Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons and Other Creatures That Never Were

This collection of poems and Eric Carle's whimsical drawings is chock full of dragons, unicorns, and all other kinds of incredible fantasy creatures! This book is good for age 3+, though I gave it to my high-school aged child who just loves dragons, and it was a hit! I think that if you like Eric Carle's work, no matter your age, this book is a true wonder and most enjoyable.

I hate to contradict the lower ratings in this review, but I had to write and say that my 3 year old LOVED this book, definitely one of his very favorites, of all of his large library. He loves the pictures, he loves the idea of the mythical creatures (the stereotype of boys being fascinated by monsters has been true for him), he is intrigued by the poetry. I don't understand how the review writers can't see the value of little people being exposed to great writers of poetry! He is neither depressed or put off, but intrigued. He laughs at the appropriate places, and we discuss the creatures, and as a mom I am thrilled. So, I do not think Eric Carle has failed us in any way. In fact, I am grateful someone gives our young people credit and believes in their potential!

I was looking for a book of poetry, for my sons to use to do their copywork. Most were boring to them. This is not. They love it, and since they are doing their copywork without complaint, I love it too.

Eric Carle's gorgeous watercolor collage images are a perfect companion to the mythical poems in this book. Poetry from classic writers such as E.B. Browning, Sato, and Shakespeare comes together with more contemporary work from X.J. Kennedy, Arnold Sundgaard, and others. These are great for reading aloud, though very young children might find the pictures and words just a bit creepy!

This book provides a good start to teaching children to love poems. It contains the one element necessary to every successful poetic verse: transformation and magic.The book opens with a William Blake epigraph: "O! How I dreamt of things impossible." Inside are 32 poems, from a range of sources, including the Book of Job, Sir Richard Burton, William Shakespeare--and every poet's demi-god, Ranier Maria Rilke.Each verse is wonderful in its own right. The words alone make this book alive for kids: Reading several of these poems to a class of second graders elicited cries for more. I ran over time, and ended up reading half the poems. The brilliant illustrations add their own glory. Alyssa A. Lappen

We just bought this book for our seven year old son. The collection of poems, combined with Eric Carle's magical drawings has taken our son to a new world filled with dragons, unicorns, and all kinds of fantastic creatures. This is the world of a child's imagination and there is no one like Eric Carle to bring it to life...Read to your child, stare at the beauty of the art work and you will travel together to a magical land.