ELIZA WHEELER READS FROM HER BOOK JOHN RONALD'S DRAGONS

John Ronald's Dragons: The Story of J.R. R. Tolkien (MacMillan Children's Publishing Group) A captivating picture book biography of a boy who imagined a world full of dragons and grew up to be beloved author J. R. R. Tolkien. John Ronald loved dragons. He liked to imagine dragons when he was alone, and with his friends, and especially when life got hard or sad. After his mother died and he had to live with a cold-hearted aunt, he looked for dragons. He searched for them at his boarding school. And when he fought in a Great War, he felt as if terrible, destructive dragons were everywhere. But he never actually found one, until one day, when he was a grown man but still very much a boy at heart, when he decided to create one of his own. John Ronald's Dragons introduces the beloved creator of Middle Earth and author of The Hobbit to a new generation of children who see magic in the world around them. Praise for John Ronald's Dragons “[B]eautifully illustrated introduction to Tolkien’s life for younger readers.” —School Library Journal “The dragons of imagination are always there, but sometimes it takes time for them to breathe fire—that’s what McAlister suggests in this thoughtful look at the creative development of John Ronald, aka J.R.R. Tolkien...It’s an ideal lead-in to family readings of The Hobbit.” - Publishers Weekly Caroline McAlister teaches English at Guildford College and every year takes students to Oxford, England, to study fantasy in the setting where Tolkien lived and wrote. She lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. Eliza Wheeler wrote and illustrated New York Times bestseller Miss Maple's Seeds and enjoys eating Hobbit food and reading Tolkien aloud with her friends. She divides her time between the coast of California and the riverbanks of Wisconsin.