I don't believe in dragons

For the past month or so we have reading a variety of picture books about dragons. One of the stands for us was I Don't Believe in Dragons by Anna Walker.

This is a wonderful story that explores childhood imagination. When the teacher, Miss May, says she sees a dragon, the children's imaginations kick into overdrive and they a full of questions, often prompted by their school environment. When they are eating lunch under the trees, Sally asks if the dragon eats apples, because she found an apple skin and during rest time, Ben asked if dragons snore.

Jack, however, won't join in the fun because he does not believe in dragons.  He continually shoots down his friends ideas about the dragon but he soon finds out that you never know what you might discover in the playground.

I am a bit of a fan of Anna Walker's illustrations and this book certainly does not disappoint. Her water colour and pencil illustrations are beautiful and the white dragon with bright orange spots is simply adorable.

Our Craft Activity

Instead of giving James a specific craft activity to link to this gorgeous book, I asked him what he would like to do. He really wanted to draw a dragon and I must say Anna Walker's illustrations are a perfect source of inspiration.

After flicking through the book, he chose his favourite illustration and sat down (with his best concentration face) and set about drawing his own version of the dragon.

I was impressed with how focused he was on his drawing and getting it just right. Drawing this dragon was something he really wanted to do and that was reflected in the effort he put into it. Here is the final product:

Adorable isn't it? He was so proud of his dragon and insisted on me taking a photo of on my phone so we could send it to Daddy at work! 

Additional Craft Ideas:

If dragons are popular in your house, here some other wonderful dragon activities that you might want to try out:

• Anna Walker's website includes some gorgeous dragon colouring in pages
• Make a dragon's head from an egg carton {Activity Village}
• Create a flying dragon puppet using plastic cups {Sun Scholars}
• Use a paper plate to create a different dragon puppet {My Poppet}
• Trace your hands to make a hand print paper dragon {Paper Crafts}
• Use half a pear to create a dragon snack {Almost Unschoolers}
• Practice your fire-breathing by creating a fire-breathing dragon with a paper cup {Kangarooboo}

Do you have a favourite dragon book?