Darly and the Dragon

When Darly wakes up one morning, she discovers a big cardboard box waiting for her. Because she knows that a cardboard box can be anything, she quickly gets to work imagining a magical quest in a faraway forest. When she comes across a fearsome dragon, instead of running away or attacking it, she tries an original tactic – she asks the dragon why she’s so mean. This works beautifully to diffuse the situation, and the dragon confesses that she actually wanted to be the queen in this imaginary game. Darly cheerfully shares her crown with the creature, and they play for the rest of the day as two royal friends dancing and twirling through their kingdom. In a simply beautiful way, Darly and the Dragon demonstrates the power of empathy and communication in interactions with others.

Walker’s four colour palette uses a balance of whimsy and restraint that represents the experience of imagining, without filling in all the blanks for the audience. Bold watercolour strokes of purple swim and swirl around the line drawings, giving the feeling of movement to the images, while the recurrent stars and bubbles communicate a world of make-believe by a girl immersed in play. It almost feels as though it has been drawn by a child in that naturally impulsive way that children bring pen and paint to paper.

While the message of this story is beautiful and significant, the prose feels stilted and forced. The experience of reading this story could have been strengthened if freed from the constraints of the imposed rhyme scheme. Despite this, Darly and the Dragon is a cute story that shows children not to be afraid when faced with a conflict, but instead to be curious. When Darly asks the all-important question, she defeats the metaphorical beast –the Dragon’s emotional response to being cast as the bad guy yet again when she really wants to be queen. Open, honest communication amongst friends is essential, and, once honed, it is a skill that will remain useful throughout life. Darly shows her readers that bravery and compassion are a powerful combination.