There Was an Old Dragon who Swallowed a Knight

I'm celebrating Picture Book Month all of November as I participate in a fun blog hop highlighting great picture books and crafts to go along with them.  If you missed my post about Mo Willems yesterday, you should go check it out!

Today I am featuring an author that has taken a classic children's story and retold it with a Medieval twist!  Penny Parker Klostermann's dragon tale features a very hungry dragon that swallows a knight and isn't polite!  In her book, There was an Old Dragon that Swallowed a Knight, the dragon swallows everything around trying to satisfy his uncontrollable hunger.  Following the idea of the classic tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, Klostermann's version replaces the old lady with a more believable eater, but surprises her readers with a clever ending! The rhythm of this story is so fun, and all of my kids enjoyed seeing one of our favorite stories remade.

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Fairy Tale Craft

I love stories like this because they lend themselves to playing along as you read.  Today we're making a dragon to feed and all of it's favorite food groups: knights, steeds, squires, etc.

Step 1: Making the Dragon

We used an old Club Cracker box, and cut a hole in the front so we could see what the dragon was eating as we fed him like the book does.  We tore pieces of red and orange paper into scales and then used Mod Podge to cover the box.

We love Mod Podge and we've found that our fingers work just as good as paint brushes, and are so much more fun!

While it looks messy, once it dries it will all be clear and beautiful!

In the PDFs you'll find the head of a dragon to attach to your box. You can print it on red paper, or print it on white and color it.

Step 2: Make your Dragon Food

Click below for the coloring sheets to print and color so you can have your characters to feed the dragon.  I just drew my own versions of the characters for you to color and enjoy.  I added their names printed on the image so that you can add a reading element to your game.

Step 3: Reenact the Story!

Once you have your dragon and people, you can read the story over and over again while you feed your dragon!

Simple Version of the Craft

So I have a confession.  After my daughter and I had a ball putting all of this together, I did a bit of research on the author, and I found that the book publisher put together a similar activity, but in full color and ready to print and go.  So if you'd like a simpler version of this craft, click here to print and feed the dragon from the book!

I hope you check out this wonderful book and have lots of fairy tale fun reenacting this story!

What are some of your favorite fairy tale picture books?

I'm linking up with Picture Book Month Link-Up and Busy Doing Life.

Betsy

Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.