Maud is a night dragon, but he isn't a typical dragon! He couldn't fly or breathe fire like the rest of the dragons. The other dragons made Maud feel so sad as they made fun of him. One day, all the dragons got together for a party, but Maud wasn't invited. The other dragons all fell asleep at the party, so there was no darkness or clouds in the sky. His only friend, Mouse, encouraged him to be brave and try to fly so that the sky would get dark at night. Just then, Maud took off flying, breathed fire and smoke, and instead of the sky turning dark, it was filled with beautiful colors as the sun set. Maud learned the importance of being himself and continued make colorful sunsets!

Maud is a dragon with beautiful multi-coloured wings who doesn't believe she can fly. She watches her siblings every night and wishes she could join them in the sky, but never tries. Her siblings are not very nice to her about it either. When faced with a situation where she absolutely NEEDS to fly, her best friend Mouse lets her know he believes in her. He climbs on her back and trusts that she will be able to fly. When she flies, she is also able to breath fire, but her fire is bright and colourful, just like her. This is used to explain colourful sunsets, which is kind of cute. This is a wonderful story about developing self-confidence. The illustrations in this book are wonderful. Maud is the most colourful part of all of them, drawing the eye to her on every page. Her siblings are darker, scarier and larger. Children love dragons and they will enjoy Maud's story. I thought it was interesting that a mouse was used as his muse and encourager, just like Dumbo the Elephant. I read this to my grandchildren. My granddaughter did not understand the story, but she kept talking about the pretty dragon. A good story for primary classrooms and families, especially where someone needs some confidence boosting. The publisher, Lincoln Children's Books, provided me with a copy of this book to read. The opinions stated are my own. ( )

This book very much reminds me of Dumbo, except we have a dragon that can not fly instead of an elephant. What makes the pairing is the little mouse telling them that they can do anything they set their minds too. This book has wonderfully colorful and unique illustrations. And the story, while a bit long winded, is perfectly attuned to the message it is sending. I hope for this to be a new classic. ( )