Dragons, Dragons: 04/14/09

My son takes after his father. He is a re-reader, far more than I am. His current re-read obsession is Dragons, Dragons edited and illustrated by Eric Carle. It's a library book from his elementary school and his name is the only name in it for the last three check-outs. I can see why he loves it, it's a fantastic bestiary with quotes from a number of authors and well known book and each mythical beast is illustrated in Eric Carle's unique style.

The book has mythical beasts from around the world including western and Chinese dragons, Greco-Roman beasts, Egyptian beasts, Australian ones and Sean's personal favorite Anansi the spider. Along with the illustrations, each beast has a little bit of poetry. For instance, the western dragon has a quote from Anne McCaffrey. Other authors included are Sir Richard Burton, John Gardner, X. J. Kennedy, Laura Whipple, William Blake, Myra Cohn Livinginston and many others. There is a full bibliography in the back of the book for anyone interested.

Dragons, Dragons is not a typically short Eric Carle book. It is sixty-eight pages of complex text and sometimes hard to pronounce words. It typically takes us two nights (of about ten minutes each) of reading the book when I read it out loud. It though is worth the effort and may very well inspire discussions of mythology, poetry, history and geography. With Sean's interest in Anansi, it has also gotten us talking about Neil Gaiman and Anansi Boys (although we don't plan to read it to him until he's older).

Comments (2) <

Comment #1: Friday, April, 17, 2009 at 22:14:13

Callista

We seem to read a lot of the same kid's books. We own this one. My kids are too young for it now but I know they'll enjoy it in a few years!

Comment #2: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 10:41:31

Pussreboots

My two kids are six and two and enjoy the book. My oldest can sit through the entire book if I read it cover to cover. My youngest prefers to have it read over the course of two or three nights.