The Flying Dragon Room

by Audrey Wood, Mark Teague

Unaware that Mrs. Jenkins is polishing up her set of magical tools in the backyard, young Patrick finds himself in a fantastic world of imagination in which he comes face-to-face with such incredible items as a bubble machine and a friendly dragon. Reprint.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Dragons, Adventure, Magic

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Audrey Wood studied art and drama at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has owned an operated a book and import store, taught chldren's drama and art, and traveled throughout Mexico and Guatemala studying Indian folk art. She now lives in Hawaii with her talented family (husband Don and son Bruce, who have both collaborated with Audrey by illustrating some of her books).

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I guess I can to a certain point understand and appreciate the presented, the featured imagination, the entire concept, personally, I am not even remotely impressed with and by The Flying Dragon Room, as I find both Audrey Woods' text and especially Mark Teague's accompanying illustrations (while they are indeed and for a fact colourful and lushly descriptive) much too over-busy, frenetic, confusingly involved and thus simply too distracting for my personal tastes (and as my GR friend Cheryl has pointed out, The Flying Dragon Room feels more like a rushed and heads-over-heels tour, and not a tour I would ever really in any manner enjoy taking, there being just too much action, and not enough peace and quiet or even time for thought and reflection). Just reading Audrey Wood's narrative and looking at Mark Teague's involved, convoluted, constantly changing and expanding pictures makes me feel somewhat nervously edgy, and while I do indeed realise that many children and even some adults will most likely much enjoy the pace of The Flying Dragon Roon, it leaves me completely and utterly unenthusiastic, cold and as though I have just finished, as though I have just gotten off a rollercoaster ride (and truth be told, I absolutely DESPISE and have always actually been more than a bit frightened of roller coasters).

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this story!!! I probably would have given it four stars, except I hear my childhood self saying "I love it! I love it!" When the little boy builds his imaginary world, he creates so many of the "rooms" that children would love to visit--dinosaur rooms, friendly wild animal rooms, dessert rooms, bouncing rooms, bubble rooms, high seas adventure rooms... The best part is that he gets to bring his family and the lady who lent him the tool set (which he used to build the rooms!) along on a tour. What kid wouldn't absolutely love to show off such imagination and ingenuity to his parents--and see them bouncing around rooms and feeding carrots to a dinosaur!? ;-p

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed when his parents won't allow him to help paint the house, Patrick is consoled by the loan of some extraordinary tools, from handy-woman Mrs. Jenkins, and proceeds to build an incredible labyrinth of underground rooms with them, while his elders toil above. Inviting his family and Mrs. Jenkins to tour his creation, Patrick leads them through a dazzling array of chambers, from his Subterranean Room, with its Small Creature Garden, and his Bubble Room (accessed by means of the Zig-Zaggity-Ladder), to his Friendly Wild Animal Room, reached by means of his sailing ship, the Jolly Mermaid. Emerging impressed and entertained, Patrick and his family are beguiled by an offer of a similar adventure the next day, in Mrs. Jenkins' Flying Dragon Room...

Chosen as one of our January selections in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "Children on Adventures, or Exploring," The Flying Dragon Room is an engaging tale that examines a number of common childhood fantasies, from flying to having a dinosaur pet, and serves as a tribute to the power of imagination, in a child's life. If someone gave you magical tools that allowed you to create any kind of room you wished, what would you do with it? The possibilities are endless - something hinted at in the conclusion of the book, which invites the young reader to imagine that the story goes on. The artwork, done in acrylic by Mark Teague - the illustrator of Jane Yolen's How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? , and its sequels - is colorful and fun, adding to the sense of excitement and adventure.

All in all, a very enjoyable picture-book, one I would recommend to young readers who enjoy games of make believe, and who tend to have a dozen answers for questions of "what if."

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Wood is a genius and I adore Teague’s illustrations. Mrs. Jenkins loans her magic tool set to Patrick, and he creates a magical world full of rooms in his backyard. Patrick shares his rooms with Mrs. Jenkins, his parents, and baby sister. Each room is an adventure. The bubble room and the Jolly Mermaid were my favorites. Mrs. Jenkins’ surprise at the end was bittersweet because it’s awesome but the readers do not get to see it. However, children can certainly keep the story going with their own imaginations.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat and anticlimatic. I miss the brilliance of the Audrey/Don duo.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

For whatever reason, I LOVED this book as a kid. Something about that magic toolbox full of every possible opportunity for wish fulfillment. A Small Creatures Garden? Basically a life goal. As an adult, I find this book insubstantial, and one illustration is problematic enough that it would require a conversation about racial stereotyping were I to gift this book to a child (the Food Room page). But I can also totally see why this one would really stick in certain kids' craws--it certainly stuck in mine.

[superawesomekt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids love this one. An indulgent family explores their son's rooms of his imagination after using them to keep him out of the way during a project.

[(NS) Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade/Interest Level: 1-3

This low-fantasy tale is certain to spark the imaginations of young readers. Mrs. Jenkins is the mysterious old woman whom Patrick's parents have hired to paint their house. Patrick feels left out of the painting job, but soon discovers some magical abilities of his own when Mrs. Jenkins lets him borrow her special tool box. Readers get to explore an imaginary world with Patrick, full of personified animals, time slips, and adventures. The illustrations are whimsical, and use different spatial perspectives that give the reader a sense of looking down at the scenes below. Mrs. Jenkins, the owner of the painting company and the special toolbox, also serves as a strong female character. The ending also leaves room for readers to continue the story using their own "special tool box" , their imagination.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly imaginative and fantastic story that takes the reader on a journey through rooms that a little boy creates. The different rooms are all so wildly different and strange, but fun, too. And we loved watching his little baby sister Sarah as she joins the group on their exploration of the various rooms. The illustrations are terrific and complement the story very nicely. We really enjoyed reading this story together.

This story was selected as one of the books for the January 2012 - Children on Adventures/Exploring reads at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Brightdreamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a dracophile and lover of imagination, the title and concept (a boy building impossible rooms with a special toolkit) grabbed me. Unfortunately, the cover description is misleading: young Patrick doesn't "accidentally" create anything with the handywoman's tools, and seems to know exactly what he's doing, as he fixes the only problem moments after seeing it. The many rooms he builds are wild and strange, yet somehow they lacked punch. And, despite the title and the cover, do not read this expecting to actually visit a "flying dragon room." Color this dracophile disappointed...

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for making predictions and would be a great book to lead to children creating their own magical rooms (as an art or writing project.) I love the ending. My kids and I all loved seeing what rooms he'd created and sharing what rooms we would create. Great story and great illustrations!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

we kept waiting to see the flying dragon room and it was never there. My kids didn't care for it too much.

[Tricia Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story we meet a boy who has been given a magical toolbox from the house painter hired to help his family paint the house. Patrick builds a magical world with the tools, which he then takes his family and the painter, Mrs. Jenkins, through after working on the world for a week. What adventures will they happen upon? What did Patrick build with the magical tools? The story closes with Mrs. Jenkins then offering to take the family on a trip to the magical world she has built the next day.

This book could be used for elementary students in grades two through four to write their own magical stories in which they construct their own magical room from magic tools. The book could be used to spark discussions around imagination and creativity. In addition, the book could be used to discuss judgements and not judging things by the cover, but keeping an open mind. This is a refreshing book to provoke creative imagination outside of an increasingly digital world lacking in children using their creative imaginations.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I think this book does a great job at showing that sometimes we don't always get to do what we want but that's okay and we can always find something else to do that might be way more fun. I like how this book encourages people to let their imagination run wild and that if you believe it you can make it a reality. It was very cool to see inside of this boys world and the creations he made.

This book can be used as an activity to encourage creativity and imagination. Students can be given a blank piece of paper and be encouraged to create a house like the one in the book, they can spent first day brainstorming, drawing little pictures and writing words. The next day can be spent either writing a description of their place with all the activities that can be completed in it. Then the final day can be spent drawing this place. If students are feeling extra creative they are welcome to make their place 3D using a shoe box to create it. The wringing and drawing days can be changed depending on what is easier for the specific class completing the activity.

[Jennifer Strong · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Mrs. Jenkins is helping mom and dad paint the house, Patrick is building something amazing inside. When the work is done he takes them for a tour through the special rooms- the Small Creature Garden, the Bubble Room, the Food Room, the Jumping Room and more! Mrs. Jenkins promises to take the family for a tour of her fantastic rooms -including her Flying Dragon Room-the next day.
•
I love Patrick's imagination! The story makes all these incredible rooms seem real, but perhaps it's just his imagination transforming the rooms of his house? I love that the adults play along. What I don't like about this book is that YOU NEVER SEE THE DRAGON ROOM!! What?! I waited the whole book to see it and it wasn't there. Grumpy face. Despite this major disappointment, the artwork is lovely and rich in color.
•
There should totally be a second book about Patrick and his family visiting Mrs. Jenkins.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Patrick's parents are re-painting the house, they enlist the help of Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins lets Patrick borrow her special tools and tells him to try and build something. While the adults are painting the house, Patrick builds his own place full of magical rooms! He invites his family to explore the subterranean room, the bubble room, and many more fantastical areas. The journey wraps up with Mrs. Jenkins inviting the crew to her flying dragon room. Although Patrick’s parents did not trust him to help with the painting, he proved that children are capable of building and creating in their own way.

This story will spark and encourage creativity in your classroom! Elementary teachers could use this story as a mentor text for a fantasy writing mini lesson on how to develop a setting for stories. After reading the story, students could be given time to sketch at least one possible setting for a fantasy story and then share with their writing partner.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are extraordinary and really set the tone for the story. Young Patrick is bored when his parents say he's too young to help paint the house so the handywoman Mrs. Jenkins hands him her special tool box to play with. The result is a wild trip through a fantasy land. Absolutely delightful! Pay close attention to the illustrations by Mark Teague and watch for Baby Sarah!!

[Beth Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book about imagination and creativity, though I know for certain young children, it might be important to talk about it and explain what is physically possible in the real world, and that the types of things described in the book can come alive in our imaginations, but not to build expectations for them to appear in "real life."

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun artwork (find Baby Sarah!).

[The Campbell Family · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the kids enjoyed this immensely. Super imaginative, and well illustrated! A fun book! The title doesn't hit until the very end, so it leaves you guessing the whole time!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to visit this place so bad.

[Megan Wagner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected more dragons...

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm too old for this

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was an okay book felt like the story needed more. Maybe more descriptions of each room, the illustrations were nice. My son enjoyed the T-Res.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flying Dragon Room by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Mark Teague is a boy's adventure powered by imagination with the help of magical tools.

Patrick, a bored boy is given magical tools by Mrs. Jenkins to make something special, which he does. After a week he shows his family and Mrs. Jenkins a cavern with a Subterranean room, small creature garden, Bubble room, Food room, Jumping room, Jolly Mermaid room, and Friendly Wild Animal room. A tour of Mrs. Jenkin's Flying Dragon Room is promised, but never seen.

The text provides a tour of the rooms the boy has made.

Teague's very detailed illustrations were done with acrylics. They are a bit busy for me. The colors were a bit dark for my taste. My favorite images include the Bubble room, Food room, snake slide, Alligators onboard, friendly lion and buffalo, carrot-eating dinosaur, and a dragon.

I enjoy the work of both Wood and Teague, especially Teague's illustrations, but this seems to just be a tour of very unusual things rather than an adventure. Calling this the Flying Dragon Room, then not showing a Flying Dragon Room was a bit disappointing, though the tame, carrot-eating T-Rex and a Snake Slide were interesting. I also would have liked to have seen the magic tools. This could spark kids imaginations, and could set up some fun art projects. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood for this. My copy obtained by direct loan was missing one ripped page, which interrupted the flow of the story.

For ages 4 to 7, adventures, fantasy-science fiction, imagination, animals, and fans of Audrey Wood and Mark Teague.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flying Dragon Room is a story that unleashes the imagination of a young boy, named Patrick, as he creates his own underground world during one dull summer. With the help of the unique and unconventional character Mrs. Jenkins, an elderly Mrs. Fix-It who has come to help paint Patrick’s house, the young boy learns how he can create his own fun with an old tool box and some ingenuity. Audrey Wood and Mark Teague’s collaboration is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. The illustrations are full-color paintings that invite the reader to linger and delve into Patrick’s imaginary world. Each turn of the page takes the reader to another full-bleed double page spread. The book guides you through a series of rooms filled with wondrous creatures, all the junk food you can eat, a bubble room filled with wacky gizmos, and a room completely made for jumping. “Welcome to the Jumping Room! Jump up and down, scream all you want. That’s what you do in the Jumping Room!” There are friendly wild animals, dinosaurs, giant snakes used for a slide, sea monsters and of course flying dragons! This book is a humorous tale, showcasing Mark Teague’s amazing talent. Children will be excited and anxious to create their own underground worlds, filled with rooms that emerge from their wildest dreams.

[Julia Jasztal · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Mommy's review from 3/11)


Julia and I both thoroughly enjoyed reading this. She likes it so much she read it with her Oma and then had me read it with her again. She always has so many books around that, like me, she rarely rereads anything.
The story starts with Patrick wanting to help an older woman paint his parents house. Mrs. Jenkins hands Patrick some tools he can use and after the painting is finished he invites his parents and Mrs. Jenkins to see his "work".
Room after room after room that he visits with his group show an immense imagination. You'd be hard-pressed to find any child who wouldn't give an arm and a leg to have any one of these rooms.
This is, hands down, one of the best books we've read in quite awhile here. I loved the parents responses and the baby sisters characters. (Check her out in the bubble room.)
Mrs. Jenkins character couldn't have possibly been any better no matter what.
I'd definitely, definitely recommend. Older toddlers and up will love it, both boys and girls will be happy to read along and imagine with this one.

By the way, what's up with that point on the old lady's head?

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Flying Dragon Room” by Audrey Wood is a great read for any child that loves fantasy books. I thought the concept of the room was a neat idea because children love imaging play in the comfort of their own room. I loved that Mrs. Jenkins was the one who gave Patrick the ability to create his own world. In the dragron room there were able to explore Patrick’s imagination through different worlds just in one room.

I thought the pictures were colorful and very bright. I enjoyed the detailing of the pictures and how the animals were painted. It wasn’t painted to realistically but more of a cartoonish. I also liked how the title page and the last page of the book was sort of the same picture by having the dragon be the frame of the photo meaning the dragon frame represented a room.

I think students would enjoy this book because it gives them the freedom to come up with their own imagination and adventures. Children love books like this and want to be able to enjoy that freedom of exploration.

[Rachel Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age Level - Nursery to Primary

The Flying Dragon Room brings us into a world where imagination can be real. Patrick wanted to help paint the house with his parents, but they thought he would get in the way. Mrs. Jenkin's who had been hired to paint the house gave Patrick a set of special tools. After a week of working with the tools Patrick showed his family what he had created. From a Small Creature Garden to the Food Room, to steering the Jolly Mermaid on through to the Friendly Animal Room, Patrick took his family on an adventure through his imagination.

The illustrations in this book really make Patrick's imagination come alive to the reader. The illustrations cover most of each two page spread, and show details that enhance the text.

I highly recommend this book for repeat reading to all ages, especially young children who have imaginations of their own. For those who have no imagination, The Flying Dragon Room can take you to a whole new world!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

We gave this book to Rees for his 6th birthday, and I purchased it 9 months in advance, if that says how excited I was for him to have it.

If you happen to like some of Mark Teague's other stuff, you'll eat this up, be it a bit unorthodox. Caveat: I don't appreciate some of Mark's work like the series about the dog detective named LaRue (or of some such name) but I adore his One Halloween Night, The Baby Tamer, Pigsty, Frog Medicine, and the How Do Dinosaurs...series.

Anyway, this one is so creative, I would have drooled over a book like this as a third grader.