Roar and Sparkles Go to School

by Sarah Beth Durst, Ben Whitehouse (Illustrator)

Overview

The first day of school can be scary but Roar and Sparkles the dragons will help kids get over their fears of a new experience.

Roar is worried about his first day at school. He's worried that he'll have to do really hard things, like molt his scales and fly over a volcano. And what if his teacher doesn't like dragons?

Big sister Sparkles reassures Roar That school is fun. And when the first day of school arrives, Roar finds his worries melt away.
He meets new friends, plays dragon games, listens to fun stories, and finds a way to thank his sister for support.

Roar and Sparkles Go to School is a sweet story about the anxieties children may feel about attending school for the first time, as well as a comforting tale about the bond between siblings. Sarah Beth Durst's imaginative and playful script is enhanced by Ben Whitehouse's modern and fresh illustrations to create a book that's sure to squelch first-day-of-school worries for children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762460441
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	79 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of nine fantasy novels for children, teens, and adults. She was awarded the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature and has been a finalist for SFWA's Andre Norton Award.

Ben Whitehouse is an illustrator born and raised in Birmingham UK. He recently lived in Vienna, Austria for a year, but is now back in the UK and based in Bourne, Lincolnshire, where he lives with his lovely girlfriend, Yvonne, and their crazy border collie named Sparrow. Ben has previously worked in the animation industry as a character designer, animator, and stop motion puppet maker before finding his feet within the world of illustration.

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2017
A small yellow dragon named Roar tries to shake his first-day-of-school jitters in this encouraging story, Durst’s (The Girl Who Could Not Dream) first picture book. Luckily, Roar has an older sister, Sparkles, who provides encouragement at every turn—the story charts a standard path as Roar’s worries turn out to be unfounded and he enjoys himself at school, playing games, making a new friend, and finding a way to thank his sister. In appealing illustrations that have a bright, crayony roughness, Whitehouse (the Rider Woofson series) has fun bringing Durst’s world to life, from a school bus that’s itself a giant dragon (“ held his hand through the loop-de-loops”) to Roar’s school-day activities (“In gym, they played hide-and-seek-the-princess”). Indeed, the lively details of Roar’s daily life might be just enough to let readers temporarily forget about their own back-to-school nervousness. Ages 3–6. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger. Illustrator’s agency: Bright Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"In appealing illustrations that have a bright, crayony roughness, Whitehouse has fun bringing Durst's world to life... the lively details of Roar's daily life might be just enough to let readers temporarily forget about their own back-to-school nervousness."—-Publishers Weekly

"Readers will enjoy the peek at dragon life that Whitehouse provides, from the way Roar's mom roasts the veggies before they come out of the garden to the pesky winged ponies that must be chased off the roof."

—-Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2017-05-15
The bond between a little brother and his big sister helps him tackle his first day of school.Roar is not ready for the summer to be over. The little dragon loves spending time at the beach with his family, especially his older sister, Sparkles. Besides, fall means school, and Roar is very nervous that he will have to do things that he's not so sure he can yet, like breathe fire by himself. Sparkles tries to reassure him, but Roar still worries. On the first day, the sister sweetly takes care of her brother, holding his hand as they ride the school bus (a giant flying dragon!) and walking him to class. Roar's moods quickly morph from worried to happy as he makes a new friend. The school day progresses as it usually does, albeit with some draconic twists, and Roar draws a picture of what he loves most of all: Sparkles, who is there to meet him for the bus ride home. Readers will enjoy the peek at dragon life that Whitehouse provides, from the way Roar's mom roasts the veggies before they come out of the garden to the pesky winged ponies that must be chased off the roof. In the brightly colored illustrations, yellow Roar looks like his father, and orange Sparkles takes after her mother (the female characters have eyelashes). Would that every older child looked after his or her new-to-school younger sibling with such kindness and attention. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews