THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE DRAGON
by Else Holmelund Minarik & illustrated by Martine Gourbault
The author of Little Bear (1957) concocts a wry modern fable. Escaping from the young protagonist's book, a dragon swallows all her toys—even the minicomputer. Undaunted, she orders him to cough up: she'll sit on his book until he does. Everything flies out, and she lets him "back in the book—where he belonged." The whimsically offbeat story makes a good vehicle for Gourbault's debut; her greedy dragon is just scary enough and not very bright, the child refreshingly assertive and self-possessed. (Picture book. 4-8)