Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
READ!
Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos. Buckets and buckets of tacos. Unfortunately, where there are tacos, there is also salsa. And if a dragon accidentally eats spicy salsa . . . oh, boy. You're in red-hot trouble.
Watch and we’ll see what happens!
EXPLORE!
Dragon Puppet
Young children love to use puppets and story props to retell a story. These visual aids keep kids thinking about the story and help increase motivation, oral language, and comprehension.
For Dragons Love Tacos, creating a dragon puppet is a fun way to give a voice to the dragons in the story! They can finally have their say and tell us about why they love tacos or how they felt about burning down the boy’s house.
After your child makes their puppet, get the conversation started by asking their dragon questions like:
“Dragon! Tell me about your favorite taco toppings!”
“Do dragons throw their own taco parties? What are they like?”
Why do dragons love tacos so much?
Remember that children learn best when they do and get to try things for themselves! Also let your child take the lead - they may arrange the dragon puppet pieces in different ways than you would, and that’s okay! If you need inspiration, look back through the book at the colors and styles of the dragons in the story! It’s more important that they have fun than for the project to be perfect.
Want to make another dragon puppet? Find the template here.
The Big Five ideas for this book:
Talk: Pretend that your family is planning a party! Talk about the details together; who you will invite, what you will do for fun at the party, what are you celebrating, and will you serve tacos?
Play: Take turns acting out scenes from the story without talking (like charades). The have the other person guess what part of the story is being depicted! (Ideas include making tacos, eating tacos at the party, an accordion party, fire shooting from dragons’ mouths, rebuilding the house, etc.)
Sing: Check out this silly song about dragons!
Write: Create an invitation to your imaginary party, just like the one we see in the hands of the dragon as he marks his calendar for the big day! Be sure to include all the details like what you are celebrating, and where, when and at what time the party will be held. Don’t forget to draw what food you’ll be serving!
real world connection
Komodo Dragons: The dragons in Dragons Love Tacos are fictional (or not real), but Komodo Dragons are real! Learn about the largest lizard on earth here!
LEARN MORE!
Picture books, like Dragons Love Tacos, are full of colorful illustrations that help children associate words and concepts with objects and events. These colorful illustrations are the first things that we learn to “read” as children since they show the action and offer clues about what’s happening in the story.
Let’s learn how we can help our children understand stories by asking good questions!
Open Ended Questions
Asking questions while we read sparks conversation and helps children understand what’s happening in a story. Open ended questions are questions that can be answered in different ways, leaving room for children to show us their thinking or what catches their attention. Open ended questions also help children become better readers because they prompt conversation.
Think of a volley ball game where the ball is hit back and forth across the net. That’s the kind of conversation that open ended questions can create! This kind of conversation is powerful for children because it gives them a chance to practice different ways to use words by listening, thinking and speaking.
Try asking these golden, open ended questions that work with any book:
What to you see? (Gives kids a chance to show us what grabs their attention)
What do you think will happen?
What made you think that?
Try these open-ended questions while reading Dragons Love Tacos
When the boy is preparing salsa, ask “what’s happening here?” Talk about what the boy is cooking and the ingredients on the table.
When the dragons eat the spicy salsa at the party, ask “Oh no! What do you think will happen?”