A RAINY DRAGON DAY

When an amiable dragon is unable to use his human friend’s bathroom, he takes the child on a magical trip to see where dragons “go.”

“I love rainy days. On rainy days nobody goes outside if they don’t have to. Today I’ll have a comfy day indoors.” These words, spoken by a light-skinned, dark-haired child, accompany an exquisitely drawn double-page spread. Illustrations rendered in pencil, watercolor, colored pencil, and pastel show rain coming down on an Old World–ish urban setting. A dragon—sporting a handlebar mustache and holding an inadequate red umbrella—perches on the rooftop of the child’s house. The page turns to the home’s interior: “I’ll read and play, muck around, daydream. No one will bother me.” The child doesn’t notice a dragon’s tail going past the window. The droll humor continues as the child welcomes the dragon into the house, introducing him as a friend named Fred who loves sausages and “coffee—lots of coffee.” The child unself-consciously uses the toilet, after which Fred delicately inquires if he may also. The ensuing pages are full of giggle-inducing efforts to accommodate the increasingly uncomfortable dragon, from attempting to shove him into the tiny bathroom to offering to let him use a public fountain. Finally, Fred flies the child to a magical lagoon full of dragons and their elegant, gazebo-style pee stations. Art and text translated from German gently and humorously support children’s natural fascination with body functions.

A unique bedtime story—before the nightly bathroom visit.