SYLVIA AND BIRD

In this quiet tale about friendship, Sylvia the dragon is lonely. She “had searched the whole world” for another dragon and came up zilch. One day she startles a bird by heaving a big dragon sigh, and they become friends. It’s a great friendship, but Sylvia still finds herself wishing for the company of other dragons. Abruptly she decides there must be more dragons on the moon and Bird decides to accompany her on her search. But the flight is too cold for Bird, and she falls out of the sky. Sylvia saves her and learns to appreciate what she’s got. Though pleasant enough, no new ground is broken on the subject, and the plot turns are far from organic. Sylvia is one good-looking dragon, however, and readers can spend a long time visually unravelling Rayner’s swirly black outlines and swooping blue-green watercolors against a stark white backgrounds. Bird is equally pleasing as a blot of bright yellow. In all, though, it may impress the adult eye more than a child’s. (Picture book. 3-6)