Danny the Wizard Lizard and Bli the Fly want to be friends, but Bli's mother is worried because she knows lizards often eat flies. Danny says that Mrs. Fly is judging him on appearances and that she should meet him and find out what he is really like. When they all go out to the movies, they are hassled by a group of bullies and Danny stands up to them.
This was an easy way to introduce the concept of judging people by appearances, but it was also a bit simplistic in its storyline. It would probably work with very young children who would enjoy the brightly colored illustrations. Adults could point out that although Danny is a lizard and the bullies are lizards, he doesn't act the way they do. You could work on the fact that bullies look just like everyone else, it is their behavior that makes them bullies. The fact that Danny only has to stand up to them once to make them leave would not be believable to older kids. They might also question Mrs. Fly being nice and giving the bullies clean shirts to wear after Danny slimes them. She is setting a good example of forgiveness, but older readers would not accept that a mother who has just had her child bullied will be so kind to the perpetrators.
I would stick to preschool through maybe 1st grade as a suggested audience. There are questions from the characters at the end of the story to ask kids and get them thinking about what they read. There are also suggestions for parents. To learn more about Danny and the other characters visit The Principle Gang's website.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. It will be published on August 5, 2014.
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