Ralph Masiello's Dragon Drawing Book
Grade 4–6—The vibrant, eye-catching cover of this well-designed, neatly arranged book is sure to attract the attention of dragon fans and aspiring artists. A "Choose your tools" box illustrates the supplies needed (pastel pencil, crayon, watercolor, fine-tip marker, colored pencil, marker, poster paint). An outline map (that does not identify the continents) indicates where the types of dragons originated. Detailed drawings of 11 creatures (Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent, Lambton Wyrm, Chinese Imperial Dragon, etc.) require anywhere from 12 to 50 steps to complete. The technique is similar to the method used in Lee J. Ames's books, but Masiello includes boxes with additional drawing ideas for fish scales, Maya patterns and shapes, a treasure chest, and so on, and a paragraph of facts about each dragon. The glorious, fire-breathing creatures depicted nearly leap off the page.—Augusta R. Malvagno, Queens Borough Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.