The Silver Boat II, by Ann Adams, Illustrated by Jeff Pace

            This story continues from where the first book ended. It begins with a seagull son asking his dad to tell him the story about the little girl and the silver boat again, so the dad seagull decides to show him what happens next. As the dad seagull tells the story, the gulls are placed in the story by magic while the events occur around them. The dad gull takes his son back in time to show what happened to the dragon. After the children make fun of and scare the dragon back into the forest, the dragon takes out his anger about being continually ostracized on the trees around him. He comes to the conclusion that he wants to change his ways to become friendlier. Then, he is enveloped in blue light and decides to fly towards the sea to find the warm and friendly land where the little girl wants to go. As he flies, he transforms into the swan that pulled the boat in the first book. He is shocked at his new appearance but follows the ethereal woman’s instructions to pull the silver boat for the little girl. On their journey, they meet dolphins who teach them how to play. However, a storm finds them at sea and nearly drowns them. In order to save the girl, the swan transforms back into the dragon and this scares the little girl who feels that she was tricked. After the storm, the dragon and the girl come to an understanding about themselves and about each other. They bond over their differences and create a strong friendship.

            Similarly to the first book, this continuation is appropriate for third through fifth grade and is a transitional book. Unlike the first book, this book is divided into two parts that resemble chapters in a chapter book. I would love to use this book with students who have issues with controlling anger. This book shows that anger can be appropriate and beneficial. It was the dragon’s anger at the storm that saved the girl and the dragon. However, it also demonstrates that unfocused and uncontrolled anger can cause loneliness. This book would also be helpful for students who are afraid of their own anger or someone else’s anger. The little girl felt tricked by the dragon and felt scared, but the dragon was able to control his anger and the little girl was safe. In an ELA lesson, this book would be good to use to compare and contrast. Students could compare and contrast their expectations of the book’s events and what actually happens in the book. Additionally, students could compare and contrast themes, characters, and events in the first and second books. This helps students build their critical thinking and trains them to think in this way automatically when they read. Throughout the story, the son seagull inundates his dad with questions about events he told in the story. This is a good model for students to see to form questions while reading and making predictions. Students could write down and share the questions and predictions that they have while the class reads the book.