"Search Inside" Ben and the Dragon!

Hi!

You can now read a SAMPLE CHAPTER of Ben and the Dragon on Amazon by clicking on the cover image with a "Look Inside" ribbon at its upper right corner.

It's the first chapter, leading up to Ben's otherworldly adventure.

This book began as a short story I wrote for my younger son, Ben, for Christmas last year.  My artist wife, Andrée, illustrated Ben and the Dragon and painted the cover.

I enjoyed creating a story around my eight-year-old’s life, imagining what he would do during his adventures with a dragon.  I wanted to create a story where he was the main character.

At our sons’ school, they’re considering adding Ben and the Dragon to their “Accelerated Reading” program, where kids read books and are tested, earning points they redeem at the end of the year for prizes.  Ben’s third grade teacher was the first person, other than our family, to read an early manuscript.

I’m really, really, really glad Ben and the Dragon is in this world.

On Christmas morning, I thought it would be easy to polish the story I had written and mold it into a book.  After months of fixing, changing, tweaking and deleting—not to mention coordinating with Andrée on illustration ideas—it feels like I have finally given birth after a prolonged labor... and now, I am left with a lingering feeling of relief.

A boy and a dragon meet at a pond.

Everything in this story is taken from Ben's life; the only thing strictly made-up is the dragon world, which was influenced, strongly, by my imagined notions of my French wife’s heritage.

I hope children of all ages enjoy Ben and the Dragon.  Let me know!

If you order Ben and the Dragon on Amazon, and buy from oneandonlybooks (that's me), you'll get a signed copy.

Good reading, and Merry [early] Christmas….