My kids and I all enjoyed this book. I thought it was a cute, funny story. I liked that the authors didn’t let the message get in the way of the story. The last page has a Bible verse: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid…. God goes with you; he will never leave you.” Deuteronomy 31:6. However, the book is not preachy and is really just a cute story. The “boys” are camped at the base of Mount Sillymanborrow and every noise they hear is an exotic animal. As a bonus, at the end of the story, we get to read The Legend of Mount Sillymanborrow.
My 2-year-old likes the Dragon and Turtle story and wants to read it every night at bedtime. He doesn’t really care for the Legend story.
My 9-year-old liked the main story and thought the Legend story was funny. He’s very literal, though and didn’t get the “Sillymanborrow” reference until I explained it. Then he thought it was hilarious.
I like that the messages of overcoming fear and helping others are subtle and part of the story and not in-your-face, like some annoying preschool shows and books.
I would definitely recommend this book.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All opinions are my own.
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NCLA Review -This is the story of Roger the turtle and Padraig the dragon's camping safari. They are trying to spend the whole night at the base of Mount Sillymanborrow, which turns out to be the backyard. Honestly if it wasn't for the beautiful illustrations, I would never have understood this book. When I got to the back cover I found the Bible verse Deuteronomy 31:6 and an explanation of the book. Until I read this I had no idea this was a Christian book or had anything to do with God. I loved the illustrations but was very disappointed with the book. Rating: 1 —NP ( )

THE DRAGON AND THE TURTLE GO ON SAFARI is a cute picture book with well-stated but subtle morals behind it. I really loved the illustrations of the book, they brought the characters of Padraig and Roger to life. The ideas of being brave, helping others and caring for others are wonderful lessons for a child to learn, and they are woven seamlessly throughout the story.

However, I kept being distracted by not knowing how to pronounce Padraig's name (google tells me it is pronounced PAW-rig) and by how much older (and British!) the two main characters sounded. I felt their speech was a little older than two boys would use, more like adults or maybe even young adults.

Overlooking those two things, though, this picture book is definitely a fun one and younger children will enjoy the pictures, animals and the idea of eating bugs! ( )

This book features a dragon and a turtle camping out, telling stories to each other. In the midst of it all, the dragon gets scared when he hears a noise in the woods and the turtle encourages the dragon to be brave and venture out. All irony about a scared dragon aside, this book is an enjoyable little read for children. It's suggested for younger children, ages 3-7, I believe, but I think it might be better geared toward older children, maybe 5-9. My 7 year old and 3 year old really enjoyed it and it offers a scripture lesson on being strong and courageous because God is with us. ( )

Another wonderful Dragon and Turtle book! I think these books are really just wonderful. This time, Padraig and Roger are camping out. There are lots of strange noises and things that scare them throughout the night, but rather than laughing at each other when they're scared, they encourage one another in different ways to be brave. The art in this book is so cute and the book comes with a good Christian message that you can discuss with your children when your through with the book. The idea of including discussion questions with the book for the parent and child to talk about the message of the story is just brilliant. ( )