Rhyming, counting, and an impatient baby dragon - charming! (And no one at the castle gets eaten: the dragons put on a fireworks show in the sky.) ( )

Over at the Castle is a cute counting book that tells us about a kingdom and those who live in it, including two dragons. I enjoyed the rhyming, it gave the story a nice pace. I think children will enjoy it as well, the rhyming is repetitive, so they will probably be able to catch on and follow along aloud. The counting is great and done interestingly, each time the story goes to a different part of the kingdom, rhyming the entire time. The characters are also charming, I particularly enjoyed the part where we see the dungeons and a prisoner plotting his escape with his rat friends. I think young readers will enjoy those quirks as well as the dragons in the story.
The illustrations are colorful and descriptive, showing us what is happening in the story along with the text. The color palette is muted, giving the story that extra feeling of an old story told long ago. Overall, a fun read with cute characters. ( )

Over at the Castle, readers get to see the different thing that happen at the castle and what each person does as well as dragons. ( )

Clever, charming, fun enough to read again and again which is good because your child will likely want you to do so. Maybe not necessary, as I'm kinda bored of castles, and would rather see Over in the Meadow" reworked for the 21st century, but dragon stories sell, so this is fine." ( )

This is a cute story about a mother dragon and her baby and what happens at a nearby castle. The two dragons are preparing for something, we know not what, and are waiting for the right moment. In the meantime, we see what goes on inside the castle.

The dragons can be seen in the background peeking over walls and the like while the townspeople go about their business. This cute and comical but also helps create an air of suspense. It was also the thing my son enjoyed most about the book. I will not mention what actually happens.

Cute story. Really nice illustrations. I would recommend this for young children, age 3-7. ( )