Sunday, January 31, 2010

Roots of Role Playing- Eric Carle's Dragons!


Some of us spend our time wondering how to introduce our children to dragons, mermaids and the like at a young age. I've been disappointed at how few books there are for younger children with what I would call decent art and appealing stories. My trips to Barnes and Noble have been busts so far and the 1st edition Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual is less appealing to 3 year olds that you might guess.

For these reasons I was thrilled when my wife brought home Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons. The book has illustrations of a few dozen creatures and each image is accompanied by a poem. The images are fabulous. Carle has a reputation for cute children's books but his work here just slightly more mature- still approachable for children but fun for parents to look at as well. I don't have much of a taste for poetry but the majority of the pieces are light-hearted and even a little silly. And if the poem doesn't grab you the artwork certainly will.

Dragons Dragons is a fun book for any child. It's also a nice item for role playing parents who want to give their kids a glimpse of fabulous and awesome creatures that could crop up in some rpg later on.

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