Again! by Emily Gravett (review)

A bedtime readaloud session gets a little fiery as a young dragon grows frustrated with his parent's sleepy refusal to reread its favorite book. Initially, the parent dragon willingly reads aloud the brief story of Cedric the dragon, who's "never,/ His whole life,/ (Not once) been to bed." Each time the tale ends, the little listening dragon ask hopefully, "Again?" This scenario repeats until the pooped parent can hardly get through a sentence before dozing off. The little dragon, so upset that he grows as red as scarlet Cedric, shakes the book so that the inhabitants of its illustrations fall in a jumbled heap at the bottom of their page. His final "AGAIN!" comes out as a flaming burst of dragon breath that burns a hole right through the pages of Cedric's book and indeed the actual physical book as well: the closing pages and back cover all feature a charred-looking hole, through which Cedric and his fellow cast members prudently escape. This is a creative bit of fun to which many a tired parent and enthusiastic child will relate, and the dragon aspect will appeal to many youngsters as well. The oil-based pencil and watercolor pictures are skillfully composed, with the delicately scaled green dragons contrasting tastefully with the crimson color of the book, of Cedric, and of (eventually) the little dragon himself, all posed against a soothing cream backdrop. The boldness of the pictures and brevity of the text will make this a sure-fire winner for group storytimes and patient parents with plenty of energy may find it suitable bedtime fare as well.