Where is the dragon? by Leo Timmers

Three knights walk through the night, trying to find and dispatch the dragon their king fears.

Each scene sees them repeat one of the king's fears, and this is illustrated on the facing page. When the page is turned a different scene awaits the reader, showing a contradictory image of the words spoken. So a dragon with thick, double sided spikes becomes a warren of rabbits with their ears sticking up, the first in outline against the dark, scary night sky, the second illuminated by the knight's candle. When the king fears the dragon's long neck and flared nostrils, over the page we see a group of sleeping animals. Each illuminated illustration gives the lie to the fearful words uttered by the king, showing how words that mean one thing, can reveal something quite different in the light.

Readers will see the link between an imagined fear and a real fear: what is thought about by your imagination at night compared to the reality by the light of day. And each fear brings gales of laughter by the reader, along with snorts of derision by the knights, saying 'ha ha ho ho' whenever they see the reality of the situation they have been sent to contain. They confidently say there is no dragon as they return to the castle and their beds.

But of course the last laugh is on the knights as there really is a dragon as we find out on the last page.

Translated from, Waar is de Draal? by New York Times Best Illustrated Book recipient, Timmers, this delightful story will win hearts as the king needs to be placated by his heroic knights. But the last page shows him in an unenviable position after the knights have returned, convinced that the king is having illusions.

Eye catching illustrations will turn the heads of the readers as they take in the story and its stunning backdrop. Timmer’s use of shadows and outlines is superb, the detail arresting and the Medieval touches intriguing.

Themes: Knights and castles, Dragons, Quests, Kings, Fears, Night, Knights.

Fran Knight