How To Draw a Dragon
How To Draw a Dragon
Kate Talbot
Albert Street, 2024
32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99
9781761180606
Everybody knows what a dragon looks like.
Don’t they?
Dragons have wings.
Dragons breathe fire.
Especially they breathe fire!
On the surface this is a lively conversation between a father and child as they lie on the floor together and Dad draws a dragon. But it does not look like the little one’s mental image of what a dragon should be like and so the story is carried along via their exchange as they make various versions and changes and then let their imaginations really go wild. Until a third party intervenes…
Dragons appear in so many storybooks for young readers that each will probably have a mental image of what they look like and so a simple activity would be to have them draw their version of one before reading the story, and then compare their drawings after sharing the book. As well as starting conversations about the similarities and differences, and making comparisons of the role dragons take in the stories they have read (‘text-to-text’ for the curriculum buffs – start with There is No Dragon in this Story; search this blog for “dragon” for many more or this blog post from A Mighty Girl) there could also be those who want to compare dragons of different cultures because the children of Asian origin will likely have a different perspective from those of the child in the story, and it will be more than just its physical looks, so lots of opportunities to compare and contrast and present findings.. And then there are the offshoots like the Komodo dragon and the weedy sea-dragon both appearing in the story and blurring the image even further.
But, delve a little deeper and it opens up all sorts of possibilities like the concept of stereotypes and the validity of the judgements we make based on what we imagine someone or somebody being or doing. Do all dragons have wings? Do they all breathe fire? Do all scientists wear white coats? Do all kings wear crowns?
It can also offer scope to investigate perception and perspective – how what we see is based on what we already know and believe. Depending on the age of those you are working with, share The King’s Breakfast, a poem by A. A. Milne; the initial description of the giant moving down the street in Roald Dahl’s The BFG; or the first meeting between Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Then have them draw the scene they see in their head, without reference to other illustrations, and once complete, share their images. Why, when given exactly the same information, is every drawing so different? What did they already know/believe that influenced their pictures? It has been my experience that this is an activity that will generate a lot of learning whether done with Year 1 or Year 6 and beyond.
Different interpretations of Bilbo Baggins meeting Gandalf
The publisher’s blurb says this is one that is “perfect to share with children who love drawing … or having opinions.” but, using humour in the illustrations and presenting the story entirely in dialogue with each speaker identified by a particular font echoing the voice of an opinionated child who is adamant that they are right and which we can all hear, Talbot has created a story that it has the potential to be so much more.
