Today, Davy’s Dragon Castle, was the winner in the children’s picture books for FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS! It is an honor to win this award.

Davy’s Dragon Castle is a simple book with a very big heart. Husband and wife team Mary and Michael Schmidt provide another piece of kid-lit with the intent of providing a lesson, and in this book, that lesson is on discrimination. While the instance happens quickly and is resolved almost immediately, around the festivities a Strawberry Fairy named Cindy inexplicably tells the BunBun Rabbit family that they cannot enter the castle for the party. While no reason is provided, it is assumed that the basis is the color of their fur or the fact that they are rabbits. The ambiguity of the action works in the favor of a parent who can use the event as a tool to engage young children in dialogue. Why do you think Cindy was not letting the family in? If it wasn’t for the reason implied, how could she have handled this better? All good, thoughtful prompts that make this a lovely little book to serve that purpose.