#849 of 1001 · November 27, 2022

The book of the day is King Jack and the Dragon by Peter Bentley and Helen Oxenbury. The narrative follows the adventures of three children in a bout of spirited dramatic play. Together, young friends Jack and Zack, along with toddler Caspar, build a fort out of a cardboard box, a sheet, and other odds and ends they find lying around. They then populate the landscape of their game with imaginary dragons and wild beasts. After “giants” come by and take Zack and Caspar home to bed, Jack is left all alone. He is momentarily menaced by a shadowy, four-footed Thing, which, to his relief, turns out to be merely his parents coming to collect him from a day well spent. Bentley’s rhyming couplets are well paired with Oxenbury’s cool-toned, cross-hatched drawings. #king #dragon #knight #play #imagination #friend #friends #friendship #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks