Trouble and the new kid by Cate Whittle

Ill. by Stephen Michael King. Trouble series. Omnibus Books, 2017. ISBN 9781742990781
(Age: 6-8) Recommended. This delightful new story is the third in Cate Whittle's Trouble series, perfect for new independent readers ready for a chapter book.
Georgia and her family love their blue-winged giant green dragon. He flies them to work and to school and he loves to eat potato chips and drink sarsaparilla. He is well known amongst Georgia's classmates, however owing to a few unfortunate accidents, Trouble has been banned from landing on the school oval.
When a new student arrives in Mr. Frump's class, she is placed next to Georgia. Nina is a very orderly person. While Georgia is busy writing a fantastic creative story about Georgia the pirate, Nina spends all her time organising her pencils and ruling three colourful margins. Nina does not believe in dragons, in fact she only talks and writes about real things - people and animals.
At home, when Georgia shares about Nina's total disbelief, Trouble takes this to heart, loses his appetite and sulks. Georgia tries to tempt him with his favourite snacks; unfortunately, Trouble becomes sadder and starts to lose colour and fade away. Georgia narrates an amusing story and adds some humourous remarks about her classmates, teacher and even the principal to cheer him up.
Illustrator Stephen Michael King's black and white cartoons add to the liveliness of the tale. There are Georgia's many emotive expressions, Trouble's fading skin colours and the cutaway classroom scenes that are perfect for a reader transitioning to junior novels. The author's narrative is in an easy to read style with a few tricky words just right for encouraging language development.
Rhyllis Bignell