Daniel SalmieriCritiques

grades prek - 1
New York Times bestseller

Independent reading level: PK-2
Awards: Texas Bluebonnet award in 2020. California Young Reader Medal.

Dragons Love Tacos is a fun and funny book that kids love. In a world where dragons and taco parties collide there are dire consequences for dragons who eat spicy salsa.

This book is funny, entertaining, and I love the cute illustrations. I loved it when I was a child, and looking back, I can see why. Reading it is just such a fun time. A 5 star book for sure.

A taco party is a great way for dragons to socialize, but you really have to be careful about the spicy salsa.

3 to 7 years

Independent Reading Grade Level: K-3

Independent Reading level: Pre-k -2nd
Award: Texas Bluebonnet award

Independent reading level: 1-3
Awards: N/A

Independent Reading Level: Grades K-1
Awards: New York Times Best Seller, Nominee for Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Picture Book of 2012

I can see why Dragons Love Tacos has become so popular! The book is very cute, explaining a Dragon's fire as what happens when they eat tacos with spicy salsa or peppers on them. Dragons love tacos so they eat them all the time, but if they happen to get a spicy one...you might not want to be around.
There are a couple times in the book where the narrator asks the dragons what they think about something and they mime silly responses which brings more humor to the story. And of course this is a kind of humor that can come across easily to children, getting their attention and engaging them in reading for enjoyment.

Dragon's Love Tacos is a great read aloud for all elementary students. The illustrations are colorful and inviting with a great use of white space. The writing itself leads to anticipation and suspense and makes readers laugh with one another. Didn't you know dragons love tacos? And parties? Why, you should throw a taco party! Just one important thing, DON'T let the dragons have salsa. It's too spicy and makes them blow fire. After accidentally giving them tacos with salsa, the boys house is burned down, but don't worry, they will help you rebuild it! For a small fee of, you guessed it, tacos!

First sentence: In the dark sky floats a bright planet
Where wet waves crash on a dry stretch of beach
And there are smooth stones in the rough sand
Dew shines on the dull bark of a tree
Outside a little home on a big street
In the home there's a small person in a big chair
And squishy oatmeal in a hard bowl
There are fluffy birds in a prickly nest

Premise/plot: This is a picture book without punctuation. It relies heavily on word-pictures and imagery. I suppose you could call it a picture book poem. If you don't love poetry, if you are not excited by reading poetry--with all its meanings, themes, imagery, etc, then chances are you won't appreciate this picture book. It's about everything and about absolutely nothing. But if phrases like "a cold jacket on a warm face" evoke memories of family for you, then perhaps you will find it beautiful and amazing.

My thoughts: Dare I said this picture book poem is more for older readers? I hate to say that the poem will not be understood by young readers--especially very young readers--but that may be the case. That being said, there's something about reading aloud. One can appreciate and enjoy the experience even if one doesn't quite "get" everything there is to be gotten. (If that makes sense). In other words, you can read Alice in Wonderland to your one year old baby even though he or she may not "comprehend" the story as they would later on.

Reading Level: 3-5

Reading Age- 2-5 years
A #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon

Genre
Humorous stories
Picture books for children
Tone
Offbeat
Silly
Subject
Dragons
Fires
Food
Parties
Salsas (Cooking)
Tacos

A story about dragons who love tacos and fiestas but hate spicy salsa. A taco fiesta takes place but unfortunately one dragon eats salsa and the house burns down. Fortunately many dragons come together to help rebuild the house of their friend who held the fiesta.

Personal Reflection: The humor – a boatload of tacos for example, seems like it would capture a child’s imagination. There is good tension in the plot: “Solo recuerda: los dragones odian la salsa picante.” (Remember, dragons hate spicy salsa). A nice story about being aware of others sensitivities.

This is one of my absolute favorite picture books. I will never, ever, ever get tired of Dragons Love Tacos.

-great science fiction twist on the original.
-funny narrative
-compelling and original story.
-some funny references to other fictional characters related to dragons. eg: Daenerys Targaryen
-vibrantly colourful illustrations
-LOTS OF TACOS AND DRAGONS!

Dragons Love Tacos is an excellent choice for various young readers! The story starts out with the narrator asking a boy if he knew that dragons liked tacos. She goes into detail on all the different types of tacos they like and reasons why they might like them. It can really relate to young readers because most young children also like tacos and don't like spicey flavors. The narrator talks about why dragons do not like spicey salsa and what can happen if they have spicy salsa. Furthermore, it explains that dragons similarly love parties, and how best of all, they like taco parties. The little boy at the dragon taco party warns one of the dragons that the tacos they are eating have spicy jalapeno salsa on them, but it was too late. Unfortunately, they ended up breathing fire and ruining many homes. The story ends with the dragons rebuilding the homes in which they had destroyed.

Did you know a dragons favorite food is tacos? The boy in the story decides to host a taco party for the dragons, but it didn't go quite how he expected! The one thing dragons can't have is spicy foods-or something bad happens! Sure enough, there is salsa at the party with little green things inside-you know what that means...something bad is about to happen!!

Science Fiction #2

Pre-K-Primary
A child learns that dragons love tacos and throws them a taco party, but he forgets to hide the spicy salsa.
This book is perfect when you want to make kids laugh, and could be used alongside cooking tacos or making salsa.

This book was a little too creative I feel they tried too hard to be immature but defiantly would be enjoyed by kids.

This book made me laugh a lot since it is about dragons loving some tacos. But they can't have anything spicy since they are going to breathe out fire, this teaches kids that spicy food will burn your mouth but not with fire. I also allows kids to have a great imagination and also gives them a laugh with the illustrations.