Early Readers: Kitty and Dragon by Meika Hashimoto, illustrated by Gillian Reid

 Epic! is an online ebook and audiobook program, largely used by schools, which has started creating its own content in the past year or two, publishing through Andrews McMeel. At least for children, this publisher generally focuses on comic strip collections, so the idea of illustrated chapter books seems like a good acquisition for them.

I've found the quality greatly varies, both of the physical books and the writing, but this latest one I've tested has completely won me over. Hashimoto has written at least one middle grade novel (The Trail) and some other things for Epic! and with this collection of three easy stories I think they've found a real winner. Kitty, a stripy black cat with big eyes and pointed ears, is tired of the noise in the barn and sets out to find a more peaceful home. Despite warnings, she enters the dragon's lair and discovers the perfect home. In their second adventure, Dragon cares for Kitty when she has a cold and doesn't feel well and his ministrations are just what she needs. In their final story, Kitty is exasperated by Dragon's untidiness and tries a magical spell with alarming results! The two friends figure out that its better to talk about their problems and figure out a compromise than try to change each other (especially with dubious potions). There's touches of sparkly magic and plenty of humor to make this stand out from the usual "odd couple" trope of early readers, which has been a staple since Frog and Toad, and younger kids who long for fantasy, a rare topic in early readers, will be delighted with the dragon and bits of magic featured in the story.

The book is paper-over-board and has a firm but not especially heavy binding. It's the general size of a typical early reader, but triple the length, since it includes three stories. The text is short sentences and brief paragraphs, but includes a little more complexity. It's an intermediate title, 420 on the lexile scale, and would be something I'd recommend to kids who like Noodleheads, Kallie George's magical creature trio, Princess in Black, and comic-style stories. This is marketed as the first volume, so hopefully more titles are planned!

Verdict: This could go into either early reader or beginning chapter collections, but the format of the book and layout of the text makes me lean towards early reader. It's a simple but fun story with a magical twist that kids will enjoy. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781524861001; Published 2020 by Andrews McMeel; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library