The little dragon hero could be a boy or girl, and the guardian who shares a bedtime book could be male or female, making this an ideal book to share for aunts, uncles and grandparents, too.
As the adult reads to the wide-eyed dragon child, who clutches a blanket, youngsters see behind them the pages the dragon pair reads. The story-within-a-story, illustrated in full color, stars Cedric the dragon, who is "a bright angry red." Never in his life "(Not once)" has Cedric been to bed. Cedric breathes fire as he carries away a princess from a castle tower to turn into a pie. The adult and child dragon reading the Cedric story appear in a limited palette of green and red in a black outline, so youngsters can easily distinguish the child hero from the characters in the bedtime book. At the close of Cedric's story, the child dragon asks, "Again?" and children watch as the child hero and Cedric begin to swap emotions.
Each time the adult reads the story, the "AGAIN!" uttered by the child is more emphatic. The action within the storybook about Cedric changes as the adult attempts to put the young dragon to sleep, and the child's refrain grows in size and emphasis, "AGAIN! AGAIN!" The now bright-red child dragon (literally) burns a hole in the back of the book readers hold in their hands. Children will delight in the topsy turvy role-playing Emily Gravett (Wolf Won't Bite!) once again exhibits in her playful metafiction. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness