Starred Review An ordinary day at La Muncha Elementary becomes anything but when Henry Penwhistle accidentally brings a dragon to school in his lunchbox. Artistic Henry knows the dragon on his bedroom chalkboard is a work of art, but even he's amazed when the creature slips down off the wall, wreaks havoc, and disappears. Donning his silver raincoat "armor" and wielding an eraser, "Sir" Henry sets off on a quest to track it down quest that becomes all the more urgent after the dragon destroys the class' insipid entry for the National Vegetable Week Art Show. Further disasters ensue, but with help from his wildly excited classmates tably budding bard Jade, as fearless as she is handy at off-the-cuff quatrains, and science-minded Oscar Rockbottom, owner of a voracious pet octagon nry at last sees both dragon and art exhibit made spectacularly new. Along with tucking in chivalric principles like "Tell the Truth" and "Be Kind, Trafton offers the important message that it takes real courage to "make the best thing you can, and love it as hard as you can, and let it go loose in the world." She also fills the colorful supporting cast with children and adults who discover distinctive creative impulses of their own. Altogether, a delicious face-off between forces of conformity and creativity run amok, spiced with offbeat names as well as insights expressed with eloquent simplicity.

Gr 3-6Henry Penwhistle has a very active imagination. His mother has drawn on his bedroom door with chalkboard paint, and Henry decorates his door with a variety of changing pictures, including a dragon, a dinosaur, and a rhino. One morning, as the boy prepares for school, the dragon springs to life, hitching a ride in Henry's lunch box. This is the beginning of the very wacky adventure of Henry and his friends Oscar and Jade as they try to save their classmates and their elementary school from the havoc-wreaking dragon. Henry and Oscar send barbs back and forth in a flurry of amusing and unusual language, and the metaphors fly ("his sword was as swift and swishy as a hummingbird caught in a washing machine."). Readers will chuckle out loud at the outlandish predicaments that the characters face. Henry is sympathetic as an artist scared to share his gift, and in the end he learns to trust both his friends and the caring adults in his life. VERDICT A perfect title to hand to young readers looking for laughs along with a wild and crazy adventure.—Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science &; Technology Academy, Avondale, LA

Henry Penwhistle knows he is the only one who can save the world, or at least his school, from his artwork.When his drawing of a dragon comes alive and begins to take on the shapes of drawings Henry's done in the past, Henry realizes that he is being called to a quest. Luckily, he's wearing his raincoat—or, ahem, suit of armor. At school, the dragon wreaks havoc in the classroom, hallways, and even in the lunchroom, where the Lunch Lady is trying to prepare for an art show and pizza party. Henry and his friends must reach deep within themselves to find the courage and understanding necessary to keep the dragon from ruining everything. A tale about the power of art and the call for artists to share their art with the world without fear, this book tends to thrust its message to the forefront with a heavy hand, overshadowing the more charming aspects of the story. "You have to be brave to be an artist," says Mr. Bruce, the bus driver. "You have to squeeze your fear down deep in your chest, and make something new." Good advice, but it's repeated too often in this short novel. All the humans in Schipper's line drawings appear to be white. What's meant to be a romp through a boy's imagination occasionally feels more prescription than fun. (Fantasy. 8-12)