DragonQuest
A mission to find the last dragon winds through a perilous landscape, but the knight sees no trace of the creature. Can the eagle-eyed reader spot it?
A noble Dragon Fighter sets out on an expedition to fight the last dragon, inviting the reader along for the journey. Through shifting sands and tangled forests and past the whispering abyss, many awful perils are braved - witches, trolls, werewolves, ghost owls, scorpions, and vultures - but where is the dragon? Whether or not the reader is observant enough to read the subtle clues in the landscape and shadows, the final revelation of the elusive dragon's whereabouts is sure to produce giggles and gasps of delight. Once in the know, children will want to read this tale over and over, flipping pages back and forth to compare cleverly illustrated details. A tale not to be missed by anyone with the heart of a daring adventurer.
Creators
Allan Baillie was born in Scotland in 1943 and came to Australia when he was seven. He attended several Victorian bush schools before settling in Melbourne. Allan became a journalist, moved to Sydney and began writing books. He is now a full-time author, chasing books in Cambodia, China, Arnhem Land, Indonesia and Timor. His works have been published in fourteen countries and they have won various awards. Drac and Gremlin won Picture Book of the Year at the 1989 Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards. Allan has been short-listed for this award many times, including for DragonQuest in 1997. That same year DragonQuest was also short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award. Allan has won the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize several times and in 2010 his book Krakatoa Lighthouse won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature. Allan is married with a daughter and a son. He swims and sails whenever possible.
Wayne Harris is an award-winning illustrator and designer. He won the APA Best Designed Picture Book of the Year Award for A Bit of Company by Margaret Wild and for Gordon’s Got a Snookie by Lisa Shanahan. He was short-listed in the 1995 NSW Premier’s Award for writing Judy and the Volcano, the same year Going Home was named an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. He works as a designer for Walker Books Australia and also teaches design and illustration. He has most recently illustrated Edge of the World, written by Ian Trevaskis, published by Walker Books.
Reviews
…visually rich, irreverent and very entertaining.
Sydney Morning Herald
Here is a book which speaks to the dragon slayer lurking in fertile young imaginations This is a wonderful book. Highly recommended.
Magpies
This adventuresome quest will richly reward any and all who undertake it.
Kirkus
a much-loved fantasy for a whole generation of young readers
Merle Morcom
