Summary: "I wish I could fly, and breathe fire and fill the sky with great grey, sooty clouds," Maud said to her friend, Mouse. Maud is picked on by the other dragons, so stays cooped up in her cave, sad and lonely. But when the chance comes, will her friend Mouse help her pluck up the courage to fly? A beautiful picture book
about individuality and friendship from Naomi Howarth,
whose first book The Crow's Tale was shortlisted for the
Waterstones Children's Book Prize.
A beautiful picture book about individuality and friendship.
Originally published: 2018.
"I wish I could fly, and breathe fire and fill the sky with great grey, sooty clouds," Maud said to her friend, Mouse. Maud is picked on by the other dragons, so stays cooped up in her cave, sad and lonely. But when the chance comes, will her friend Mouse help her pluck up the courage to fly? A beautiful picture book
about individuality and friendship from Naomi Howarth,
whose first book The Crow's Tale was shortlisted for the
Waterstones Children's Book Prize.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Booklist Review
This picture book packs both a pictorial and emotional punch as it follows a rainbow-scaled dragon, Maud, in her attempts to follow the crowd, finally soaring, in every sense, above the other dragons. With nods to The Ugly Duckling, this pourquoi tale carries a fairy-tale cadence as it whimsically explains the arrival of sunset and nightfall. Maud lives atop a mountain with four other dragons, who have ugly snouts and drab coloring. They taunt and shun Maud because she can't do what they can, bring night by flying through the sky and covering the sun with soot from their exhalations. Maud has one friend, Mouse, who convinces her to try to fly. And Maud does, to spectacular effect, as she flies over farmlands, mountains, rivers, and a city, all the while exhaling huge plumes of smoke in every color of the rainbow the origin, the book says, of sunsets. Howarth's patterned watercolors give breath-taking variations to landscapes, skyscapes, and, especially, to Maud. This is a wonderful lesson in being oneself, delivered in engaging fairy-tale fashion.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2018 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
Maud is a dragon who doesn't fly with the others, though she really wishes she could. The night dragons awaken at the end of the day and breathe out flames that fill the sky with "great gray, sooty clouds" to cover the sun and create night. The other dragons tease Maud and make her feel useless and weak. Her sole friend, Mouse, tries to encourage her to find her own way of doing things, but she is not convinced. One evening, when the other dragons are sleeping off the effects of a wild party, the sky remains light way longer than usual. Mouse accompanies Maud and cheers her on as she steps off the mountain, flaps her wings, and soars into the sky. She blows clouds of fire, but they are definitely not gray. They fill the sky over city and country with bright colors that allow the sun to set in beauty. Howarth's watercolor illustrations depict all the dragons colorfully in deep shades of green, blue, and purple, but Maud is seen in all the brightest and most cheerful of hues. The daylight scenery is also varied and colorful, contrasting with the darkness of the dragons' nighttime activities and making Maud's efforts even lovelier. The tale is slight and a bit preachy: Other dragons bad, Mouse and Maud good. But the lessons of courage and individuality are universal.Lovely to look at, if lacking substance. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
TextPublisher: London : Lincoln Children's Books, 2019Description: 1 volume : chiefly illustrations (colour) ; 29 cmContent type: