YOU DON"T BELIEVE IN DRAGONS? Well, they probably don't believe in you either!

Poems by Jack Prelutsky and pictures by Peter Sis...in my opinion it just not get much better than this. This team is one of my favorite. Each has quite a number of children's books to their credit and they just keep getting better and better.

This 1993 hard cover edition contains 17 short to medium length poems by Jack Prelutsky, all of course pertaining to and about dragons. Now you may not believe in dragons (I pity you...of course there are those that do not even believe in fairies and elves and my pity goes out to them too), but you will enjoy this one never the less. One of my favorite poems in this work is entitled "If you don't Believe in Dragons." It goes:

If you don't believe in dragons,
It is curiously true
That the dragons you disparage
Choose to not believe in you.

Each dragon poem is accompanied by a double page illustration by Peter Sis and for those of you familiar with the work of this artist; I can assure you that Sis is at his best here. He delivers a wide assortment of fantastic beasts in strange and not so strange locations and situation; the man is versatile!
Each illustration or painting is in perfect sync with the text and the text and painting enhance each other making a wonder whole world of dragons.

Once They All Believed In Dragons

Once they all believed in dragons
When the world was fresh and young.
We were woven into legends,
Tales were told and songs were sung,
We were treated with obeisance,
We were honored, we were feared,
Then one day they stopped believing -
On that day, we disappeared.

Now they say our time is over,
now they say we've lived our last,
Now we're treated with derision
Where we once ruled unsurpassed.
We must make them all remember,
In some way we must reveal
That our spirit lives forever -
We are dragons! We are real!

This work makes a wonderful read aloud book and I do highly recommend it.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks