Dear Dragon: A Pen Pal Tale is a book that is on sale. And if you wish to read, this book by Josh Funk, I say don’t be a punk and go forth and do so! You will be happy and look like a pro.
Okay, that is the last rhyme I will do (or at least for a time).
This picture book came onto my radar when I learned that Josh Funk was having the book Dear Unicorn (illustrated by Charles Santoso) published in mid-September 2023. Now, don’t ask me how I found it (I actually do not remember), but I found it and saw that nobody had it as it was a book from 2016. Thankfully I know of a little trick the library can try called “interlibrary loan.” If you are not familiar with it, the idea is that your library asks other libraries if they have book X and if they could pretty, please with sugar on top borrow it for one of their patrons. And usually that library says, yes you may! Just be a prince and return it by the asking day!
Okay, you are probably wondering why I am rhyming (and badly I will acknowledge). You see, it is because our characters George and Blaise do so in their letters to each other. Their teachers have set up a pen pal exchange with their classrooms. Only thing is they are mixing poetry and letter writing, and because it is a book for younger children, there needs to be rhymes. Through these letters they learn a lot about the other one, and since one very large fact is missing from their knowledge (but not to our dear readers) their imaginations have some fun too. At the end of the year picnic the classrooms find out the big reveal.
Now, this book was not a big deal, and might never make classic status, but it should. Therefore, I ask you all to run out and ask your librarian and local booksellers to order copies. And you can say even if the story does not make you excited, the illustrations by Rodolfo Montalvo just might do the trick. They might not be slick and stylish, but they are sweet and neat. They have nice colors and details aplenty, and they entertain while stimulating mentally. They are the perfect fit for the story and the book is a perfect fit for your personal collection.
