Shh! Dragon Naps
Shh! Dragon Naps
by ReadRead · 2 min read“Shh, Duck! Dragon naps.” A Level 3 book a child can read by themself: short-vowel words, blends like frog and snap, and a refrain that comes back on every page.
Free to read
This book is free for every family.
Start readingInside the book
Dragon naps on a flat rock, and Chen stands guard. “Shh!” But the friends keep coming, each one louder than the last. Quack, quack! Duck comes. Snap, snap! Crab comes. Bang, bang! Frog jumps on a drum. “Shh, Frog! Dragon naps.” Then a twig goes snap, Dragon gets an itch… sniff, sniff… ah… ah… ah-choo! Out come not flames, but bubbles, and everyone snaps them together.
The new words in this book
A short sleep in the day. It comes up 7 times, and every time Dragon (and at the end everyone) is asleep on the page, breathing slowly with sleepy sparkles rising.
A quick, sharp click. It comes up 6 times: Crab snaps its claws, a twig snaps under Chen’s shoe, and everyone snaps the bubbles. Snap is just s + nap, so a child who can read one can read the other.
A Level 3 decodable reader: a child who knows short-vowel words (rock, duck, pop), blends and digraphs (frog, crab, snap, shh), -s endings and the first sight words (this, they, with, no, now) can read every word in this book by themself — we check it with our reading ladder. Each page has one or two short sentences, and the refrain “Shh, Duck! Dragon naps.” comes back with one name changing, so by the fourth page your child knows what comes next.
Questions to ask while you read
Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.
- 1Who is this? And who is that on the rock?
- 2What is Dragon doing? Can you whisper “Shh!”?
- 3What does Duck say? Is it loud?
- 4What is Crab doing with its claws? Can you snap your fingers?
- 5Who is the loudest friend? What is Frog on?
- 6Uh-oh! What went snap? What is Dragon doing with its nose?
- 7What do you think will come out of Dragon?
- 8Did you guess right? What came out of Dragon?
- 9Tap a bubble. Snap! How many can you pop?
- 10Who is napping now? Say “Shh!” very softly.
How hard is this book?
Blends and sh/ch/th (frog, ship), plural -s. A decodable book: 9 words in 10 can be sounded out at this phonics step.
- Dialogue × 6“Shh!”
All 35 words, most used first
snap 6 · shh 5 · a 4 · nap 4 · on 4 · ah 3 · naps 3 · pop 3 · bang 2 · bubbles 2 · comes 2 · has 2 · is 2 · quack 2 · rock 2 · sniff 2 · the 2 · this 2 · all · an · and · drum · flat · itch · jumps · now · of · oh · out · steps · tap · they · twig · uh · with
Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.
Tips for parents
- First time: use Read to me and enjoy the joke of the bubble sneeze together.
- Second time: switch to I can read and let your child read it. Every word is one they can sound out or already know by sight.
- Cover the s in snap with your finger: what word is left? (nap!)
- Whisper the “Shh!” lines and read the noisy lines loudly — children love the difference.