The Dear Dragon series is made up of several books that are easy readers. They use site vocabulary that is printed in the back of the book (67 words). There are also several activities listed at the back of the book for reading reinforcement. It reminds me of the books I learned to read with. I love the updated books with newer illustrations.

In this book, the circus is in town. The boy, dragon and his friends head off to the parade followed by the circus. Dragon disappears and ends up in the show. He is on the tightrope, riding a unicycle and more. The boys keeps telling him to come back but dragon is having fun. The illustrations are wonderful and illustrate the text perfectly. These Beginning-to-Read books capture the imaginations of beginning readers and help them on their way to independent reading. They could also be read aloud to young children who are not able to read yet. A great addition to a family library or a primary classroom.

Thank you to Netgalley and Norwood House Press for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

~ from the Library

IT'S CIRCUS TIME, DEAR DRAGON is at the Kindergarten, almost First Grade, reading level. This book has 322 Total words; 65 different vocabulary words.

The story follows Dragon and boy as they go to the circus. The see animals and performers and unlike other books in the series, Dragon acts up and gets involved in doing some goofy things. On one page he follows a baby elephant, holding it's tail. On other pages he is up on a high wire and standing on a ball while the seals clap.

Most pages have 3-4 short sentences. There are a couple of pages though that have more text than some children might be used to. I'll give a sample sentence of one of the more wordy pages.

Oh, no!
How did you get way up there?
That is not a good spot for you.
Come down. Come down.
I did not come here to
see you do something.
I want you here with me.


I generally like Margaret Hillert books and I used them with my own kiddos. They are structured in the old Dick-and-Jane style and they gave my children confidence, even the one who was intimidated by lots of text.