After hatching from an egg that fell into the sea, a creature that shares features with a fish, an insect, a bird, and a snake--but is not any of these--sets off to find its own kind and its mother
The story begins with something precious falling from the sky and landing in the bottom of the ocean-an egg. The dragon hatches and spends the story meeting different animals and asking if they are his mother. He meets a boy who recognizes him from one of his stories and uses his book to help dragon find his way home.
This book really draws readers in and we feel the sadness and determination Dragon feels as he goes from animal to animal and from environment to environment trying to find his mother and discover who he is. Wayne Anderson effectively uses the craft of repeated phrase by having the main character ask, "Are you my mother? And what am I?" He effectively uses fantasy and teaches students the value of helping others-just like the boy helped dragon find his way home.
I would pair this book with Little Moon Dog by Helen Ward and illustrated by Wayne Anderson. This book also is full of fantasy with tourist fairies disrupting the man and his dog who live on the moon. It also features themes of friendship and home, just like Little Lost Dragon does.
"The human child looked up in wonder. He was not frightened for he knew magic from his storybooks. He looked at his book and he looked at the face in the window. "You are a wonderful thing, and I am reading about you in this book.""
Although this is a rather typical story of a youngster hunting for its mother, Anderson's misty, mysterious illustrations greatly enhance the story and make it something special.
This story was absolutely beautiful. The illustrations were so dreamlike and gorgeous. I was really feeling for this little dragon that didn't know what it was or where its mother was.