The Best Dragon Book

The Discovery of Dragons
By: Graeme Base

Dragon lovers of all ages will find themselves flipping though the pages of this handsomely illustrated book about dragons. Graene Base himself once said, "the Discovery of Dragons can in fact be credited to just three people" He was talking about thirteenth-century Viking Bjorn of Bromme, Soong Mei Ying, intrepid daughter of a thirteenth-century Chinese silk trader and Dr. E. F. Liebermann, whose letters to his fiancée, Miss Prunella Hapsburgernfries, span some 17 years in the mid-1800s. The book contains handsome paintings of dragons in their natural habitat and a letter written by the discoverer. At the bottom there is a cartoonish border that follows the explanations of the letters. Of course, Graeme Base offers his own scientific commentary.

The Discovery of Dragons is an oversized format and the letters appear as is there were facsimiles. They are accompanied by spectacular full-color paintings of the dragons. Also included are editorial notes, maps, and scale drawings that compare the dragon in question to other animals.

Throughout the book, Graeme Base writes scientifically and comically. He makes the book accessible to children and adults alike. The Discovery of Dragons very much looks and feels like a children's zoology book but had the qualities that adults really appreciate.