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Welcome to Family Book Pairings!

Think of this as a family book club—with a twist. Instead of everyone reading the same book, each person can read a story that’s right for their age and interests, while the whole family explores the same big idea.

Each month, I pair a children’s book with a book for older readers that shares similar themes, questions, or ideas. You can read together, talk about what you’re discovering, and build a family reading culture—even when you’re all turning the pages of different books.

Because reading together doesn’t have to mean reading the same thing. Sometimes the best conversations happen when different stories lead us to the same place.

Sometimes life doesn’t turn out quite the way you thought it would, whether you’re a dragon who’s been turned into a chocolate-loving human or an orc warrior looking to hang up her sword and open a coffee shop.

This month’s family book pairing includes two books for different ages about reinventing yourself and discovering where you belong—The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart and Legends & Lattes.

Both books remind us that discovering what you love can lead you somewhere completely different from the life you imagined—and sometimes somewhere better.

Determined to leave the safety of her family’s cave, despite her mother’s warnings about the dangers of humans, young dragon Adventurine escapes to the world outside.

She wants to prove herself as a fierce, capable dragon. But once she’s in the woods, she encounters the most wonderful thing in the world—hot chocolate. While she’s distracted drinking from the cauldron, the food mage who’d prepared it casts a spell to avoid being eaten and transforms Adventurine into a human girl.

Unable to return home, she ventures into the human world in search of more chocolate—and in the process discovers the very thing her mother had wished she’d find: her passion. But now she has to figure out how to navigate the world in a human body, even though she still possesses the soul of a dragon.

A cozy fantasy classic, this novel for adults features a sword-wielding orc ready to hang it up for good and open a coffee shop. The only problem? No one in the town she’s decided to settle in knows what coffee is.

Fortunately, along the way, Viv finds exactly the friends she needs to help—a builder, a baker, and even someone who becomes a partner in more ways than one. By walking away from her life as an adventurer and fighter, Viv builds something much better: a coffee shop, a community, and eventually a life that feels like home.

Both stories appear to be about food on the surface, but ultimately they’re about discovering what you love—and, in the process, discovering where you belong.

Viv and Adventurine get there in different ways. Adventurine is turned into a human by a food mage bent on self-preservation, while Viv intentionally chooses a new path. Yet both stories suggest that who you’ve been doesn’t have to limit who you become.

Exploring the ideas in these books can lead to some really great family book club conversations, no matter the reader’s age. Kids can talk about trying something new, discovering what they love, and other people’s expectations. Adults can engage with the much bigger questions of identity, reinvention, vocation, and building a life that actually fits.

This month’s book pairing invites questions about what “identity” really means. Here are a few questions to deepen your shared reading experience.

Other people have ideas about who Aventurine and Viv are supposed to be. How do those expectations affect the choices they make?
Both characters discover something they love that they never expected to become part of their lives. Have you ever tried something new and been surprised by how much you enjoyed it?
Food and drink are important in both books—but they’re about more than eating. How do chocolate, baking, coffee, and the places where they’re served help bring people together?
Both stories suggest that being strong can mean more than being physically powerful. What different kinds of strength do you see in each book?
Do you think Aventurine and Viv find where they belong, or do they create a place where they belong? What’s the difference?
What’s something you’d love to try someday—even if it doesn’t seem like the kind of thing people would expect you to do?

A story doesn’t have to end when you close the cover. Here are a few ways to bring this month’s theme into your own family:

For kids: Cozy up with the book, a blanket, and some hot chocolate—the perfect beverage to accompany The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart.
For adults: Add a shot of espresso to your hot chocolate and turn it into a coffee-shop mocha worthy of Legends & Lattes.
Visit a real-life coffee or chocolate shop (or both!).
Make chocolates or bake cinnamon rolls together.

Both of these books feature food, but neither is really about the food. They’re about discovering what matters to you—and about the people you find along the way.

I’ve always loved to bake, and I can remember a time in my young adulthood when I was living alone and wishing for one simple thing: someone to share my baking with.

My husband and I were friends for years before we got together. But I probably should have known we were made for each other when I started baking him pancakes, cookies, and pies for no other reason than that he loved them. Somewhere along the way, something I loved doing became one of the ways I built a life with someone I loved.

What’s something you love that has helped you connect with the people in your life?

Family Book Pairing: Finding Where—and Who—You’re Meant to Be

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