Fire-Breathers' Science Fair

Fire-Breathers’ Science Fair

Author: Tina Gagliardi

Illustrator: Patrick Girouard

Publishing Company: Magic Wagon

Copyright

36 pages

Fantasy

                This book was introduced to me through my school librarian. This book tells about Carly, a dragon who attends Fire-Breathers’ Academy and her imaginary human friend, Gretchen. Carly thought Gretchen was the best imaginary friend anyone could have and they always had fun when they played together. While at school, Carly’s teacher had an announcement about an upcoming science fair. Carly and Gretchen could not wait to get started, but as they did, they realized creating a project for the science fair might be harder than they had originally thought. Will these two friends think of a project to make for the fair? Will they get it made in time? You’ll find all of these answers and more by reading Fire-Breathers’ Science Fair by Tina Gagliardi.

               Overall I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout this book. Girouard does a wonderful job of making this fantasy come to life. This is done through mixed media. These illustrations are double spread which creates a larger than life feeling for these characters. The text is framed on one side of the illustration with no background. All of these aspects really bring this book to life.

                While reading this book, I saw several different ways it could be incorporated into the classroom. One of the first ways I saw a possible use for this book within the classroom was a writing connection. Carly was very different from her classmates because she was the only one who had an imaginary friend. Carly did not spend her time like most of her classmates, “hiding treasure or fighting knights. Instead she often played with Gretchen…” The ending of this book proves that for Carly being different was not a bad thing. Therefore I would have my students write about a way they are different from their classmates and explain why this makes them unique. The second way I would incorporate this into the classroom would be as an introduction to an upcoming science fair and/or science project. And the third and final way I would use this book in my classroom would be to have students create their own science projects much like Carly did.