By Asia Citro
A girl who can see magical creatures nobody else can, and uses her science notebook to help them.
Zoey finds out from her mom that their family has a secret: they can see magical animals, and injured ones come to their barn for help. When a sick baby dragon named Marshmallow turns up, Zoey has to figure out what's wrong with him, and she does it the way a scientist would, watching closely, writing things down, testing an idea, trying again. Her cat Sassafras is right there with her.
It's the rare early chapter book where a girl gets to be the clever one who solves it, and it slips real science habits in without ever feeling like a lesson. The sentences are short, there's a picture every couple of pages, and it's the first of a series that just keeps going, so a child who loves helping Marshmallow has a whole barn of creatures ahead.