by Julie Gassman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An obviously timely book, exactly what every child under 5 probably needs right now. Today's little ones will be hygiene superstars in the future!
Do Not Let Your Dragon Spread Germs teaches hand washing, mask wearing, social distancing and repeats the mantra "do not let your dragon spread germs" many times. Toddlers will love to repeat over and over again the title as it comes up every 3-5 pages; and is often written to imply you should yell it out!
The dragons get up to antics in these brightly coloured pages including: setting things on fire, trying to put on a mask over a large snout, and difficulty of social distancing. There is good diversity as we are shown not only different dragons but each page has a different child 'handler' for their pet dragon. This allows the illustrations to show diversity in race and gender.
I especially like the section, near the end, about: not wanting to over worry anyone, make your friends mad that you can't sit closer to one another or upsetting anyone. One line is even "stay home when you're sick, and just do your best." Acknowledging that kids (and adults) are more upset right now and it's hard for everyone. Even though this isn't advice on hygiene, it may be the single most important page of this cute story as it reinforces that it's okay to worry and be upset.
When reading this book it reminded me of a video I saw a couple months ago. It was of a one year old girl. She was sooo cute and toddled her way outdoors to anything square that might have looked like a hand sanitizing station. She'd put her hands underneath said square item (usually a block, electrical piece, or other innocuous item low to the ground that adults don't even notice) and pretend to wait for the sanitizer to pour; then rub her hands together to get it all over. Both the cutest (and possibly saddest) video of what it means to be born in the middle of a pandemic. She is trying to be just like the adults. This is ultimately what kids want to be in the end is like the adults. This is a good reminder that kids mimic us all the time; and so it's critical to set a good example during this time of difficulty. To the littlest of us it becomes 'old hat' very quick.
The person I know who has adapted to masks and distancing the easiest is 5 years old. She just shrugs when asked how it is to wear a mask at school; as every day she has every gone to school that has been the rule; so it's just part of a normal school day to her.
This is a great reminder that we can all do this. It might be uncomfortable, inconvenient, and depressing but it can also just become part of the routine. Keep this in mind as we teach the youngest of us how to fight against an invisible force of contagion.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Follow me on Goodreads
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An obviously timely book, exactly what every child under 5 probably needs right now. Today's little ones will be hygiene superstars in the future!
Do Not Let Your Dragon Spread Germs teaches hand washing, mask wearing, social distancing and repeats the mantra "do not let your dragon spread germs" many times. Toddlers will love to repeat over and over again the title as it comes up every 3-5 pages; and is often written to imply you should yell it out!
The dragons get up to antics in these brightly coloured pages including: setting things on fire, trying to put on a mask over a large snout, and difficulty of social distancing. There is good diversity as we are shown not only different dragons but each page has a different child 'handler' for their pet dragon. This allows the illustrations to show diversity in race and gender.
I especially like the section, near the end, about: not wanting to over worry anyone, make your friends mad that you can't sit closer to one another or upsetting anyone. One line is even "stay home when you're sick, and just do your best." Acknowledging that kids (and adults) are more upset right now and it's hard for everyone. Even though this isn't advice on hygiene, it may be the single most important page of this cute story as it reinforces that it's okay to worry and be upset.
When reading this book it reminded me of a video I saw a couple months ago. It was of a one year old girl. She was sooo cute and toddled her way outdoors to anything square that might have looked like a hand sanitizing station. She'd put her hands underneath said square item (usually a block, electrical piece, or other innocuous item low to the ground that adults don't even notice) and pretend to wait for the sanitizer to pour; then rub her hands together to get it all over. Both the cutest (and possibly saddest) video of what it means to be born in the middle of a pandemic. She is trying to be just like the adults. This is ultimately what kids want to be in the end is like the adults. This is a good reminder that kids mimic us all the time; and so it's critical to set a good example during this time of difficulty. To the littlest of us it becomes 'old hat' very quick.
The person I know who has adapted to masks and distancing the easiest is 5 years old. She just shrugs when asked how it is to wear a mask at school; as every day she has every gone to school that has been the rule; so it's just part of a normal school day to her.
This is a great reminder that we can all do this. It might be uncomfortable, inconvenient, and depressing but it can also just become part of the routine. Keep this in mind as we teach the youngest of us how to fight against an invisible force of contagion.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
Follow me on Goodreads
1 comment:
Aw, this sounds like a real great book! And someone imagine getting this now as a kid, then showing it to their own kids twenty, thirty years down in the line, when all this hopefully is but a distant memory, how fun.
Post a Comment