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Serendipity
Persnickity
Tired of cleaning up after the other dragons, Persnickity decides to build his own perfect house
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
132 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 18, 2021
A clean dragon leaves the dragon cave, bc he is sick of cleaning up the other dragons' messes. He builds his perfect home with his perfect rose garden (which he removes all the thorns). Then he invites all the dragons over who ruin his perfect house and eat all the roses (since there are no thorns). The dragons had fun. He realizes that its okay that his house wasn't perfect at the end of the party, bc everyone had a good time. So instead of resolving to never have another party, he has a party once a year and he leaves the thorns on the roses.
November 7, 2025
3.5. Very cute, an obsessively clean dragon moves away from his sloppy home but invites all the other dragons (who are sloppy) to his house for a party. They trash the place buuuut he realizes that it's ok that things weren't perfectly perfect because they had fun.
... though he does limit future parties to once a year lol.
I had some of the Serendipity books as a kid but not this one; this was a library find.
... though he does limit future parties to once a year lol.
I had some of the Serendipity books as a kid but not this one; this was a library find.
September 9, 2021
This is part of a series from the ‘70s (Serendipity). Colorful pictures and a little lesson in each story. About one paragraph a page alongside a full page picture. I like the title on this one. (Extra star)
August 3, 2018
Favourite book form my childhood!
November 18, 2019
Read this right after Bangalee, and it made me enjoy it so much more. Cosgrove and James created a lot of Serendipity books together over the years, so sometimes they revisited old subjects from new angles. Here we have, again, a spotlessly clean individual in a castle filled with absolute slobs. And this time you can see the difference. The dragons have mismatched socks hanging sloppily off their feet, while our little dragon is dapper, neatly put together, with ironed socks and a cute little bow-tie.
Love it. It's that great match between story and art that's wonderfully pleasant to look at.
The moral here is a little more subtle: instead of the unrealistic "and then everyone learned to be clean" storyline, which doesn't work with a bunch of natural slobs, here we have Persnickity taking the steps to move out and create his own space that he can care for in the ways that make him happy and comfortable. The only problem is that he gets lonely - because those sloppy, dirty dragons are still his friends, and even though they're careless and messy, they are fond of him in their own way, and he of them.
So he invites them to a party - which they make an absolute mess of, because of course they would. That's who they are. Instead of trying fruitlessly to change them, he adapts. He leaves the thorns on his roses for protection and lets his perfect little house otherwise descend into chaos on the occasions when he invites his dragon-friends over for a party that they're all able to enjoy - with revised expectations.
Should these dirty dragons respect Persnickity's home and his space? Yes, but that's not really the point. It's about Persnickity finding ways to keep a happy home for himself while being able to adapt where necessary - and leaving some room for unavailable, but repairable, mess in his perfection.
Love it. It's that great match between story and art that's wonderfully pleasant to look at.
The moral here is a little more subtle: instead of the unrealistic "and then everyone learned to be clean" storyline, which doesn't work with a bunch of natural slobs, here we have Persnickity taking the steps to move out and create his own space that he can care for in the ways that make him happy and comfortable. The only problem is that he gets lonely - because those sloppy, dirty dragons are still his friends, and even though they're careless and messy, they are fond of him in their own way, and he of them.
So he invites them to a party - which they make an absolute mess of, because of course they would. That's who they are. Instead of trying fruitlessly to change them, he adapts. He leaves the thorns on his roses for protection and lets his perfect little house otherwise descend into chaos on the occasions when he invites his dragon-friends over for a party that they're all able to enjoy - with revised expectations.
Should these dirty dragons respect Persnickity's home and his space? Yes, but that's not really the point. It's about Persnickity finding ways to keep a happy home for himself while being able to adapt where necessary - and leaving some room for unavailable, but repairable, mess in his perfection.
July 3, 2017
A perfectionist dragon with a clean-order streak the size of Texas, Persnickity is a funny telling of a dragon whose ideas are tried. Unable to handle messy fun-loving dragons of his home he runs away and finds a spot make his perfect home with the perfect roses yet is unable to stop his need to share how perfect he is. From there you find that perfection is in the eye of the beholder.
With breathtaking roses and oddly whimsical dragons with socks on their feet your child will be transported away into this lesson. Great for a lesson and a laugh.
With breathtaking roses and oddly whimsical dragons with socks on their feet your child will be transported away into this lesson. Great for a lesson and a laugh.
March 5, 2016
I haven't forgotten this book despite over twenty years having passed since I read it. I totally related to Persnickety, and perhaps didn't learn the lesson I was supposed to, since I still identify with the awesomely perfectionist dragon. I wish I could locate a copy of this, because one day my kids must read it.
January 5, 2012
One of my favorites from when i was a child. I loved the lesson at the end!
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December 31, 2013AR Quiz No. 7537 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP
September 9, 2014
A book about perfectionism and idealism, and the importance of balancing it.
April 28, 2015
Ya, kita masing-masing punya gagasan sendiri mengenai kesempurnaan.
August 16, 2011
Loved this as a child. Very cute story.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews