Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My immediate inclination on reading this book was to give it a five-star review--it's funny, well written, has adorable illustrations, builds a cohesive narrative using an interesting voice (so that it sounds like the reader or text is speaking to the characters) and jumps around just enough to remain interesting. Most importantly, my three-year-old loves it. HOWEVER, I cannot recommend this book, as the plot is based on three substantial falsehoods. First, that it is possible to eat tacos without salsa. The book goes on at length about how dragons love tacos, but hate "spicy salsa". Clearly this book was written by a pair of gringos who have only ever eaten at Taco Bell. Salsa is a necessary ingredient of any taco. Without spice, there can be no love! Secondly, on page 22, it indicates that the salsa around which the plot is centered contains "Spicy Jalapeno Peppers", and then again on page 23 states "Those are Jalapeno Peppers--they are super-spicy." Jalapeno peppers are NOT spicy, let alone super spicy. Jalapeno peppers max out at only 10000 on the scoville heat unit scale. Even the barely spicy Habanero pepper is a full order of magnitude hotter than a Jalapeno, while most salsa that could actually be described as "Super Spicy" these days is made from the Bhut Jolokia or Naga Jolokia pepper, which is another order of magnitude hotter than that. Clearly the authors do not know their peppers. Lastly, they indicate that spicy salsa "gives dragons the tummy troubles". This is clearly wrong. Everyone knows that a dragon's digestive system is among the most efficient in the world, allowing it to extract trace elements from consumed rocks and gemstones. The thought that mere capsaicinoids could upset such a wonderfully designed system is laughable at best. To insult these majestic creatures by claiming that they would eat a taco without salsa on it (i.e. THE WRONG WAY) is an affront not only to dragons, and tacos, but to all those who love dragons and love tacos. Do not expose your kids to these lies! After reading this, my child was terrified whenever we had any kind of red or orange colored sauce on the table and refused to eat anything with peppers in it. Since removing it from circulation, I can say now that my three-year-old happily pours hot sauce on all of his food, as any well adjusted child should. This book does get one thing right at least--Dragons do love tacos, and you'd do well to keep a boat-load of tacos on hand, just in case one of these magnificent creatures comes demanding tribute.