“THE LITTLEST DRAGON AND THE PRINCESS” is a story about goodness and greed that weaves Chinese dragon mythology with the discovery of silk. It solves the mystery of why the legendary Empress Leizu dropped that first cocoon into her tea and discovered silk.
The background story is about the social conflicts that all school age youngsters encounter, especially the difficulty that the young have when they are smaller and bullied. One of the key characters in the story is a wise old sage whose words of wisdom offer enlightened approaches to life’s conflicts.
The story is presented as a middle grade reader with ten chapters; it is about 13,000 words in length. Besides being an entertaining and enlightening read for youngsters, this story will appeal to many age groups because it conveys a timeless message that transcends age.
I was given a pre-published copy of the ten chapter middle grade novel The Littlest Dragon and the Princess for assessment by my son who is ten-years-old. He was very interested in the story and we decided to limit his reading to one chapter each night before bed. He really enjoyed his nightly sessions and all was going along as agreed but when he got to the end of chapter 8 he exclaimed, “WOW this is great!” “I got to I find out how it ends.”
He was a little tired the next morning but happy to have been able to finish this sweet story. I hope that he will try to use the moral lessons presented in the story when faced with social difficulties at school.
thanks for share!
Love the story!! Well written!
The Littlest Dragon will appeal to many age groups as there is a timeless message that transcends age. A sound foundation for the younger reader as they begin their journey into puberty. And not only is it an entertaining read but one that should be a mandatory read for elementary and middle school students. Excited about your future in the publishing world of children’s books David.
This story turned out to be startlingly timely for my little seven-year-old. Knowing Victoria was being shirked as the new student by an established (yup! it happens in first grade) little-girl clique, I decided to snuggle-up for some extra mom-daughter time with The Littlest Dragon and the Princess. She was immediately entranced with the delicate features of the Grand Wizar, the Princess and the other character sketches. Moreover, here was a dragon who was being bullied by his classmates — like herself. The coincidence surprised us both.
Well, with my kid’s esteem justifiably shaky – and me feeling helpless – we kept reading.
How would the dragon turn it around … but with humility! And get this–he turned out to be a dragon of the five-claw sort. Ahem. Which, suitably enough, increased his purpose in life — not his ego. (How I loved pointing that out to my daughter.) The dragon’s charitable dealings with his classmates were marvelous—although, of course, not without some struggle. Meanwhile, the narrative, so non-archetypal, that is, so new – as in not repeated like a former fairytale – drew us in. On one page we were with the Littlest Dragon and the princess in the “high fields above the town, helping the mill workers collect the plant stems and stalks….” Moments later we watched a group of soldiers weave into town who “wielded drumsticks, slowly beating great drums that were strapped across their chests.” It was kind of like a movie.
Truth, gracefully acquired, sets us free…. And, abundant in this tale, it scaffolded Victoria and me to some greater heights.