DEMI'S DRAGONS AND FANTASTIC CREATURES
by Demi & illustrated by Demi
Opulent with gold, expansive with foldout double spreads, and lush with decorative collages of Demi's signature marbled- paper designs, creatures bedecked with multiple mini-images of themselves and other creatures, and oriental imagery: an affectionate celebration of Chinese dragons in all their rich multiplicity. Each dragon (water, heavenly, wind, etc.) or other creature (phoenix, elephant, tortoise) is accompanied by a rather uninspired couplet summarizing the creature's symbolic significance (``The lioness fights for wisdom and truth;/she scares away demons with claw and tooth''); the explication of the same ideas, at the end, is more prosaic, but more satisfactory. A handsome, idiosyncratic presentation; some of the dragons—the thunder dragon in swirling black and white, or the dramatic red- and-black fire dragon—are magnificent. (Picture book. 5-11)