February 10th, 2024 marks the transition from the Year of the Rabbit to the Year of the Dragon. My latest picture book, Dragon’s Dilemma, tells the story of the zodiac race from Dragon’s perspective and is a companion piece for Twelve in a Race. When my now 21 year old son was about 4 or so, I looked for a picture book to help him learn about The Great Race but didn’t find anything that was suitable for his age. I wrote the rhymes for Twelve in a Race but didn’t find a publisher interested in my story until 2020. Twelve in a Race became my debut picture book. After it was finished, my publisher, Maggie Goh of Plumleaf Press, and I looked forward and realized 2024 would be the Year of the Dragon - a really big year - and decided a dragon story was in order. Dragon’s Dilemma tells the story of The Great Race from Dragon’s perspective, answering a question children often posed after I read them Twelve in a Race. They wanted to know how Dragon - the biggest, fastest and only contender who could fly - ended up in fifth place. Illustration by Sae Kimura, courtesy Plumleaf Press When I wrote the story I drew on traditional characteristics of Chinese dragons. Unlike Western dragons, the Dragon of my story would not breath fire or kidnap hapless villagers. Instead, Chinese dragons were said to control weather and water and often brought rain. Chinese dragons were said to be noble creatures and signified good luck. In order to explain why Dragon didn’t just fly straight to the finish line and win the race I drew on another Dragon characteristic - over confidence.
I was reunited with illustrator Sae Kimura for Dragon’s Dilemma and we are delighted with how it turned out! Catherine Little is an experienced educator, writer and consultant. During her career, she has taught in P/J/I classrooms as well as for the Faculty of Education at York University. Her writing can be found in newspapers, professional journals and textbooks. Most recently she has turned her attention to writing picture books that celebrate Chinese culture and illuminate contributions. Her titles include Twelve in a Race, Endgame: The Secret Force 136 and Dragon’s Dilemma. CBC included Endgame: The Secret Force 136 in their 2023 list of 11 Books Canadian should read for Remembrance Day. Follow me on Instagram @books.beyond.bedtime www.instagram.com/books.beyond.bedtime/ Comments are closed.
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