Azmina the Gold Glitter Dragon

Dragon Girls #1

by Maddy Mara

Azmin acabou de se mudar para uma casa nova. Mas ela não sabia o que a aguardava. No fundo do quintal, ao seguir uma música encantadora, a menina foi levada para dentro da floresta. E, ao olhar o próprio reflexo nas águas de um lago, fez uma descoberta incrí ela tinha se transformado em uma dragoa! E logo Azmina descobriu que não estava sozinha. Suas amigas Wilma e Naomi estavam lá, também como belíssimas dragoas. Uau! E quando foram convocadas pela Rainha Árvore, as amigas se sentiram muito especiais. Só que agora elas vão precisar mostrar sua força e usar seus poderes para livrar a Floresta Mágica da maldade das Fadas das Sombras, as malignas criaturas que querem transformar tudo em um lugar sombrio e assustador. Será que as três amigas vão conseguir evitar o pior?

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Dragons, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Fiction, Magic

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2021

About the author

Maddy Mara is the pen name of Melbourne-based creative duo Hilary Rogers and Meredith Badger. Hilary and Meredith have been collaborating on children's books for nearly two decades. Hilary is an author and former publishing director; Meredith is the author of countless books for kids and young adults, and teaches English as a foreign language. Maddy Mara is the melding of their respective daughters' names.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stars from too-grown-up me but four stars from my childhood self who would, I'm sure, have loved this. It is full of lovely fantasy elements and exciting adventure (and there's a creature that's like a leopard-cub with butterfly wings called Buttercub--I would have major wanted one of those!) It has plenty of issues in the plausibility department and the world-building isn't super strong given it's such a short book, but, I mean, a girl turns into a dragon and gets to fly around a magical forest and help the Tree Queen, so, I don't think I would have cared overmuch about the details ;-)

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one to my 6 year old daughter and she really enjoyed it. I liked how there were illustrations inside as well. The shape shifting concept is really fun and I appreciated some of the creativity and how it was age appropriate too. Will continue to read the series.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series as part of a book club with my 7 year-old niece. It was fantastic and a great fit for her reading level! Virtual classes have been a struggle, so we were thankful for finding this series during this time. The plot kept her very engaged and motivated to keep reading!! :)

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy fun read my girls loved! Onto book 2!

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids love this series. This book is about three Dragon Girls. The villains in this book are the Shadow Sprites. Then, in the third, there's the Shadow Queen. In the first three books, they have to collect the magical ingredients to make a potion. The second three books become more of a treasure hunt to find objects and return them to a magic vault that lives underneath the magic forest.

Kids can find themselves in this series. Each book has a different character with different personalities that you can follow on the journey into the Magic Forest. There are also various cultural backgrounds incorporated into the stories. Kids will lose themselves and find themselves at the same time. Kids get to find their own inner dragon and be fierce, independent, and magical.

To listen to my interview with the authors, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/mad...

[Natalie Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated by Tylee "I really like dragons and how they made the story."

[Lindsey_reads_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book I read to my girls (5 & 6) and they loved it.

[Avani · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was my first chapter book. I like the dragons. My favourite character is the tree queen.

[Andrew Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book my 5 yr old ever purchased from the book fair, and she made me read it to her. At least it can only get better from here. Look, she loved it, and thats what counts. But where kids like any type of childrens TV show, regardless of whether its an award winning PBS show or some cheaply made rip off cartoon on Netflix. But adults know the difference. And this is the first kids book I've read to the children that I secretly hoped they had forgotten about so I wouldn't have to keep reading it.

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book about friendship, adventure and trusting yourself.
I like the lessons presented and the very cool world developed here.
Plus there are dragons and glitter, let's be real, that's what I'm here for.
I look forward to sharing this with my niblings and reading more in the series with them.

[Ela's Welt der Bücher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Buch war auch im Vorschaupaket und weil es süß aussah, hab ich es gleich mitgenommen. Es ist schnell durchgelesen und obwohl ich nicht die richtige Zielgruppe bin, kann ich mir vorstellen, dass es Mädels sicher gut gefallen könnte. Ich fand es echt süß, mein Liebling war Pünktchen, so einen Freund kann man immer brauchen.
4 Sterne

[Corinna Pehla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Auftakt zu einer wunderschönen neuen Kinderbuchreihe.

Drachen sind magisch und vermitteln das Gefühl von Abenteuer und Freiheit. Und in genau so einen Drachen verwandelt sich Azmina im Zauberwald.
Zusammen mit zwei anderen Drachen (Mädchen aus ihrer neuen Schule) muss sie den Wald retten.

Und genau diese Aspekte, das neue Mädchen an der Schule, eine neue Situation und neue Freunde wird in diesem Buch sehr schön dargestellt.
Zusammen ist man stärker, wir können alles und wir sind für einander da... alles Werte die hier vermittelt werden.

Dabei ist dieses Kinderbuch ganz nebenbei voll mit wunderschönen Illustrationen und lässt sich sehr leicht lesen. Trotzdem bleibt aber einiges an Spannung.
Die Kapitel sind nicht zu lang und auch die Geschichte ist schnell gelesen.

Ich glaube hier werden noch drachenstarke Abenteuer folgen.

[Mollie Britcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beck wasn’t super interested but Averie gave this 5 ⭐️ I absolutely loved reading this with them tho and we can’t wait to start number 2! Averie wants to be a ✨Glitter Dragon Girl✨ when she grows up now

[Zoe Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a good, quick book. Great for after an intense and emotional novel.

[Xandra Wille · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m reading this series with my daughter. These are so well written and magical! There’s too many poorly written chapter books for kids out there. This series is not one of them. Highly recommend for some snuggly reading with your kids!

[Josie P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad azmina pushed through!

[Esme Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My niece really loves these books and i told her i would read them too so we can start a book club. It was a very cute premise, and I love dragons, though it's a turn on having a pet dragon, instead the protagonist can turn INTO a dragon (weredragons?). Regardless. Dragons are cool.

[Alexandra Maag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was the writing stellar? No. Did my 5 year old beg to read another chapter every time we finished one? Yes. She was deeply involved in the story and loved everything from Buttercub to the dragon girls. I wouldn’t recommend it for adults but the book was super fun for a young girl.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss 6 decided I needed to read this series and I enjoyed it.

[Steph Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Magic Forest, Magic Forest, come explore. Magic Forest, Magic Forest, hear my roar!”

Azmina the Gold Glitter Dragon is the first book of The Glitter Dragon series of Dragon Girls books. The Glitter Dragons have several series, with The Glitter Dragons being a 3 book series.

This book is at Reading Level: Grade 3, and Appeals To: 2nd-3rd graders.

The book begins introducing the main character Azmina as the new girl at school and discusses with the reader the fears of being in a new environment and challenges of making new friends. Azmina meets two girls who have an established friendship with whom she’d like to join, but is hesitant and unsure of approaching them to be friends.

When Azmina is summoned to the Magic Forest where she morphs into the Gold Glitter Dragon, she meets up with two dragons who seem very familiar— quickly realizing that the Silver Glitter Dragon is Willa and the Rqinbow Glitter Dragon is Naomi—the two girls at school Azmina wanted to be friends with.

In this book you also meet my personal favorite character, Buttercub— who is a crossbreed between a lion, leopard, and butterfly. He assists the trio along the way when they are called for by the Tree Queen to take on the Shadow Sprites to prevent the Shadow Queen’s return. The dragon girls are given a magic apple, much like a crystal ball, and sent on a quest collecting ingredients to make an ancient potion to prevent the Shadow Sprites from stealing the sunshine.

The book does well addressing that it’s normal to be fearful of new, new friends, new environment, and new adventure, and shows the reader that new can be great when you give yourself the opportunity to welcome it. The reader sees friendship formed through teamwork and we observe Azmina come to a sense of belonging.

This book is for our 9 year old daughter, and I can easily find why the book would be so relatable for her; she began at a new school this year, and expressed concern initially for making new friends and fitting in. Her hesitancy was short-lived, and much like Azmina she seems to have found her sense of belonging and is thriving in her new atmosphere. She appears to love this book, already wants to read the entire series, and has even began another Dragon Girls series as well.

All in all, as a parent I love that the book reiterates teamwork and promotes imagination. As a fellow fantasy-reading dragon lover myself, I’m excited for how excited this book made our daughter and how interested she is in reading.

Lastly, don’t be surprised if your kiddo starts saying that they can sneeze glitter and hiccup flames after reading this book (:

[Liz Seasalt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Azmina ist gerade umgezogen. Sie weiß noch nicht genau, wie ihr Leben an dem neuen Ort aussehen wird, mit wem sie sich in der Schule anfreundet, was ihre Hobbys sein werden. Hinter dem neuen Haus gibt es einen großen Wald, und als Azmina einige Zeit im Garten verbringt, scheint der Wald nach ihr zu rufen!
Der erste Band der Dragon Girls-Reihe ist eine süße Geschichte über Freundschaft und Zusammenhalt. Noch sind die anderen beiden Mädchen, mit denen Azmina zusammentrifft, eher schemenhaft, doch soweit ich das verstanden habe, bekommen beide ihr eigenes Buch gewidmet, also finde ich das nicht weiter schlimm. Ich hätte mir gewünscht, dass es etwas länger wäre und wir vielleicht noch etwas mehr über Azmina, ihre Familie und ihren Umzug erfahren. Hier habe ich Hoffnung, dass solche Aspekte in den weiteren Bänden angesprochen werden. Alles in allem fand ich das Buch jedoch sehr süß und kann mir gut vorstellen, dass Kinder diese Reihe sehr gern haben würden.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not the intended audience for this book, so my star rating should be taken with a large grain of salt. The story is great for young fantasy lovers and early chapter book readers. I blasted through the story in an hour on audiobook. It felt quite rushed, but if a young person is reading the hard copy book it would take longer and the story would be much better paced.

The story has some great lessons about friendship, teamwork, and believing in yourself. Of course the dragon element is a big win. It’s also the first in a series, so bonus points for reluctant readers that might enjoy this genre. Recommended for young readers of early chapter books with big imaginations and a love of dragons.

[Tiffany (Work Kids N Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was gifted to my 7 daughter and my girls (8 and 7 yr olds) and I read it together before bed. They loved it!! The story is right at their level and adding glitter, magic, and cute sidekicks rounded out their love! It recommends 2nd-3rd grade reading level and that is spot on. My first grader loved the story, but needed someone to read it with her. My 3rd grader tore through the story in less than 48 hours.

[Shannon M.]

Reading this series with my daughter -- it's very basic, and can actually be quite annoying, to be honest. I feel like they are extremely simple, but should give kids a bit more credit. That's just me though. Cute story!

[Colleen Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about working as a team with magic dragons

[Elena Noemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very adventurous and mysterious and I love it

[Matty DeVore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I need to add a shelf for books I only read for the sake of my elementary school students lmao

[Pixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girl gave it a 5 star about her thoughts on the book we’ll have to wait for another day she’s sleepy 😅📚✨

[Charlie Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me so long to read this book! When my mom got me other books like My Little Pony, I kept reading them instead of this. I can’t believe I finally finished this book.

This book is about these three girls that can turn into dragons! In another world, they try to fix all the darkness that is happening. They have to make a magic potion that can fix things. It’s also about a lonely girl learning to make friends. I can’t wait to read dragon girls two!

[Stephanie Sale · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter enjoyed the book enough to want to see what happens in the 2nd book.

I felt that this book has a lot of fluff that really didn’t move the story along. I found myself editing and streamlining the story as I read aloud to my daughter to keep her engaged. If I was getting bored reading it, I knew she had to as well.

This book has a lot of potential but, for a children’s book, takes too long to get to the action.