Dragons, Swords, and Ice Scream?
Dragons Make Good Neighbors is a book with dragons, swords, and ice cream? Yes, ice cream! Ice cream is perfect for calming “the hot in the tummy,” as so cute this little boy used to say when he was thirsty and wanted ice cream to eat.
What little boy doesn’t love dragons, swords, and…ice cream? And what mother doesn’t love to see their child role-playing into these fantastical yet fleeting years? For almost every Lil’ Dreamer session, I ask the parents the same question when choosing a theme. HOW do you want to remember your children when they were still little? It isn’t a rhetorical question. It is a sincere question. They aren’t going to stay little forever, and they will not play-pretend the same way as when they were still little. So, how do you want to remember your children when they were still little? We can create a dreamy, playful, magical, fantastical play pretend adventure to help you remember how they were and what they loved when they were little.
This family loves to read literature and fantasy books, so it was no wonder when they got excited about encouraging their 5-year-old son to write his own story. Something amazing from his little-BIG imagination sprung forward; Dragons Make Good Neighbors. When mom shared the title of her son’s book, I was very impressed and excited with the possibilities for his session. Dragons! He chose dragons! Imagine castles and princesses and knights in shining armor!
Mom sent me the first couple of lines that day. How adorable! The book talks about the advantages of befriending a dragon. The things the boy and the dragon did together were perfect for recreating in a photographic session. The place was easy to find. I’m always scouting for locations to do sessions, so there is this cave-like building in the park that I knew was perfect to set the dragon puppet a friend from church made for a play.
We surprise the boys with the dragon, and you can tell from the images that it immediately sets the tone for little adventurers to have lots of fun!
This is one of my favorite sessions from 2016. How amazing is it that you have a little boy who writes the book, which is the inspiration for the session, and that also has an uncle who is a talented illustrator making the sketches for his storybook!
This storybook will be their most beloved story to read before bedtime!
These are some beautiful sketches specially made to illustrate scenes from the book.
One of the conveniences of having a dragon for a neighbor is that when you are in “the want for some smores…the dragon can provide flames for your ‘marshmallors’”.
And here some ice cream for the “hot in the tummy”.
The Storybook
Such an extraordinary story couldn’t just be stored in a USB drive forgotten in a desk drawer. Your photographs and story should be celebrated and showcased in a one-of-a-kind heirloom album. I’m very proud of this gorgeous storybook handcrafted in Italy! This elegant book comes with a box. It is made of aged distressed leather with a simple dragon and names silhouette burned in the leather. Imagine this little boy opening his own storybook as he grows up! I like to think his childhood has been preserved beautifully.
