Have You Seen My Dragon?

Black line pen-and-ink drawings in finely patterned detail depict a vital, lively New York City of the imagination. ... Lots for young readers to see and count.

Drawn with a fountain pen, Light's distinctive illustrations have a bold, thick line and deep texture and are highlighted with dashes of color to help identify objects to count. His cityscapes capture the bustle of New York City, and little readers will have as much fun exploring the city as they do trying to spot the sneaky dragon hidden within. A rough map of the city serves as the book's endpapers, so little eyes can follow along.

Expressive line drawings fill the pages of this counting book, a love letter to the streets and sights of Manhattan. The boy who narrates is small figure with a round head, but his dragon is a magnificent creature that loops its elaborately scaled body and sinuous neck around and through New York's architectural landmarks, always just out of the boy's field of vision. On each page, everyday city objects are picked out in one color on the otherwise black-and-white pages ("11 manhole covers"; "12 pigeons"). Vehicles, street food, and even under-the-street wiring get attention as the boy searches on. Readers can spot the dragon sailing the river like the Loch Ness monster ("It's possible he went for a swim") or posing fountainlike in the middle of the zoo's monkey cage. One neighborhood in Lower Manhattan lends itself especially well to dragon habitat; there the boy's search ends. Light's (Zephyr Takes Flight) creation will appeal to Manhattanites and those outside the borough alike. Details missed the first time through the book will bring readers back for more. Ages 2-5. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Apr.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

K-Gr 2--This unique counting book will be a hit with children who love looking at finely detailed illustrations and searching for hidden items on each page. A boy has lost his dragon and asks the building doorman if he has seen him. The spread shows one large green dragon in a fancy apartment building. When the doorman answers, "No," the boy goes looking for him all throughout the city. "Maybe he got hungry and stopped for a hot dog," he thinks. But even as he buys a hot dog of his own, he doesn't see the dragon hiding and eating one himself. That's two. He passes three purple busses, but doesn't see the dragon. Four blue sailboats raise the possibility that he went for a swim in the river. And so it goes, up to 20, when the boy finds him "right where I left him," hiding on the roof near 20 red paper lanterns. The book is illustrated in pen and ink in a picture-book style that is reminiscent of the late 1950s to early 1960s. The drawings are produced in black ink only, except for the highlighted object on each page. A map on the endpapers outlines the route the boy takes throughout the city. All in all, an excellent offering.--Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

The simple journey and even the counting are merely excuses ... to take in the lavish cityscapes of the pen and ink illustrations: each spread features detailed black and white drawings using thick and thin nib techniques to achieve a calligraphic effect. The countable elements are washed over with a single colorful pigment, setting them apart for easy picking out. ... This is one for poring over, so that youngsters can not only count the color-coded hot dogs, balloons, and subway cars but also spot the dragon sneakily hiding just out of our narrator's view each step of the way.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Counting has never been so much fun. Detailed pen and ink illustrations splashed with color will keep young readers engaged as they try to spot the adventurous dragon.
—The Huffington Post

Inspired by the steam coming out of New York's manhole covers (which the young author's father said was dragon's breath), Light offers up a winding story of a young boy wandering through a bustling cityscape in search of his dragon. The book does a great job of contrasting intricate black and white line drawings with a bold use of color that will draw kids in, not just to look for the dragon, but to explore the curiosities of the city itself.
—The Huffington Post

Lithe and lovely, overflowing with good will and copious details, expect the sentence, "Have you seen 'Have You Seen My Dragon?'" to appear on the lips of parents and children everywhere.
—Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)

Adventure, color, numbers, maps... just a few of the captivating features of this wonderfully fun-for-the-whole-family book.
—PBS Parents

Little ones will love finding the creature in each picture, while Steve Light's intricate drawings of the city will impress readers of all ages.
—Parents Magazine Tablet Edition

Steve Light's masterful pen-and-ink illustrations, decorated with meticulous splashes of color, elevate this counting book (numbers 1-20) to new heights.
—WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Counting has never been so much fun. Detailed pen and ink illustrations splashed with color will keep young readers engaged as they try to spot the adventurous dragon.
—Afro Times

Counting has never been so fun!
—Meridian Magazine