Donohoe, Kitty. How to Ride a Dragonfly. Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Anne Schwartz Books, 2023. 978-0-593-17564-4. $18.99. Unpaged. Grades PreK-2.

A young girl explains how to ride a dragonfly, beginning with how to shrink in size. Once she has managed to shrink down, lasso a dragonfly, and climb on, she goes on several adventures with the dragonfly. They fight a bumblebee, attend a picnic, escape a hungry frog, dance with the Beetle Band, and do some trick riding. As the sun sets behind the mountain, the narrator ends up back where she began and returns to her full size. Beautiful watercolor and ink illustrations add magic to this fanciful, imaginative tale.

THOUGHTS: Young children will delight in the mishaps experienced by the narrator throughout the story. They will also love the many lifelike creatures featured throughout the book. While not necessarily an educational story, the narrator alludes to some interesting tidbits throughout her adventure that students might enjoy researching further. For example, the narrator claims that bees can’t fly straight, dragonflies eat a lot, and honey cures itches.

Picture Book