Author: Dan Dugi & Bli Marston Dugi
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Rating: worthy!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review.
Note that I had a minor problem with this in that the story doesn't work too well on an antique Kindle! If you're going to buy this one, then you'll need the print book or you'll need to view it on a color medium such as an iPad, a Kindle Fire, or a Nook (which is actually cheaper than the same-sized Kindle). I could see the images on my Kindle, but they were gray-scale (not the best way to appeal to a young child!) and the text was too small too read.
This is a young children's story, part of a series titled 'The Principle Gang', designed to offer parents an opportunity to explore with their children such concepts as friendship, bullying, and prejudice. This is the only one of this series I've read, and it centers on Danny the Wizard Lizard's attempts to become friends with Bli the Fly. Given that these characters are named after the story's writers, some might have fun with the psychology underlying that idea, but the story itself is really quite charming and easily introduces the issue of how and even whether people who are ostensibly so different can become real friends.
Amusingly, Danny confines himself to a fly-free diet in an effort to convince Bli's mom that he's genuinely interested in being friends with Bli, and has no ulterior motive. He also wisely meets with Bli's mom beforehand, and they agree to all three of them going to a movie together, so they can hang out and get to know one another, and so Bli's mom can feel comfortable that her daughter is quite safe. There's an element of bullying explored as a lizard gang appears threateningly at the movie theater, but in the end everything works out. Why Danny deals with a mom and not a stereotypically more foreboding dad is a question which crossed my mind, but maybe avoiding a stereotype was precisely the reason for that choice.
Those who are familiar with the story of the frog and the scorpion (or some variation thereof) might find this story a really interesting approach to tackling the problem at hand, but this is a children's story, not a philosophical treatise. Clearly the first step in overcoming prejudice, misconception, and appropriate versus inappropriate friendships is that of opening a conversation. You can't get anywhere without that, and the best time to start such a conversation is when your child is young and has no such prejudice. Children are not born racist or bigoted; they learn this from those around them as they grow, and if these friendship-smothering concepts are not going to suffocate a child's psyche, they need to be aired out at an early date.
The only way to start a conversation is with the first words, and these first words are a really good way to go. I recommend this story.
