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How to Catch
How to Catch a Dragon
From the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling How to Catch series comes an all-new dragon story, a great Chinese New Year book for kids!
Do you have what it takes to snag a dragon? The How to Catch kids are off again, this time trying to catch a dragon as they chase him through Chinese New Year celebrations! Set in China during the Spring Festival, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, the wily dragon will have to avoid trap after trap as the kids run through paper lanterns, red lunar envelopes, fireworks, and more!
With bonus educational content and Mandarin translations in the back to enhance your reading experience, How to Catch a Dragon is the perfect dragon book for kids ages 3-8!
Dragons are a clever bunch,
They're difficult to catch.
You'll have to set the ultimate trap-
But have you met your match?
Also in the How to Catch
How to Catch a UnicornHow to Catch a MermaidHow to Catch a DragonHow to Catch a MonsterHow to Catch an Elfand more!
Do you have what it takes to snag a dragon? The How to Catch kids are off again, this time trying to catch a dragon as they chase him through Chinese New Year celebrations! Set in China during the Spring Festival, otherwise known as Chinese New Year, the wily dragon will have to avoid trap after trap as the kids run through paper lanterns, red lunar envelopes, fireworks, and more!
With bonus educational content and Mandarin translations in the back to enhance your reading experience, How to Catch a Dragon is the perfect dragon book for kids ages 3-8!
Dragons are a clever bunch,
They're difficult to catch.
You'll have to set the ultimate trap-
But have you met your match?
Also in the How to Catch
How to Catch a UnicornHow to Catch a MermaidHow to Catch a DragonHow to Catch a MonsterHow to Catch an Elfand more!
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 5, 2019
195 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
About the author
Adam Wallace
200 books283 followersAdam Wallace is a New York Times, USA Today and Amazon Bestselling author of the How to Catch series!
Adam's passion is to bring excitement and energy and humour and joy to children (of all ages!) through his books and videos.
He spends his non-writing time thinking about writing and going to as many live music shows as he can. He's also teaching himself piano, and plays golf too.
Adam's passion is to bring excitement and energy and humour and joy to children (of all ages!) through his books and videos.
He spends his non-writing time thinking about writing and going to as many live music shows as he can. He's also teaching himself piano, and plays golf too.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
June 13, 2022
My daughter loves these "How to Catch a…" books, but I find it rather annoying based on the titles that one never actually catches these creatures. They always escape and we follow the same formula.
Slight annoyance aside, this is one of my daughter's favorites in the series. It's technically the Chinese New Year one (it's clearly one of those books that was intended to be read during the holiday), but it's definitely one of the more fun books in the series. It's got a lovely nod to Dragons Love Tacos as well, which is one of the greatest children's books ever written so that's nice.
Those of you wanting to use it for educational purposes may like that it has several Chinese words in the back with definition and that it explains some of the holiday. While we've read this, we tend to skip it now in favor of just the story section.
All around a fun little read especially if you like the series. 3/5 stars.
Slight annoyance aside, this is one of my daughter's favorites in the series. It's technically the Chinese New Year one (it's clearly one of those books that was intended to be read during the holiday), but it's definitely one of the more fun books in the series. It's got a lovely nod to Dragons Love Tacos as well, which is one of the greatest children's books ever written so that's nice.
Those of you wanting to use it for educational purposes may like that it has several Chinese words in the back with definition and that it explains some of the holiday. While we've read this, we tend to skip it now in favor of just the story section.
All around a fun little read especially if you like the series. 3/5 stars.
April 6, 2020
I was going to hold this off until next year at New Years, but I needed some 2019 books for this month, so I’m using it. I can’t get books I need from the library.
This is the same kind of book as the rest of the How to Catch series. What is interesting about this is it seems to be set in China with a diverse set of kids running around, which is a neat idea to me. It’s Chinese New Years and the kids are trying to catch the lucky red dragon. Their traps aren’t very thought out here. The traps are sort of silly. Still it’s energetic and the artwork has bright colors.
Nephew read this with me and he adores these books. They have action and he loves the monsters they try and catch. He thought the red dragon was very cool. He said this book is great compared to the other stuff I’ve been getting for him, so he gave this 5 stars. He did have a dry spell of books that aren’t his genre, so I get it.
This is the same kind of book as the rest of the How to Catch series. What is interesting about this is it seems to be set in China with a diverse set of kids running around, which is a neat idea to me. It’s Chinese New Years and the kids are trying to catch the lucky red dragon. Their traps aren’t very thought out here. The traps are sort of silly. Still it’s energetic and the artwork has bright colors.
Nephew read this with me and he adores these books. They have action and he loves the monsters they try and catch. He thought the red dragon was very cool. He said this book is great compared to the other stuff I’ve been getting for him, so he gave this 5 stars. He did have a dry spell of books that aren’t his genre, so I get it.
August 26, 2021
Read for my toddler’s nap time. It’s a Chinese New Year book where the children wanted to catch a dragon. They set up traps, one was noodles and sticky rice set up like spider web it’s funny.
Read from kindle unlimited.
Read from kindle unlimited.
July 13, 2019
There's something about these books that makes it really hard for me to like them (even though I really want to). I think it's mainly the meter of the rhyming text. It just doesn't work. And I think I know why:
But this New Year, we're on the watch
to pick up any trail.
Oh wait--is that...? I thought I saw...
It is! A real red DRAGON'S TAIL!
That last line has two syllables too many. And for what? It's a picture book. We can see the red tail. The words "real" and "red" could've been left out, and the verse would've been improved immensely. The meter is like this throughout the book, with random numbers of syllables. I don't really care if the last words rhyme or not; when the meter is this clumsy, it's difficult to read.
An issue I have with this title in particular is the forced diversity. The story appears to be set in China, in an old-fashioned village. The main character is Chinese... but the majority of his friends aren't. The kid states that every year, he and his friends decorate the street for the New Year. Are we to believe that there are a bunch of white, black, and Latinx kids living in a traditional country village in China that appears to have a 19th-century level of technology? (The whole thing almost comes across as a Westerner's idea of China, which is sort of bordering on the offensive.)
I keep hoping that the issues with the meter will be cleared up in these books, but each one I read seems to be exactly the same. There's more to good hymnal quatrains than simply rhyming the last word of the second and fourth lines. The way these are written keeps tripping up my tongue, making me hesitant to want to read them aloud to a child.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Wonderland for providing a digital ARC.
But this New Year, we're on the watch
to pick up any trail.
Oh wait--is that...? I thought I saw...
It is! A real red DRAGON'S TAIL!
That last line has two syllables too many. And for what? It's a picture book. We can see the red tail. The words "real" and "red" could've been left out, and the verse would've been improved immensely. The meter is like this throughout the book, with random numbers of syllables. I don't really care if the last words rhyme or not; when the meter is this clumsy, it's difficult to read.
An issue I have with this title in particular is the forced diversity. The story appears to be set in China, in an old-fashioned village. The main character is Chinese... but the majority of his friends aren't. The kid states that every year, he and his friends decorate the street for the New Year. Are we to believe that there are a bunch of white, black, and Latinx kids living in a traditional country village in China that appears to have a 19th-century level of technology? (The whole thing almost comes across as a Westerner's idea of China, which is sort of bordering on the offensive.)
I keep hoping that the issues with the meter will be cleared up in these books, but each one I read seems to be exactly the same. There's more to good hymnal quatrains than simply rhyming the last word of the second and fourth lines. The way these are written keeps tripping up my tongue, making me hesitant to want to read them aloud to a child.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Wonderland for providing a digital ARC.
July 11, 2019
What a cute little story of Chinese New Year traditions, with a fun twist of this group of kiddos setting traps to try to catch a dragon. The art is bright and colorful, and there's a good cadence to the words that would work fabulously for a storytime session.
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
April 24, 2020
| Reader Fox Blog |
I really don't know how to feel about How to Catch a Dragon by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Andy Elkerton. On the one hand, I really wanted to enjoy the story, but on the other, it's just kind of missing the mark. And I get that perhaps not all children's books have to make sense, but there are certain things about this book that give me pause. And it all comes down to Chinese culture and diversity.
I'm not understanding why this Chinese New Year seems to be set in the past, a pre-technology kind of feel surrounds the whole book, which wouldn't really be a problem if they book didn't include a whole bunch of characters of different diversities. And perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but I'm kind of baffled as to why a white kid needs to be involved in a book that's portraying a story about a cultural tradition of China. It kind of makes the whole thing feel Westernized, which isn't good.
With that said, I did really enjoy most of the artwork and though the meter of the poetry is way off, it didn't bother me so much that it took too much away from the story. I don't think a kid is really going to mind that either, but I will admit that I do think it takes a little bit away from the overall song-feel of the tale, which I believe was the purpose of rhyming in the first place. The story is simple and nice.
My favorite part, however, was the inclusion of Mandarin translated words both throughout the book and in the back. It's an excellent learning opportunity for some children. It definitely wouldn't be enough if one is looking to have their child learn a second language, but it's still a great inclusion.
So, in the end, I'm somewhat back and forth regarding how I feel about this book. As I can't make up my mind, a rating of three seems reasonable.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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I really don't know how to feel about How to Catch a Dragon by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Andy Elkerton. On the one hand, I really wanted to enjoy the story, but on the other, it's just kind of missing the mark. And I get that perhaps not all children's books have to make sense, but there are certain things about this book that give me pause. And it all comes down to Chinese culture and diversity.
I'm not understanding why this Chinese New Year seems to be set in the past, a pre-technology kind of feel surrounds the whole book, which wouldn't really be a problem if they book didn't include a whole bunch of characters of different diversities. And perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but I'm kind of baffled as to why a white kid needs to be involved in a book that's portraying a story about a cultural tradition of China. It kind of makes the whole thing feel Westernized, which isn't good.
With that said, I did really enjoy most of the artwork and though the meter of the poetry is way off, it didn't bother me so much that it took too much away from the story. I don't think a kid is really going to mind that either, but I will admit that I do think it takes a little bit away from the overall song-feel of the tale, which I believe was the purpose of rhyming in the first place. The story is simple and nice.
My favorite part, however, was the inclusion of Mandarin translated words both throughout the book and in the back. It's an excellent learning opportunity for some children. It definitely wouldn't be enough if one is looking to have their child learn a second language, but it's still a great inclusion.
So, in the end, I'm somewhat back and forth regarding how I feel about this book. As I can't make up my mind, a rating of three seems reasonable.
I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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July 16, 2019
This is a very odd book, that looks like it was trying to be all things to all people. It appears to take place in a Chinese area, perhaps even China, yet, there are all sorts of ethnicities present. It also seems to be a village.
Each page has a word in English that is highlighted, and in the illsutration on the page, the corresponding Chinese character is drawn.
But there is nowhere in the book explaining that, or giving any background on the calligraphy of the first place
The story is in rhymes, which is never my favorite, and it shows all the things you might find by going to a Chinese new year celebration
\\
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Each page has a word in English that is highlighted, and in the illsutration on the page, the corresponding Chinese character is drawn.
But there is nowhere in the book explaining that, or giving any background on the calligraphy of the first place
The story is in rhymes, which is never my favorite, and it shows all the things you might find by going to a Chinese new year celebration
\\Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
April 15, 2023
we love a good children’s-book palette cleanser
March 14, 2020
Our main character's family and friends are preparing for the Chinese New Year. He hears his mother mention that a dragon would bring health and fortune and that they are missing one, so off he goes in search of the elusive creature. Gathering up his friends, who help hang lanterns every year, he chases a long red tail through his festively decorated village.
This fun book will take you on a chase through a beautifully illustrated cultural holiday, leaving hints of popular traditions and decorations as the group of diverse friends follow a long red dragon tail through town, attempting to catch it at every turn. With bright colors and textured details, this picture book will keep little listeners occupied with its busy illustrations.
I enjoyed this more than How To Catch A Dinosaur but I wish there had been extra information about the cultural items and traditions mentioned in the poem, such as 'Fai Chun'. Also, while I think it's great that the Mandarin version of the poem (both the symbols and phonetics) was included at the back, there is absolutely no mention that the language actually is Mandarin. I only know for sure because I asked someone but a simple heading or footnote stating that it is a 'Mandarin translation' would have been helpful. There are also symbols on the banners throughout the story and if you don't know any Mandarin at all, you don't get to know what it says, which is a little disappointing for someone like me who is fascinated by languages.
This review was originally shared on Lazy Day Literature.
This fun book will take you on a chase through a beautifully illustrated cultural holiday, leaving hints of popular traditions and decorations as the group of diverse friends follow a long red dragon tail through town, attempting to catch it at every turn. With bright colors and textured details, this picture book will keep little listeners occupied with its busy illustrations.
I enjoyed this more than How To Catch A Dinosaur but I wish there had been extra information about the cultural items and traditions mentioned in the poem, such as 'Fai Chun'. Also, while I think it's great that the Mandarin version of the poem (both the symbols and phonetics) was included at the back, there is absolutely no mention that the language actually is Mandarin. I only know for sure because I asked someone but a simple heading or footnote stating that it is a 'Mandarin translation' would have been helpful. There are also symbols on the banners throughout the story and if you don't know any Mandarin at all, you don't get to know what it says, which is a little disappointing for someone like me who is fascinated by languages.
This review was originally shared on Lazy Day Literature.
June 24, 2020
Written in rhyming text with adorable digitally painted artwork, a group of young children are chasing down a dragon. The story is set in China during the Chinese New Year and would make a fun fictional read while studying the holiday. The back matter includes a two paged spread of the poetic text written in three languages. The art was first sketched , then painted digitally with brushes designed by the artist.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
January 24, 2024
3 - 5 years,
Rhyming, and has chines translations in the back of the entire story.
Rhyming, and has chines translations in the back of the entire story.
June 16, 2020
This is another in the How to Catch series and it is cute, but not great. The location is unclear -- is it taking place in China? I like the idea of inclusive/diverse representation in the kids, but it feels forced. And the rhyme/meter is a little off at points. However, I think that a lot of classes do something similar to a lunar new year mini-lesson and this will be a very popular read aloud for that purpose.
February 7, 2020
This is the third book in the "How to Catch a" series by Adam Wallace we have read. We enjoyed this one as much as the others. This outing has the kids trying to find and catch a dragon, in this story it is a dragon that is part of a celebration for "Chinese New Year" The boy and his friends desperately wants to catch a dragon to guarantee health and good fortune for the New Year. He tries several different things to trap the dragon with his friends, but this dragon is tricky. I loved the illustrations in this story, they were so colourful and vibrant. I also like that this story deals with an ethnic holiday (Chinese New Year) and that the characters in the story were all nationalities. The text has a nice cadence to it with the rhyming prose. My grandson had not really heard about the celebration of Chinese New Year, so was very interested in what they do to celebrate. He asked a lot of questions so we looked for a simple book about this celebration at the library and read it together. So awesome that he wanted to do that. My granddaughter loved searching for the dragon and thought it was a fun story. Overall, a success for us and one I would recommend for libraries to have in their collections. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions share were our own.
August 12, 2019
I loved this book and can't wait to use it my classroom. When a family begins to celebrate the New Year they need to get everything in order, but they are missing the lucky dragon. I enjoyed the hints at other dragon books, the inclusion of many different colored characters and the fun way to teach children about Chinese New Year.
September 2, 2019
Excellent addition to the How to Catch collection of tales. In this one, the story centers on kids trying to catch the Chinese New Year's dragon and learning that family and friends stick with one another through thick and thin. Wonderful illustrations and translated version in the back of the book. Perfect for any younger middle grade reader.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jaberwocky for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jaberwocky for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.
January 30, 2024
A well illustrated book a weaving the story through Lunar New Year traditions. Especially good this year for year of the dragon. A mandarin translation at the back
September 19, 2025
I loved they added a cultural background in this one ! The rhymes were great, I really love this series.
March 4, 2020
My family loves the “How to Catch a....” books. They are fun to read and my kids love listening to them. I really enjoyed this one in particular because it talks about the Chinese New Year, as well as the Chinese culture in general. I like the fact that it mixes in different ethnicities in the illustrations, and that it represents a different culture for these fun stories!
August 4, 2019
My beautiful, precocious, literature loving daughter and I read this together and are reviewing it in 2 parts. The first review will be my (not-so-tiny) munchkin's perspective and then I will chime in with my 2 cents.
Miss A: 9 years old
"I thought the book was cool because the pictures were bright and cheerful. I especially liked the dragon. I think the rhyming made the story more fun. I was a bit confused with the Mandarin characters that were randomly given because there weren't any explanations or even ways to pronounce them. My favorite parts were when the kids threw money around and when the dragon looked around the building with a mischievous look.
I loved the story's message. I think it was saying that even though they're really awesome, you don't need a dragon to be happy.
I give it 4.5 Stars. I would have given it 5 stars if it was longer"
Me: :::mumble, mumble::: years old
I agreed almost wholeheartedly with my daughter...an increasingly rarer occurrence these days. The pictures were vibrant and the rhyming was cute. On the other hand, I found the book's brevity to be a little jarring. It felt like we were just getting into the meat and potatoes of the story when it was cut short. Yes, there was some plot resolution but I felt a little cheated that the story was so succinct. We didn't know that there were other books in the series until we came across what I believed to be a contextual clue regarding tacos. Not having read the previous installments in the series did not negatively affect our understanding or enjoyment of the book.
The moral I got from the story was: who needs a dragon when you're surrounded by loving family? As long as you have Family, you're already lucky and rich... in love.
Overall: this series would be a bigger hit, in my household, if it was a heartier/lengthier story. Maybe we weren't the optimal demographic for this read but we still enjoyed it.
I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*** I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***
Miss A: 9 years old
"I thought the book was cool because the pictures were bright and cheerful. I especially liked the dragon. I think the rhyming made the story more fun. I was a bit confused with the Mandarin characters that were randomly given because there weren't any explanations or even ways to pronounce them. My favorite parts were when the kids threw money around and when the dragon looked around the building with a mischievous look.
I loved the story's message. I think it was saying that even though they're really awesome, you don't need a dragon to be happy.
I give it 4.5 Stars. I would have given it 5 stars if it was longer"
Me: :::mumble, mumble::: years old
I agreed almost wholeheartedly with my daughter...an increasingly rarer occurrence these days. The pictures were vibrant and the rhyming was cute. On the other hand, I found the book's brevity to be a little jarring. It felt like we were just getting into the meat and potatoes of the story when it was cut short. Yes, there was some plot resolution but I felt a little cheated that the story was so succinct. We didn't know that there were other books in the series until we came across what I believed to be a contextual clue regarding tacos. Not having read the previous installments in the series did not negatively affect our understanding or enjoyment of the book.
The moral I got from the story was: who needs a dragon when you're surrounded by loving family? As long as you have Family, you're already lucky and rich... in love.
Overall: this series would be a bigger hit, in my household, if it was a heartier/lengthier story. Maybe we weren't the optimal demographic for this read but we still enjoyed it.
I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*** I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***
November 4, 2019
A little boy desperately wants to catch a dragon to guarantee health and good fortune for the New Year. He tries several different things to trap the dragon with his friends, but this dragon is tricky. Will he ever catch it?
This book introduces a couple Chinese New Year traditions while the kids trying to catch a dragon while getting ready for the holiday. I wouldn’t necessarily pick this as the only Chinese New Year picture book to read as I think some others summarize the main traditional parts of the celebration better, but if you are reading several you might want to consider adding this to the mix. This one definitely stands out for focusing on the dragon and the multicultural group of kids celebrating (makes me wonder if it is supposed to be in Hong Kong or Singapore). The story is told in rhyme and it is ok, but occasionally falters a little in rhythm. I wasn’t super impressed by that at first, but then I saw in the back that the text is again provided in English, Pinyin, and Mandarin (I think…it could be Cantonese) side by side, and I’m suspecting that to make the side-by-side translation work they had to occasionally sacrifice some rhythm. If you know a little one who is looking for a bilingual tale or is bored of the same old Chinese New Year tales, give this one a shot.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book introduces a couple Chinese New Year traditions while the kids trying to catch a dragon while getting ready for the holiday. I wouldn’t necessarily pick this as the only Chinese New Year picture book to read as I think some others summarize the main traditional parts of the celebration better, but if you are reading several you might want to consider adding this to the mix. This one definitely stands out for focusing on the dragon and the multicultural group of kids celebrating (makes me wonder if it is supposed to be in Hong Kong or Singapore). The story is told in rhyme and it is ok, but occasionally falters a little in rhythm. I wasn’t super impressed by that at first, but then I saw in the back that the text is again provided in English, Pinyin, and Mandarin (I think…it could be Cantonese) side by side, and I’m suspecting that to make the side-by-side translation work they had to occasionally sacrifice some rhythm. If you know a little one who is looking for a bilingual tale or is bored of the same old Chinese New Year tales, give this one a shot.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 11, 2019
How to Catch a Dragon opens with a boy, his mother, and his grandmother preparing for Chinese New Year. The boy overhears his mother saying that a dragon would bring health and fortune, so he sets out with a group of friends to capture a dragon. Despite a series of cleverly planned traps, the children never manage to catch the dragon they were hunting. The boy returns home with a small dragon that his mother appreciates. The brightly colored illustrations in this book are interesting and engaging. Young readers will enjoy seeing how the dragon manages to escape each of the traps. The illustrations capture the loving relationship that the boy has with his mother and grandmother.
There is Chinese text incorporated in illustrations throughout the book. As an educator, I would love to know the translations for this text as it would add to the educational value.
I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #HowtoCatchaDragon
There is Chinese text incorporated in illustrations throughout the book. As an educator, I would love to know the translations for this text as it would add to the educational value.
I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #HowtoCatchaDragon
October 18, 2019
I keep trying these books and I'm always so disappointed. The way the book is written, the words don't flow the way they should and I continually have to stop and kind of re-read the words in my head and then find some sort of flow so that it fits better.
The illustrations are great and it's fun to look at. This one though, was set in what seems like China, and yet the ethnicity of the characters seem varied. It's great to do that in a book set in America, but if this was meant to teach us a bit about China, it's not quite the melting pot America is. Sure there are some different nationalities, but when you walk down a street in China, even in Hong Kong, it really is very Chinese, so to see the wide-variety of nationalities; it just seemed off for the story.
I liked the idea of the English word and the Chinese character highlighted on the pages. I would have liked a bit more information about that as it intrigued my child.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The illustrations are great and it's fun to look at. This one though, was set in what seems like China, and yet the ethnicity of the characters seem varied. It's great to do that in a book set in America, but if this was meant to teach us a bit about China, it's not quite the melting pot America is. Sure there are some different nationalities, but when you walk down a street in China, even in Hong Kong, it really is very Chinese, so to see the wide-variety of nationalities; it just seemed off for the story.
I liked the idea of the English word and the Chinese character highlighted on the pages. I would have liked a bit more information about that as it intrigued my child.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
August 20, 2019
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
This was my first introduction to the How to Catch kids and I am finding myself wanting to read more for this series. This is a very cute rhyming book about Chinese New Year. The kids are trying to catch a dragon for the celebration. As they try different traps, the reader gets to see some of the Chinese New Year traditions. I personally love the reference to Dragons Love Tacos when the main character mentions using rice to catch this dragon and not tacos.
This was my first introduction to the How to Catch kids and I am finding myself wanting to read more for this series. This is a very cute rhyming book about Chinese New Year. The kids are trying to catch a dragon for the celebration. As they try different traps, the reader gets to see some of the Chinese New Year traditions. I personally love the reference to Dragons Love Tacos when the main character mentions using rice to catch this dragon and not tacos.
October 7, 2019
A very cute picture book. With a focus on the Chinese New Year it gives background information to young children about how other cultures celebrate a holiday. The art work really sells this one - the reader can follow the dragon on each page. I was given an advance copy through NetGalley in a document form and did have some issues viewing the text but the overall effect of the story was very enjoyable, I know that there is a Mandarin translation in the back of the book but had a hard time navigating through this section. A great addition to share with children as they explore a new culture. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to review this book.
January 27, 2020
Set during the Chinese Lunar New Year Festival, a boy and his friends try to catch a Dragon for Good luck, amidst the celebration.
Playfully and respectfully talks about some of the traditions of the Festival including the Dragon parade, the lanterns, the sticky rice balls and dumplings, and the fireworks.
A cool added tidbit is in the back of the book, all of the text is translated side by side in Chinese. Cool!
All of Adam Wallace's "How to Catch" series are beautifully illustrated and cover ideas of creative thinking and inventive thought-process.
Playfully and respectfully talks about some of the traditions of the Festival including the Dragon parade, the lanterns, the sticky rice balls and dumplings, and the fireworks.
A cool added tidbit is in the back of the book, all of the text is translated side by side in Chinese. Cool!
All of Adam Wallace's "How to Catch" series are beautifully illustrated and cover ideas of creative thinking and inventive thought-process.
July 11, 2019
How to Catch a Dragon is a story about s young boy and his friends trying to catch a dragon for good fortune. He is spending time with his mother and grandmother when he takes off on an adventure.
I liked the story. It was cute and fun to read. The illustrations were colourful and great the way the dragon always evaded them, always just out of frame.
It was pretty interesting how there were translations at the end of the book. Learning new languages is always fun.
I liked the story. It was cute and fun to read. The illustrations were colourful and great the way the dragon always evaded them, always just out of frame.
It was pretty interesting how there were translations at the end of the book. Learning new languages is always fun.
July 24, 2019
Hhmmm, I wanted to like this book more than I did. I was a bit confused by all the nationalities of kids in town as it made it hard to figure out where this story was suppose to be taking place. I was also a bit confused by the ending saying they had not caught the dragon, when they obviously had. The translations in the back are great fun, but I wish they said what the languages are. Artwork is cute.
July 26, 2019
4.5 Stars
Adam Wallace’s colorful children book, How to Catch a Dragon, easily explains the traditions of the Chinese New Years to anyone unfamiliar with the culture. The rhymes were fun, flowed well, and would have been easily understood by younger children. The artwork was cute and matched each stanza. My only complaint is that even the ending isn’t what I expected (which I loved) the resolution is a bit rushed.
Adam Wallace’s colorful children book, How to Catch a Dragon, easily explains the traditions of the Chinese New Years to anyone unfamiliar with the culture. The rhymes were fun, flowed well, and would have been easily understood by younger children. The artwork was cute and matched each stanza. My only complaint is that even the ending isn’t what I expected (which I loved) the resolution is a bit rushed.
August 5, 2019
I enjoyed the fun this story weaves into the children trying to catch a dragon. The simplicity of the pictures are not overwhelming. They provide the right amount of art and support to what is being read in the text. In addition, the artwork is very colorful, and works well with the Chinese culture that the story is representing.
This would be a very nice addition to any storytime selection of books, and most definitely to a library's collection.
This would be a very nice addition to any storytime selection of books, and most definitely to a library's collection.
September 13, 2019
Cute story from the famous author of the "How to catch" series , but this has to be my favorite; its got a DRAGON!! The story incorporates Chinese New Year celebrations, customs and even the language! I really enjoyed the educational aspect of the Chinese customs and the highlighted words in English and the corresponding Chinese characters on select items throughout the story. Recommended!
#Howtocatchadragon #Netgalley
#Howtocatchadragon #Netgalley
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