Dragons and Hot Sauce and Other Imaginations

“Ribbons” is the first poem in Moore’s Dragons and Hot Sauce and Other Imaginations. The collection contains three dozen poems, and “Ribbons”, being both short and amusing, is quite representative of the volume’s overall contents. With the exceptions of two poems being treated via double page spreads, the remainder of the poems each appear on its own page. The subject matter of Moore’s poetry cuts a wide swath and includes, for example, a vegetable-eating daredevil (“Amazing Sir Randy”), the beast from under your bed (“Bedtime”), an emu that wishes it could fly (“Pilot”), the cooties that keep boys and girls apart (“Cooties”), an unhappy bathtub toy (“Rubber Ducky”), a cat that fears mice (“The Tale of Sir Fluffytail”) and an impending family addition (“New Baby”). Each poem is delightfully illustrated by Andy Young whose full-colour comic-style artwork reinforces the lighthearted tone of the book’s contents.

Dragons and Hot Sauce and Other Imaginations would be a most appropriate book to share with those children who aren’t yet quite sure that poetry is really something for them.