Be The Dragon, self-help for kids that’s disguised as fun reading

Our 9YO is still trying to figure out who he is. He knows what he doesn’t like and is constantly trying to figure out a shortcut to get to the things or characteristics that he does want to emulate. That is a work in progress as any parent or educator can attest to. Be The Dragon, 9 Keys to Unlocking Your Inner Magic seeks to help those kids aged eight and up ask and answer questions that might direct them to figure things out a little bit.   

Be The Dragon is a unique book and one that I’ve never really seen anything like it. It’s a kid’s self-help book, but it presents itself as a color-filled, graphic-heavy illustrated book with short stories, dragons, activities, and some multiple-choice questions. Although these questions would benefit anyone, this is not like the self-help or business book that adults would consume.

It’s broken up into nine chapters with each one of them having a dragon-led short story that softly teaches a lesson. For example, chapter 3 is called Spread Your Wings, it’s about Legalip, a very intelligent ground dragon who wants to fly. All of the other dragons recognize Legalip’s intellect and seek him out when they have a logic-based question. One thing he really wants to do, however, is fly, but he’s scared.

With the help of a kind air dragon and his growing confidence, his heart tells him, you are stronger than what you fear. All of this is told in a short story that fourth-grade students will be able to read in ten minutes. It’s followed by a multiple choice quiz that’s presented in a very entertaining way. From there kids will determine which letter, A, B, C or D they mainly chose and read a paragraph overview of things that might be suited towards them.

After the quiz kids are then presented with a couple of different activities that they can do. They vary after each number and will range from a simple STEM experiment, silly dragon names, invitations to do something different, ways to express their feelings, and more. Those kids that shirk away from anything ‘emotion’ based will still like the book because those instances are presented in ways that middle-elementary-aged students will enjoy. A big reason for their effortless enjoyment will be due to the illustrations and book’s layout.

Each page is full colored and very calming or engaging to look at. They’re also printed on semi-gloss paper that gives the illustrations an extra pop when light hits it from different angles. Even those kids who are fans of dragons, if they give the book a chance, will be entertained by it. Dragons are not unicorns. They might live in the same universe from time to time, but they’re a different beast entirely. If your young reader gives you any lip about dragons not being cool just mention to them that thousands of years of Chinese culture have this beast as their protector for numerous reasons.

Some kids might need to have Be The Dragon presented to them as a read-along book initially. Our 9YO reader is like that. While he can read the short stories, the fact that the story directly ties into the quiz and then the activity needed to be explained to him. After one lesson he caught onto the theme of the book and was able to navigate it himself.

The book works as a way to introduce kids to different personality types, as well as the things that interest those kids. Kids know that they’re different than other kids and this is a great primer to make them realize that just because you or that other kid isn’t like the others it’s normal and one of the fabulous things about life. 

Be The Dragon: 9 Keys to Unlocking Your Inner Magic is by Catherine J. Manning with illustrations by Melanie Demmer and available on Workman Publishing.

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