Sleeping dragons about to wake at Tattletales

By Joanie Veitch - The Weekly News
Dee-dragon, deee-light-ful…. Sheree Fitch's award-winning Sleeping Dragons All Around is about to enchant a whole new generation of children.
Author Sheree Fitch and illustrator Michele Nidenoff will be at Tattletales Books at the Penhorn Mall on Sun., Jan. 25 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at a book launch of the 20th anniversary edition of this celebrated classic in Canadian children's literature.
The book tells the story of Melissa who wakes up in the night and has to tiptoe past eight sleeping dragons to reach the mocha maple chocolate cake in the kitchen downstairs.
Tongue-twisting rhymes and dragons with names like Beelzebub, Pythagorus, Ching-Chung and old Jebediah Jones make this a perfect "read out loud" book.
Colourful illustrations, such as the one of Priscilla in her pink pantaloons, or Fagan the punk dragon, create a visual feast too.
Both Fitch and Nidenoff will be on hand to sign books at the bookstore launch.
And a reading by Fitch is always a pleasure, says Tattletales' owner, Anne Whebby.
"When Sheree Fitch reads one of her books aloud, she doesn't just read the book, she performs it. It's absolutely wonderful," Whebby says.
Sleeping Dragons All Around was first published in 1989 by Random House of Canada, but has been out of print for several years. Nimbus Publishing, a local company and the largest English-language publisher east of Toronto, is launching the new anniversary edition.
An award-winning writer and educator, Fitch has 23 books to her credit. Her first adult novel, Kiss the Joy as it Flies was published last year and became a Canadian bestseller within eight weeks.
joanie.veitch@gmail.com