Bearded Dragons

Amazing Reptiles

by Jody Jensen Shaffer

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a cold-blooded, creepy-crawly bearded dragon? Learn all about this incredible reptile in this upper-elementary title. This title offers an in-depth look at bearded dragons, including their physical characteristics, behavior, survival, techniques, life cycle, habitat and range, and threats to the animal. Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Jody Jensen Shaffer is an award-winning poet and the author of more than 70 books of fiction and nonfiction for children, including PRUDENCE THE PART-TIME COW, a Missouri Show Me Award finalist for 2019-2020 and Missouri’s choice for the National Book Festival in 2017, A CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK, nominee for the 2021-2022 Iowa Goldfinch Award, IT’S YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, BUSY BUS!, an Amazon best-seller and Amazon Prime Book Box pick for September 2019, EMERGENCY KITTENS!, WHO IS JACKIE CHAN? and more. Jody’s poetry and fiction have been published in magazines like Highlights, Ladybug, and Clubhouse Jr. Jody lives in Liberty, Missouri, with her family. When she’s not writing, Jody can be found spending time with family and walking her rescue dog, Sophie.

Reviews

[Erica Sonzogni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you know that bearded dragons have a third eye called a parietal eye? They also have spines and even though they look sharp, they are actually soft. Additionally, the only noise that they make is a low hiss when they feel like they are endangered. The Amazing Reptiles series, which focuses on bearded dragons, is filled with a variety of facts. The different chapters include Bearded Dragon Basics, The Life of a Dragon, Dragon Tales, A Dragon’s Home, and Natural and Man-Made Threats.
As far as children’s non-fiction text goes, this one was rather dry. The tone of each page was monotone. It also lacked many non-fiction text features such as graphs and charts which could enliven the information. On each page, there are colorful, real-life photographs of the bearded dragon featured in an area that the text describes. For example, when the text explains how a bearded dragon communicates to others by waving its’ front leg, there is a picture demonstrating this for the readers to see. Overall, the bearded dragon seems like a unique creatures, however, the text did a poor job of engaging the reader.