How to draw a dragon by Kate Talbot

Starting with the premise that everyone knows what a dragon looks like, Kate Talbot takes people's imaginations seriously and with a great load of humour shows us drawings of what they might look like.

The image on the first page shows an animal with scaly skin, a long face with wing like things coming out of its ears. So is this a dragon, well, turn the page. Over the page the animal is standing up and has a long green face. But is this a dragon? Well, turn the page. Here is the same animal with our attention drawn to its back where a pair of wings hover. The question appears again, asking if this is dragon, because it looks more like a dinosaur. But it can’t fly. Over the page again the reader is introduced to fire. Everyone knows that dragons breathe fire and this makes them very scary. But this dragon is friendly, so how do these two ideas intersect?

By now readers will be adding their own ideas of what a dragon looks like, laughing at the images presented as the definition of a dragon is revised over and over. 

From an underwater dragon, trying hard to breathe fire, but having difficulty, to a fireman trying to put out fires despite breathing fire itself, to the conclusion that really there’s no such thing as a dragon. And yet! On one page, the dragon is underwater and looks a little like a leafy sea dragon. And there is the Komodo dragon. But the image has no head, so the reader is asked to draw one in. Several attempts are shown, and the reader’s imagination soars, giving the dragon a jet pack, and a mermaid tail, and a pirate’s hat, and a sword. A magnificent dragon soars overhead and breathes fire on the children beneath it. And that is scary. And as it lands they all toast marshmallows. 

This very funny look at the idea of a dragon, an animal seen in lots of books from picture books for three year olds to heavy tomes for adult readers, will set imaginations glowing, as the readers bring their own ideas to the fore.

Wonderful illustrations underline the humour in the text. The dragon sits on each page like a tailor’s dummy, having bits added as the text unfolds. Sometimes its eyes tell a story of patience as various bits are added or taken away. But all the time, it is a friendly dragon and its skills are used to advantage at the end of the book.

I can see lots of kids at home or in the classroom, trying out drawing a dragon for themselves, sharing ideas, searching for books in the library which show dragons. And a quick search will gather many dragon books which will add to the fun of drawing their own version.

Themes: Dragons, Drawing, Imagination.

Fran Knight