ALA Booklist (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

Gondra, a young dragon, has a mother who hails from the West and a father who comes from the East. She is proud to come from such diverse cultures. As she grows, she shows signs of having inherited both her mother's ability to breathe fire and her father's ability to breathe mist. The youngster narrates the tale and relays her parents' gentle teasing as they debate why one type of dragon is superior to the other. Gondra enjoys listening to their stories: her mother's ancestors fought humans who wanted to steal their treasure hoards, while her father's forebears had magic that could be used for good or evil. Full-color illustrations in ink, watercolor, and collage vary in size, from vignettes to single- and double-page spreads, and depict Gondra with the physical traits of both parents. An author's note explains different cultural origins of the dragon myth, and why, for centuries, humans have been fascinated by them. This allegorical adventure will entice a whole new crop.

Kirkus Reviews

East meets West and they have a baby dragon in this fantasy from Newbery Medalist Park.With a father from the "East" and a mother from the "West," young dragon Gondra deftly narrates she was born "somewhere in the middle." Portrayed with zany proportions, including bulging eyes encircled with purple eyelids and red tendrils sprouting from her ears, nose, chin, and tail, Gondra carries her stuffed cow in tow as she quizzes her parents on the range of abilities between them. "Both of my parents can fly. Mom has wings. Dad uses magic." Bantering back and forth, each parent describes the differences of their traits. Dad has an elongated wingless body in line with Asian dragons, while Mom follows the European style with wings and a shorter body. Gondra is then left to examine her own characteristics, wondering exactly where she stands in the family and how that differs from history. When she asks about dragon treasure, both parents lovingly remind her of her own intrinsic value. Park lightly touches on themes of interracial families, with the dragon folklore occupying the foreground. Reinhardt is bold in her choices of watercolors, pairing them with busy textures to bring a quirky flair to the tale and including humorous details to complement the narration.While it's not a profound look at mixed-race identity, it is a playful one, and readers will enjoy the cultural examination of dragons. (Picture book. 5-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gondra is a little dragon whose father is from the East, where dragons are blue and green, breathe mist, and fly with magic. Her mother comes from the West, where dragons have bronze scales, breathe fire, and fly with wings. The parents engage in some friendly rivalry about their respective backgrounds: Mom thinks her husband-s mist -seems... um... pretty boring-; Dad points out that he never complains about tired wings during a flight. But their mutual adoration of Gondra makes her proud to embody qualities from both of her parents-and confident that she-ll grow up to be a dragon living on her own terms. Writing in the chatty voice of her protagonist, Park (Yaks Yak) captures the easygoing, day-to-day intimacy of a family animated and anchored by unconditional love. Some of the larger and more elaborate watercolor, ink, and collage drawings by Reinhardt (Sometimes You Fly) lack focus, but Gondra is wonderfully imagined: the epitome of -ugly-cute,- she-s bright-eyed, adventurous, resilient (flying is problematic right now, but she-s certain she-ll get the hang of it) and, in her red-striped footie pajamas, utterly huggable. Ages 4-7. (Apr.)