist, it's fun to believe it for a while.

George was acting really funny. And there were strange sounds coming from the dungeon, a.k.a. the kitchen.

But I guess only Howie and George know what's going on behind those doors.

[Zoey Shearer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout my adolescent years, I have never picked up a Bailey School Kids book. I was pleased with this book, as it was a mystery about dragons and pizza. This book was also a quick and easy read. It was not my favorite, but I am open to reading more of these kinds of books! I would also keep this book in my classroom library as a mystery option for students to read during independent reading or paired reading. This book seems to be appropriate for grades 2-4 because of the language used, the developing characters, and the plot.

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing with my plan to read all the Bailey School Kids books. So far, this is one of the few that I remember reading as a child. I didn't remember anything, and enjoyed this reading quite a bit. This is one of the stories where the "evidence" for the monster being real felt more realistic, as George drops a few comments that are totally sus, as the kids say.

[Alicia L · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book in elementary school, and when I completed it, I was so unsatisfied by the ending that it left an incredibly profound impact on my future reading habits. I concluded that most books weren't worth finishing.

[Brooke Collick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little chapter book read with my littles outside during summer camp

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay seriously - with everything these kids have seen, why are they still so skeptical!?

[Josh Epp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always a feel good for me! Quick and made me giggle. 🤭

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like part of the fun is getting to see the "proof" in each book's paranormal creature, and here we (understandably) never get to see the "dragon."

[Renee]

haven't read this series since grade school. I forgot how much of a jerk Eddie was, oye. and yet he was the most sane one of the group haha.

[Amanda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a new medieval themed pizza joint in town and soon the kids suspect the cook to be a captured dragon

[Tiffany Spencer]

Dragons Don’t Cook Pizza
Eddie and his class are being taken by their teach Mrs. Jeepers to a pizza parlor called “Jewels Pizza Castle” for reading a bunch of books. The owner is old and wrinkly. His name is George. He leads them to one of the rooms “The Dragon’s Lair”-the main room. The pizza place is supposed to look like a castle of long ago. The kitchen they notice has “Dungeon” over the door. Under the sign is a swinging sword over the room they’ve just entered. There’s a rumble coming from somewhere then another. Geroge then appears and tells them he’s taken care of the problem. (A waft of smoke comes from out of the door). They stay and all the kids agree that the pizza is the best they’ve had. One of the kid’s Liza asks George what his secret ingredient is but he says he can’t tell. They ask for a tour but he says that’s not possible. On the way out, they notice the sword is gone. One of the kids (Howie) says he has an idea but they won’t like it.

Howie tells them about a book he read where a man captures a fericous dragon. He says he thinks George took the sword to control a dragon. Melody says there aren’t any dragon and she’s pretty sure they aren’t chefs at rinky dink pizza joints’ next day Eddie and Melody argue back and forth about the existence of dragons. Eddie says just because she’s not seen any doesn’t mean they aren’t real. Howie, Liza, and Melody it turns out all got riddles (the same ones). Eddie didn’t get one and wonders why.

The riddle is “Inside me deep there is much heat.” Eddie says it’s an oven. Howie says no. It’s a dragon and he thinks it’s a cry for help. There’s a dragon in George’s dungeon and it’s begging them to free it. Howie says that in the old days knights made their fortunes battling dragons, but the kinghts destyoed all the dragons except for one. He says the Dragon gobbled them up. So they sent for Saint George- aka Geroge the owner of the restaurant-. His magic sword can hyptnotize even the most savage dragon. George tamed the last dragon so he could leave forever. Now he’s using it to cook pizza. But the dragon is fed up. “Captured sadness. Lonely madness.” (This was a part of the riddle). Eddie and Howie start to argue. Melody says meet her there after school and she’ll prove whether dragons do or don’t exists.

They take the bus to Jewel’s. Then they hide in the trash can. Howie says he’s going in and set the dragon free. Eddie says that might not be the best idea to have a dragon flying around. Melody says she doesn’t want it captured but maybe it’s better this way. The dragon might try to eat them. Howie’s mind isn’t changed and he goes inside. Once inside, the door slams shut and traps them inside. Then they hear a rumble that grows louder. He sees a black hole with red eyes glowing from the inside. They both take a run for it. Then they see George with a suit of armor. He tells them out of his way his chef has a problem.

Then they hear a burp. George says he doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Howie then emerges. Geroge says see there’s no dragon. But Howie tells him not so fast. He has explaining to do. Howie goes back into the dungeon. His friends try to follow but the door is locked. For a week, his friends try to get Howie to tell them what happened. The restraint has a new opening. There are signs there that say DANGER and KEEP OUT. They tell him there was no dragon that’s why he locked the door. He said he had to. Dragons are shy. They ask did he see the dragon and he said not exactly. It was too dark. He tells him because of him George built him a pen. Now he can get some sun. Jewel’s looks different. It’s now painted brightly.. George gives them a special peperoni pizza. Then they hear a a purring-the sound of a happy cook.

My Thoughts
This was fun! I was looking for something light. I think of this as like a “snack” if you don’t want something heavy (like pizza). It’s short and can be easily digested. The title attracted me to it because I’m drawn to books with food tittles and I noticed it because someone one I think on my friend’s list had read it. The thought of using a dragon to cook in your restraint is.. unique. I still wonder tho what the special ingredient is that made it taste so good. For some reason I have in my head that this pizza taste how Show Biz Pizza use to taste way back in the day!

Rating: 7 If anything I would have at least liked an interaction with the dragon-those can be fun- but I guess with not giving us this it was just part of the mystery and leaves it up to us to imagine what was said between him and Howie-that is if he or she could talk-.

[Cameron]

The Bailey School Kids are at it again in the 24th installment titled "Dragons Don't Cook Pizza". The funny and inquisitive students of Mrs. Jeepers' class are at the new pizza parlor in town when they notice strange noises and smells coming from the kitchen. The restaurant's over-the-top medieval theme and castle construction leads them to believe that the owner has a dragon locked in the kitchen! Their imaginations run wild with possible scenarios in which a dragon could end up in the "dungeon" of the pizza parlor. Eddie, the most curious of the group, convinces his friends to sneak into the parlor after hours and search for the dragon. During their mission, the owner catches them and reveals that the "dragon-like" activity is due to an oven of his own invention. However, since the owner never shows them this oven, the Bailey School kids remain suspicious of the restaurant and hold onto the belief that there's a dragon in the dungeon!

This book immediately hooks the reader in with a unique and humorous setting (a pizza shop that looks like a medieval castle) and cements interest with a mystery. I have never read the previous 23 books of the series, but I was never confused or lost and understood the character dynamic right away. The author does a great job of slowly unraveling the mystery and goes into great detail in recounting each kid's idea of what the dragon is like. Not only does this book provide a funny situation, but it emphasizes the importance of teamwork and problem-solving as the kids plan how to prove the dragon's existence.

I would recommend this book for a second-grade classroom for an independent reader who is beginning to dive into the world of chapter books. Each chapter is short and the text is broken up by great illustrations. After reading this book, I could definitely see a kid becoming obsessed with this series, leading them to want to read more!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This particular Bailey School Kids book presents a unique problem where a good portion of the mystery hinges on St. George being "the oldest, wrinkliest man they had ever seen" but then you look at the book cover and the various book illustrations and George looks to be in his late 30's. Whoops?

Even as a kid's mystery, and especially a Bailey School Kids mystery, the structure of this book kinda falls apart because the monster isn't the new weird adult but rather what the weird adult keeps in his kitchen. The only problem - the writer doesn't seem to know what dragons actually are beyond "they are associated with knights" and "they breathe fire". A key clue is a riddle on a printed napkin and all the kids take it at face value and say "dragons are known for their riddles". Are they?

Kind of neat that the ending is intentionally left ambiguous at least, even if the reason of "dragons like open air, not caves" feels weird. Ah yes, dragons. Now that's a creature that's known to hate caves.

[BookeryBliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collection of "The adventures of the Bailey School Kids" stories are among my all-time favorite children's books. Witty, mischievous and fun, these short and silly books continue to bring giggles to the young and old. Just as I have enjoyed them as a kid, my own children also love them today. I even catch myself re-reading them (alone) from time to time. What can I say? I guess I'll always be a BSK kid at heart.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new pizza place is acquiring fame in Bailey City for its medieval motif and excellent pizza. Rumors are floating around that a dragon is somehow involved, although everyone at school disbelieves it---other than the Bailey School Kids, of course.

Another interesting mystery with a well-done medieval component.

[Molly]

A silly series that creates more questions than it answers. It's great for formulating theories as well as predictions. The class dynamics should be very familiar to those of the Magic School Bus generation.

[Mustang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it because it included a bunch of non-realistic stuff about dragons cooking pizza. The Bailey School Kids were trying to figure out if the guy who owned the store was trying to cook pizza using a dragon.

[Riegs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would use this one as a lesson in fantasy because of the way the BSK track the fantastical clues around the dragon. I think it would be a good lesson for students to list the traits along with them.

[Kate Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember much about this series, only that I really enjoyed them. It was a fun story for young readers and the writing style was great. I do have to admit, this book was my favorite out of the series.

[Hair Jordan]

this book is a good book i will probably give it a three. its funny because they think the cook of the pizza parlor is a dragon because they have a lot of hints. i would recomend it to you guys

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think that this is impossible.

[Savannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

All of the bailey school kids books are pretty good.I really like to read them
in the summer because I have more time.

[RDB]

Don't remember it.

[Tt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is awsome!

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite part was when they went to a pizza place.the worst part was when eddie got into trouble with the rest of them.my favorite character was melody.the worst was eddie