The Boy and the Cloud Dragon

Leo, a small boy in a bright yellow raincoat and red sneakers, wears a silver star on a cord as he climbs a grassy hill on a windy morning to watch the clouds. A huge cloud drifts down to greet him and turns out to be a dragon named Nimbus, with sky-blue eyes, small rounded horns and a long wispy tail. Tiny golden sparks drift from the dragon's snout when he speaks, and Leo feels no fear at all. When Nimbus offers to fly, the boy climbs onto the dragon's soft, fluffy back and they float up into the sky.

High above, Nimbus shows Leo how to read the clouds, from a sleeping cat and a castle with a wavy flag to a horse's tail, a gray blanket and a mountain peak, explaining simply what each cloud is made of and what it can bring. They play a game in which Leo shouts a shape and Nimbus puffs a cloud into a rabbit, a boat or a dinosaur. This gentle tale by Jane MEADOW can be read on Kids Tale Book.