Liza Jane & the Dragon

This enjoyable book delivers a lesson, and its playful drawings invite the young reader into a wonderful place somewhere between fantasy and reality.
--New York Times Book Review

A girl frustrated with her parents' rules fires them and hires a dragon to take their place.
--Publishers Weekly, Included in Fall 2018 Announcements

While mystery writer Laura Lippmann's debut picture book, Liza Jane and the Dragon (Akashic, Oct.), illustrated by Kate Samworth, actually is being marketed towards children, it's also an allegory for the 2016 election. Liza Jane is a little girl who fires her parents and hires as her new parent a fire-belching dragon that drives away her friends and looks suspiciously like Trump.
--Publishers Weekly, Included in Roundup of Political Books related to Donald Trump

Laura Lippman, who is best known for her gritty thrillers for adult readers, has written her debut picture book, Liza Jane and the Dragon, illustrated by Kate Samworth, definitely for children. Adult readers, however, will likely recognize that this isn't simply a tale about a girl and her dragon; it's also an allegory of the 2016 election: Liza Jane fires her parents and hires a dragon with an orange mane to be her new parent.
--Publishers Weekly, Included in feature on Trumpian Political Humor

This appealing debut picture book is enriched by the strategic use of color in Samworth's dreamy illustrations, and kids will roar at the dragon's outrageous antics. This delightfully quirky read deserves a place in most collections.
--School Library Journal

Written with an impressive originality by Laura Lippman and illustrated with the exceptionally artwork of Kate Samworth, Liza Jane & the Dragon is unreservedly recommended.
--Midwest Book Review

Included in the Bay Area Reporter's Fall 2018 Reading Guide

Bestselling crime fiction author Lippman's picture book debut tells the story of what happens when Liza Jane fires her mom and dad and hires the first applicant who comes to the door to be her new parent. The only problem is that the dragon has only one response to all problems: opening his mouth and belching fire. No one wants to play with Liza Jane. And all that fire is bad for the furniture.
--Publishers Weekly, Included in The Big Indie Books of Fall 2018

Silly, funny and a joy to read. The illustrations are great, too. Get a copy for your little one, they'll read it more than once
--Journey of a Bookseller

Liza Jane believed she could find better parents. So she fired her mom and dad and hired the first applicant who came to the door--what could possibly go wrong?

And at first everything was fun. The dragon did whatever Liza Jane wanted him to do. But it turned out the dragon had only one response to all problems--opening his mouth and belching fire. Suddenly, people were scared of Liza Jane. The pizza delivery man didn't want to come to her house. No one wanted to play with her. And all that fire was very bad for the furniture.

Could Liza Jane have been wrong about what kind of qualities she wanted in a parent?

Author: Laura Lippman
Publisher: Black Sheep
Published: 10/02/2018
Pages: 32
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.10h x 10.20w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781617756610
Audience: Ages 4-8


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2018
Publishers Weekly 09/03/2018
Booklist 10/01/2018 pg. 82
School Library Journal 11/01/2018 pg. 61

About the Author

Laura Lippman is the award-winning writer of more than twenty crime-fiction novels. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her husband, David Simon, and her very smart daughter, Georgia Rae.

Kate Samworth is a painter and illustrator from Maryland. Her paintings and prints have been exhibited around the country and abroad and can be found in the collections of the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, the Woodmere Museum of Art, the Fundación Lolita Rubial (Uruguay), and the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts. Her first book, Aviary Wonders Inc., won the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers in 2014.