Dragon? What Dragon?

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A DRAGON, written and illustrated by Jack Kent is reviewed today by reading enthusiast Lindy Michaels of BookStar on Ventura Blvd. in  Studio City.

Sometimes oldies are indeed goodies. And this one certainly is. Billy Bixbee  awoke one morning to find a kitten-sized dragon beside his bed. He didn’t know where it came from, but being so cute, he gave it a pat on its head.

Downstairs having breakfast, Billy told his mother about his new friend. “There’s no such thing as a dragon,” she told him. “Yes there is!” answered Billy. “No, there isn’t!” And so Billy heeded his mother’s advice and ignored the animal. Now, listen closely children (and that goes for you parents, also), because the more Billy’s mother denied there was, in fact, a dragon in the house, the more the dragon grew and grew… bigger and bigger and bigger, until he was bigger than their house!

Mayhem arose when the friendly bread truck drove through the neighborhood. The very hungry dragon, now so big the house was perched on its back, raced after truck for a snack! When Father Bixbee came home, imagine his surprise to find his house atop a dragon, blocks from where it was supposed to be.

Unfortunately, Mother Bixbee was still in dragon denial until Billy screamed, “Yes, there is such a thing as a dragon and he’s right here!” And then Billy patted the humongous beast on the head and low and behold, the dragon starting shrinking and shrinking, until it was back down to the size of a kitten.

Mother Bixbee admitted, having a little dragon wasn’t so bad and wondered why it had gotten so big. And out of the mouths of babes, Billy told her, “Well, maybe he just wanted to be noticed.”

The very versatile Lindy Michaels aims to inspire young minds through children’s literature. Lindy owned L.A.’s first children’s bookshop, OF BOOKS AND SUCH (1972-1987) where she did storytelling, taught drama to children, had art and poetry contests and the like. According to Lindy, “It was truly a ‘land of enchantment.” She also spent years lecturing on realism in children’s literature at colleges in the state. For close to five years Lindy has worked for Studio City Barnes and Noble (BookStar) in the children’s section and does storytelling (with no interruptions!) every Saturday at 10:30 a.m.