LITTLE DRAGON AND THE NEW BABY

Can Little Dragon get used to the idea of becoming a big brother?

Little Dragon is ambivalent at best when his parents show him their egg and announce that there’s a new baby on the way. “He was definitely not in the mood for company right now,” reads the text on a page that includes artistic Little Dragon’s drawings of his family, which hang on the wall beside a sign with the words “My Room.” His solution is first to cover the egg, which is as big as he is, with blankets. Unsatisfied, he then paints a face on the egg, though it’s unclear why he has this impulse since the picture makes the egg more conspicuous. The drawing also displeases his mother, who brings him a bucket of soapy water and a washcloth. Contrite, Little Dragon scrubs the egg until he hears a loud “CRAAACK.” Lo and behold, not one but two baby dragons emerge from the egg. On seeing how cute they are, Little Dragon has an immediate change of heart and embraces his new siblings. On the final page one baby displays some of its big brother’s artistic sensibility in a humorous twist, and Little Dragon crosses out the word “My” on the sign in his room and replaces it with “OUR.” All the dragons have the same green-and-white coloration and spike patterns, indicating a homogeneous family. As an aspirational title for expectant big siblings, this tale is adequate, but its underdeveloped emotional arc begs unfavorable comparison to such subgenre classics as Julius, the Baby of the World.

The story is hasty, but its sentiments are sweet.