Marmaduke the very different dragon by Rachel Valentine

Ill. by Ed Eaves. Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408836781.
(Age: 6+) Dragons, Humour, Difference, Being yourself, Friendship. Marmaduke with his orange body and sticky out scales is very different from the smooth skinned, purple dragons usually seen in the kingdom where every princess has a dragon as a minder. Marmaduke longs for a princess of his own, but is rejected because he will not open his wings to fly.
But far away a row of pretty princesses, all with neat hair and pretty dresses, sitting tidily, look upon Princess Meg with some disdain. She is so different, hair a mess, clothes dirty, and certainly not attuned to sitting neatly. None of the dragons want to protect her, but not minding a bit she goes into the forest where she runs into the sad dragon, Marmaduke. They join forces, Marmaduke finally having to open and show his wings to fly her home.
A neat resolution brings both their problems to an ending suitable for both who wish to remain different and be themselves, not what the others want them to be. In a classroom, this book will not only serve as a humorous book to read aloud, but could be the springboard to discussions about being yourself.
Fran Knight