The 14th Dragon

Thirteen dragons are captured in verse and by paint brush. Each dragon is the creation of a different illustrator with the fourteenth dragon left to the imagination and talent of the reader. 

NY Times Review, 1968: “On a magical, mystical day” when “nothing behaves in the usual way” thirteen hunters set off on a whimsical dragon hunt. You, the reader, are invited to join this band of bumpkins, black silhouetted against the pages.

Thirteen dragons, described in undistinguished verse and with relentless alliteration as “droopy,” “drowsy,” “darling,” “dainty,” “dastardly,” etc., fall prey, one by one, to hugs, flowers, toys and other bland means of capture. The fourteenth of the title? Well, that's for you to capture, with “paper and crayons” as best you can.

The purpose behind all of this is to display the absolutely splendid dragons, each by a different artist in his own style (though one wishes it were a little easier to tell throughout which artist did which dragon). My favorites are Edward Gorey's utterly languid green one, lying belly-up on a rock, gazing at a dragon fly; a Trojan-Horse one by Nicole Claveloux, with tiny fantastic demons in his hollow inside; and Ralph Pinto's soulful, middle-aged one wafting on green wings over delicately cross-hatched forests and mountain peaks. There are dragons here for every taste. And if, in the face of such artistry, you'd rather just admire your favorites and skip creating your very own, don't worry, that's all right too.

Illustrated by Robert L. Anderson, Victoria Chess, Nicole Claveloux, Virginia Fritz, Edward Gorey, Donald Leake, Stanley Mack, Robert Nadler, John Norman Jr., Ralph Pinto, Paul Spina, Pat Ronson Stewart and Murray Tinkelman.