The Boy from the Dragon Palace

By Margaret Read MacDonald and Sachiko Yoshikawa

One day, a poor flower seller drops his leftover flowers into the sea as a gift for the Dragon King. What does he get in return? A little snot-nosed boy—with the power to grant wishes! Soon the flower seller is rich, but when he forgets the meaning of “thank you,” he loses everything once again. “You just can’t help some humans,” say the snot-nosed little boy and the Dragon King.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman Company
• Release date: Mar 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480492639

Margaret Read MacDonald

Margaret Read MacDonald is a children's librarian turned storyteller who travels the world sharing tales. Her many picture book retellings include The Boy from the Dragon Palace, Little Rooster’s Diamond Button, and Mabela the Clever. When not traveling, she lives near Seattle, Washington.

Reviews for The Boy from the Dragon Palace

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The boy with the golden snot. Very entertaining!

[malydon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Characters: Dragon King, woman from the sea, a young boy, and a flower-selling man.Setting: JapanTheme: GreedGenre: Traditional Literature - FolkloreGolden quote (optional): “A ‘thank you’ from the Dragon King.”Summary: A poor flower seller gives his unsold product to the sea (to the Dragon King) as a gift. The Dragon King sends a woman from the sea to give the man a sniffly-nosed child who will make his life better. In order to gain the boy’s favor, the man must give him a meal of shrimp flavored with vinegar and sugar. The man spends his last coin on a meal of shrimp for the boy. The man’s reward garners him five improvements (money, house, servants, treasures, and a garden) after the boy eats his bowl of shrimp and blows his nose. The man is greedy and grows tired of the snotty nosed boy and takes him out of his house to the road. He says he will not take care of the boy anymore. The boy blows his nose and all the man’s riches disappear. The man is again poor. The boy returns to the Dragon King. Audience: second through sixth grade Curriculum ties: folklore, history (Japan)Awards (optional):Personal response: The illustrations in this book are collage-like and engaging. The story reminds me of Aladdin’s lamp or the fisherman and his wife. The theme is more than likely present in every culture. A person’s greed and selfishness will not bare fulfillment in the long run. I love how simply the man could have continued his good fortune. He simply had to say “thank you” as the Dragon King did in the beginning of the tale. To be grateful for what you have is a lesson we all should learn, especially children. On the back cover is this quote: It’s always good to say, “Thank you!” My husband liked this book so much, after reading the book, went and bought two copies. One is for him and the other copy for his daughter who bore our first grandchild 4 months ago.

[j8plant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In my opinion this is an entertaining, but educational story. First, the book, which is a Japanese folktale, pushes readers to think about greed, and how, as humans, we tend to want to take the easy way out of everything. We tend to want to have others do the hard work for us, in much the same way that the flower seller wanted when he had the responsibility of feeding the young boy so that he could keep his possessions and extravagant lifestyle. However, that is now the world works, as the flower seller lost everything when his laziness got the best of him. Lastly, the rich, colorful, and lively illustrations present the story in picture format. The story can be told using just the pictures without the words. The moral of the story is that everything requires effort on your part, there is no easy way out, and laziness can destroy everything that is most dear to you.

[kimkolb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There are several reasons why I feel this is a good book. For one, I feel the illustrations within the story, are truly beautiful. Since the storyline has several intricate characters, the pictures greatly help the reader visually, and also help with comprehension. The two main characters within the story are a little boy, whose nose is constantly runny, and a king dragon. Without the illustrations of these two characters, I would have had trouble visualizing their appearance. In addition to the illustrations, I also liked how the story pushes readers to think about appreciation. Though the Dragon King sent the poor man the little boy, to grant him wishes on command, the poor man always wanted more. In the end, the poor man’s greed caused him to lose possession of the lucky boy, and in turn lost all the wishes the little boy had granted him. The main idea to this story is thankfulness. If the poor man had been thankful to the Dragon King and lucky boy, the poor man would have been able to keep all of the wishes he was granted.

[mariekagreene · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An easy to like folktale, with a common lesson. Children will delight in the snotty-nosed dragon boy. This book could be used in a comparison with like-tales from other cultures.

[natmeister · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This delightful Japanese Folktale has an unlikely hero- a boy who grants wishes by sneezing from his snotty little nose! There are beautiful illustrations and the classic Margaret Read MacDonald audience participation format. This varient of the lucky fish story will have your students rolling (and sneezing) in the isles.