Review by Booklist Review
On a rainy day, a young protagonist is eager to spend a cozy day inside daydreaming and relaxing, but when her friend Fred the dragon stops by for a snack and realizes they don't have any dragon-size bathrooms, they must go into the storm to find a restroom ready for such a large creature. A Rainy Dragon Day is beautifully illustrated in a way that doesn't just invoke dreary rainy afternoons, with water stains and colors that blend together at the edges but will also remind readers of a kind of comfortable lethargy that can cover a town or neighborhood on drizzly days. The story ends a little abruptly after the saga of finding a bathroom; however, that seems to mirror the way a rainy day--whether it's been quiet or full of adventures--can also end suddenly, existing only as the story you tell the next day.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When an amiable dragon is unable to use his human friend's bathroom, he takes the child on a magical trip to see where dragons "go." "I love rainy days. On rainy days nobody goes outside if they don't have to. Today I'll have a comfy day indoors." These words, spoken by a light-skinned, dark-haired child, accompany an exquisitely drawn double-page spread. Illustrations rendered in pencil, watercolor, colored pencil, and pastel show rain coming down on an Old World--ish urban setting. A dragon--sporting a handlebar mustache and holding an inadequate red umbrella--perches on the rooftop of the child's house. The page turns to the home's interior: "I'll read and play, muck around, daydream. No one will bother me." The child doesn't notice a dragon's tail going past the window. The droll humor continues as the child welcomes the dragon into the house, introducing him as a friend named Fred who loves sausages and "coffee--lots of coffee." The child unself-consciously uses the toilet, after which Fred delicately inquires if he may also. The ensuing pages are full of giggle-inducing efforts to accommodate the increasingly uncomfortable dragon, from attempting to shove him into the tiny bathroom to offering to let him use a public fountain. Finally, Fred flies the child to a magical lagoon full of dragons and their elegant, gazebo-style pee stations. Art and text translated from German gently and humorously support children's natural fascination with body functions. A unique bedtime story--before the nightly bathroom visit. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
