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Physical & Behavioral Adaptation
Dear Komodo Dragon
Lots of children have pen pals but one little girl has a real-life dragon—a Komodo dragon—for a pen pal! Leslie plans to be a dragon hunter when she grows up. When she and Komodo become pen pals, the wise-cracking dragon adds a generous helping of humor to letters that are chock full of accurate, interesting facts. Leslie learns not only about the world’s largest lizard, but also about the dangers they face. As their friendship builds, will Leslie change the way she thinks about dragons?
32 pages, Hardcover
Published February 10, 2018
About the author
Nancy Kelly Allen
54 books13 followersNancy Kelly Allen’s route to award-winning writing has more twists and turns than a winding mountain road. She worked as a social worker and elementary school teacher. When Nancy changed career paths once again and became a school librarian, the route led her straight to the world of picture books. Nancy spent her days introducing books to children and her nights writing books for children. Eventually, writing led her down the trail to publication. Nancy has seven picture books, one chapter book, and is working on more. Writing children’s books led her down another path: writing books for adults. Her first book for adults is told from the perspective of a child and spiced with humor.
Nancy grew up in Kentucky where storytelling is a way of life. Every evening after supper, her father entertained the family with humorous stories. Each time he told a story, he embellished it a little more. Nancy’s mother encouraged her young daughter to write stories, even before Nancy could read. Nancy pecked away on the keyboard of an old Royal typewriter, writing nothing but jumbled letters and numbers. Nancy proudly handed her work to her mother, who read it aloud as if Nancy had actually written a story. The early influence of her mother’s literary interpretations and her father’s humorous storytelling set Nancy on the road to creating worlds through books. Now that she’s all grown up, Nancy considers her love of writing a gift of the spirit from her parents.
Nancy has a master’s degree in Education from Morehead State University and a master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky. She lives in Kentucky in the log cabin in which she grew up. Nancy shares her cabin with her husband Larry and a canine writer assistants, Jazi and Roxi.
Nancy grew up in Kentucky where storytelling is a way of life. Every evening after supper, her father entertained the family with humorous stories. Each time he told a story, he embellished it a little more. Nancy’s mother encouraged her young daughter to write stories, even before Nancy could read. Nancy pecked away on the keyboard of an old Royal typewriter, writing nothing but jumbled letters and numbers. Nancy proudly handed her work to her mother, who read it aloud as if Nancy had actually written a story. The early influence of her mother’s literary interpretations and her father’s humorous storytelling set Nancy on the road to creating worlds through books. Now that she’s all grown up, Nancy considers her love of writing a gift of the spirit from her parents.
Nancy has a master’s degree in Education from Morehead State University and a master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Kentucky. She lives in Kentucky in the log cabin in which she grew up. Nancy shares her cabin with her husband Larry and a canine writer assistants, Jazi and Roxi.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 11, 2017
This was pretty original! I liked the letter writing format the author chose to teach about komodo dragons. I also liked that the child who is writing to the komodo dragon is ambiguous enough to be a boy or a girl- very encouraging to young girls. The illustrations were nice and interesting. The section at the end gives more info for those children who are really interesting in learning about komodos.
I received a Kindle copy of the book from Edelweiss in exchange for a fair review.
I received a Kindle copy of the book from Edelweiss in exchange for a fair review.
February 17, 2018
No doubt influenced by her reading of fantasy, Leslie dreams of hunting dragons when she grows up. But over the course of her written correspondence with a Komodo dragon, she changes her tune and decides to help save the few existing ones. After all, as new friend informs her, there are only 3,000 of them in existence. Young readers may be familiar with the idea of pen pals, but will be intrigued by the idea of writing an animal, especially one with such intelligence and a sly sense of humor. When the dragon is injured, he tells Leslie that he is a wrap-tile since he has to wear bandages until he heals. Some young readers may be touched by the relationship that develops between the girl and the dragon and impressed that she even changes her mind about dragons. The book provides plenty of introductory information about this species as shared in the letters. Back matter includes four activity pages with interesting facts about Komodo dragons and their adaptations as well as notes on conservation. Although Komodo dragons may not be the cute and cuddly species so many humans want to save, they are certainly interesting animals, judged by what they eat and their deadly bites. This is another good choice for an elementary science classroom library.
March 18, 2019
Dear Komodo Dragon by Nancy Kelly Allen with illustrations by Laurie Allen Klein takes a unique approach to introducing young readers to the life of the Komodo Dragon by shaping the text as letters exchanged between pen pals.
A young girl, who aspires to be a dragon hunter, sets out to learn all she can about her Komodo Dragon correspondent. In the process, a wealth of facts are revealed about the largest lizard on the planet. These remarkable carnivores are endangered and, by the end of the book, the young scribe has decided to become an advocate for the Komodo instead of a hunter.
The end of the book contains a CREATIVE MINDS section that provides additional information. Dragons by the Numbers highlights facts such as: Komodo dragons can go 1 month without eating and can live 30 years. Conservation discusses the efforts of scientists, in Indonesia and zoos around the world, to protect these rare creatures. Physical and Behavioral Adaptations defines both terms, provides examples of each. It also challenges readers to identify which traits are physical and which are behavioral.
Recommended as a fun and informative read to include in STEM home and school libraries.
A young girl, who aspires to be a dragon hunter, sets out to learn all she can about her Komodo Dragon correspondent. In the process, a wealth of facts are revealed about the largest lizard on the planet. These remarkable carnivores are endangered and, by the end of the book, the young scribe has decided to become an advocate for the Komodo instead of a hunter.
The end of the book contains a CREATIVE MINDS section that provides additional information. Dragons by the Numbers highlights facts such as: Komodo dragons can go 1 month without eating and can live 30 years. Conservation discusses the efforts of scientists, in Indonesia and zoos around the world, to protect these rare creatures. Physical and Behavioral Adaptations defines both terms, provides examples of each. It also challenges readers to identify which traits are physical and which are behavioral.
Recommended as a fun and informative read to include in STEM home and school libraries.
July 10, 2023
It's an epistolary book, with fab pictures.
Les, the human girl and would-be "dragon hunter," somehow has managed to become pen pals with the kind of lizard called a Komodo Dragon.
Scientific knowledge is her reward, from this highly knowledgeable animal. For instance:
"The bacteria in my spit causes blood poisoning in prey so I not only havefoul breath, I have a foul mouth. My mouth is a deadly weapon. If bitten, the prey will die within a week."
Fun, educational, and irreverently entertaining! FIVE STAR read!
Les, the human girl and would-be "dragon hunter," somehow has managed to become pen pals with the kind of lizard called a Komodo Dragon.
Scientific knowledge is her reward, from this highly knowledgeable animal. For instance:
"The bacteria in my spit causes blood poisoning in prey so I not only havefoul breath, I have a foul mouth. My mouth is a deadly weapon. If bitten, the prey will die within a week."
Fun, educational, and irreverently entertaining! FIVE STAR read!
October 4, 2023
Modern Fantasy
K-3rd grade
This was a very unique approach to a children's book. Though it's fiction many factual elements about komodo dragons are the focus of the story. It is very engaging and I think this is an excellent way to get children who maybe aren't as interested in non-fiction a small taste of what it's like. However, it wasn't all facts and a cute storyline was present. This was a good story and I loved the letter-writing technique the characters used to communicate.
K-3rd grade
This was a very unique approach to a children's book. Though it's fiction many factual elements about komodo dragons are the focus of the story. It is very engaging and I think this is an excellent way to get children who maybe aren't as interested in non-fiction a small taste of what it's like. However, it wasn't all facts and a cute storyline was present. This was a good story and I loved the letter-writing technique the characters used to communicate.
August 26, 2025
In pen pal letter format, a child and a komodo dragon have a conversation in which the komodo dragon gets to explain a lot of his distinctive characteristics. This book was a great way to teach about an animal while also keeping the child engaged. For any lizard loving kid, this book would be a great one.
June 12, 2018
Creative approach-- A girl (Les) chooses a real live Komodo dragon to be her pen pal.
The dragon adds humor in his letters full of interesting facts as he answers Leslie's questions about his life as a dragon.
The dragon adds humor in his letters full of interesting facts as he answers Leslie's questions about his life as a dragon.
December 5, 2019
This is an awesome story to gain basic knowledge of the komodo dragon and to motivate students about endangered animals. It was a basic story but had information at the end for the students to learn more about.
November 8, 2018
3.5. Like the letter format.
February 1, 2019
A girl is pen pals with a komodo dragon and learns all about their biology. A great read-aloud for a classroom studying reptiles or letter-writing!
Read
February 19, 2020A good example of science-based fiction, wherein a little girl and a Komodo dragon exchange letters and we learn facts about Komodos!
Read
December 14, 2022Epistolary kids books are the genre I never knew I needed. If I can find more, I might finally learn some animal facts.
September 18, 2018
This book shares information about komodo dragons in a rather unusual way. A girl corresponds with a komodo dragon through letters. And through the letters the komodo dragon tells the girl about himself and how he lives. This makes for an imaginative presentation of information in a fictional format. The illustrations are charming and relatively accurate for a komodo dragon writing letters. There are several activities included at the end of the book for extended interaction with the book and it's information. Additional resources can be found at the publisher's website.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews