How to Ride a Dragonfly

Surrounded by the pleasures of a summery meadow, a blond, pale-skinned child in a red polka dot shift shrinks down and takes a dragonfly as a trusty steed. With a little simple magic (“Put a rose petal in your pocket at sunrise”), the child becomes small enough to catch and saddle the eager-eyed insect, which wears a dapper blue jacket and red striped pants. “Let’s call her Priscilla,” suggests the omniscient second-person narrator about the dragonfly. The intrepid duo joust with a bumblebee, attend a mishap-filled tea with two fairies, escape a hungry frog, and boogie with the Beetle Band before returning to the original place of enchantment just in time for the child to avoid staying permanently tiny. Donohoe, making a picture book debut, strikes a tone of matter-of-fact commentary about the fanciful scenarios: “I’ll bet you didn’t know that fairies loathe stains and have bad tempers. You’d better hide if you want to avoid being turned into a toadstool.” Thin-lined watercolor and ink illustrations by Wilsdorf (There’s Something About Sam) combine a Victorian floral sensibility with an action-packed arc, resulting in small-scale-focused visuals that are equal parts magical and impish. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges and April Prince, Studio Goodwin Sturges. (May)

Correction: A previous version of this review misidentified the creators' previous works.