Anita and the Dragons by Hannah Carmona

The book this week is Anita and the Dragons, and WOW. It’s totally not what I thought it would be about, but follows Anita on the run up to an important journey. We see the world through the eyes of a child with an amazing imagination, and we get a glimpse of what immigration can be like - something that seems more important than ever right now.

The illustrations are beautiful and they draw you in to Anita’s fantastical world. I think this is the kind of book that would be excellent to read and talk about in schools with children aged about 6 and up - I would have loved to have used it for an assembly if I was still teaching. I’d have read the book to the children and then opened up a discussion

Anita and the Dragons was not quite I imagined it from the title. It’s story of bravery, family, culture and emotions of a little girl on a big journey.

The illustrations in this book are just stunning and bring the whole story alive.

Anita and the dragons wasn’t a huge hit with Teddie (5) I think it was abit to long winded for him and did not quite understand the story and grasp the message. I think he was expecting actual dragons but he did enjoy the pictures. It opened up further conversations with Tily (9) but unfortunately I don’t think it will be a book that will get reached for to often from the bookshelf

We have loved this book!!! Matthew particularly loved the dragons are planes in the sky and will now be using that every time he sees a plane!
Such a wonderful story about Princesa Anita who is going a wonderful adventure of moving to a whole new place and leaving her island in the Dominican Republic and her Abuela. But she is scared to leave her life behind, and worried she will be sad and lonely.
She takes a deep breath and sends a message to her island, she will be back again. She is brave and takes the flight to her new adventures.
The descriptions in the story are in such detail, Matthew said he felt like he could feel how she was feeling.
The story also opened up conversations on what languages they speak in different parts of the world as Anita was going to learn English. He couldn’t believe that at the time we would be reading a story in bed they would have no electricity. “We are lucky” he said.
Matthew could ready most of the story himself, a couple tricky new words he was unsure of, but over all a lovely read for his level.
The illustrations are just beautiful and so effective. It left Matthew imagining what Anita’s face was like when she boarded the plane, and what her home town could be like.
Overall a truly lovely story

{I was kindly gifted a copy by babipur in exchange for an honest review}

Absolutely loved reading this book! A lovely honest portrayal of the reality of child moving to a very different life across the world. A completely new story I've never heard anything remotely like before that breaches a really important narrative of something that happens often that children won't have come across - especially from the point of view of the child themselves moving. An honest account of the feelings going through the child's mind and such an important message of bravery during such a big change in a child's life.

I read it to my 8 week old & 2 year old but I think they'll appreciate it more when they're older (especially the 8 week old who has no clue

This is such a lovely book - the illustrations and the pastel colours throughout are stunning.

The story is told through the eyes of young girl, and you experience her innocence as she imagines she is a princess, she lives in a castle and planes are dragons. It focuses on one family's journey from the Dominican Republic and could open up further discussions, however my 5 year old didn't quite grasp this. I would therefore say that this would be suitable for children of around 7.

Overall this is a wonderful book which highlights poverty, family and new adventures and is a fabulous addition to our book collection!