The Shell Dragon

The collaborators of Amazing Maisy's Family Tree , an ornate story of the intricacies of genealogy, return with a fable about a dragon who loves her one-of-a-kind treasure of sea shells that are not found anywhere else in the world. When the dragon makes a gift of one small shell to a bird, the bird is noticed by men, who try to follow him. In fear, he returns to the dragon's cove; the other birds are frightened and attack the men, and in the scuffle, a feather falls on the dragon's nose. She sneezes and the shells are scattered world-wide. Both text and art lack the endless surprises found in Maisy ; in fact, this story seems rather pointless. The men the birds so fear are never shown, which gives the whole work a vague, detached quality. Ultimately, this is quite a disappointment. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)