Not Your Typical Dragon

Written by Dan Bar-el

Illustrated by Tim Bowers

Viking, 2013

I first heard Not Your Typical Dragon being read aloud on Julie’s Library, a podcast by Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton. For a wonderful read aloud, check out then July 29th podcast at: https://www.julieslibraryshow.org/episode/2020/07/29/not-your-typical-dragon-rooster-wore-skinny-jeans .

After hearing Julie read Not Your Typical Dragon in her beautiful voice, I had to get a copy of my own. I fell in love with Crispin, the not-so-typical dragon. Truly an individual, Crispin fell far short of expected dragon-y behaviors and disappointed his father, family, and even a few knights. This book is a fun and surprising read!

What I Loved About This Book:

~ The not-your-typical dragon, Crispin

~ The humor and unexpected happenings once Crispin grew into his dragon abilities at the age of seven

~ Help that comes from unexpected places

~ Fun, colorful illustrations

~ Clever story and interactions between characters

Amazon Blurb:

Everybody knows your typical dragon breathes fire.

But when Crispin tries to breathe fire on his seventh birthday, fire doesn’t come out—only whipped cream! Each time Crispin tries to breathe fire, he ends up with

Band-Aids

marshmallows

teddy bears?

Crispin wonders if he’ll ever find his inner fire. But when a family emergency breaks out, it takes a little dragon with not-so-typical abilities to save the day.

With wry humor and whimsical illustrations, Not Your Typical Dragon is the perfect story for any child who can’t help feeling a little bit different.