EllRay Jakes the Dragon Slayer!

Written by Sally Warner

Narrated by Corey Allen

Publisher Marketing: EllRay Jakes is a small kid with big problems! EllRay Jakes may be the smallest kid in his class at Oak Glen Primary School, but he's also his sister Alfie's big brother. So when it looks like Alfie is being bossed around by a dragon-like girl at her school, EllRay feels responsible. As her older (and wiser!) brother, shouldn't he show her that she should stand up for herself? But little sisters and four year old dragons are a bit more complicated than he thought. Check out the other books in the EllRay Jakes series: "EllRay Jakes Is Not A Chicken!," "EllRay Jakes is a Rock Star!," and "EllRay Jakes Walks the Plank!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490632834

Reviews for EllRay Jakes the Dragon Slayer!

[kbrash1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In my opinion, this is a great chapter book. The plot alone makes the story incredible, and the characters are relatable and funny. The main character, EllRay’s persona is heroic and smart. The plot revolves around bullying, but Sally Warner has addressed this issue in an age-appropriate way that is informative, yet not scary to the target audience. EllRay’s sister (Alfie) is bullied, and he attempts to teach her how to stand up for herself, but that is ineffective. EllRay is forced to take matters into his own hands. The text is written in first person, from the point of view of EllRay, which makes the story engaging as it takes on the role of a personal narrative. The writing is also fun and theatrical, and there are text features in this book that make the story even more appealing. For instance, Sally Warner uses the sentence, “I search the playground with my laser-beam eyes…” and the words “laser-beam eyes” are printed in all capitals, and in a bolded, italicized font that resembles the text in comic books. Another aspect of this text that I enjoyed was that even though it is a chapter book, there are some illustrations that help the reader to visualize the story and connect more to the characters. For example, during the story, EllRay and his father go to a plant nursery, and EllRay becomes irritable when his father gets distracted by pots of roses. The simple, cartoon-style illustration, drawn in black and white, offers a visual of the what is happening in the story at that time. The big idea of this story is to teach how to successfully address bullying.