The Dragon’s Almanac is the second children’s book created by award-winning theatre & community arts company Brave Bold Drama.
The foundations of the book were inspired by young children living locally who attended creative cookery sessions at Hartcliffe City Farm during the winter of 2023.
During each session, local families would prepare food with a member of Hartcliffe City Farm’s outdoor learning team, then while it was cooking, they would venture outside to explore the fantastic dragon sculpture who proudly guards the entrance to Hartcliffe City Farm.
Working creatively with Brave Bold Drama, families imagined what the dragon might like to eat, what her favourite games might be, what sounds she might make and even what she might do around the farm when no-one was watching.
The almanac, published in July 2024, encourages young people to explore nature, food and cultural traditions from all around the world through vibrant scrap-book style pages illustrated by Liv Rose Whitfield.
It is intended to be something families can dip in and out of, rather than a story to be read in one go. The book prompts children to try many simple activities intended to connect children with different cultures, the land and even the night sky.
To support this, Brave Bold Drama has produced accompanying printable activity books, where children can capture their responses to the book throughout the year. This free resource is available from their website here.
Copies of the book can be purchased online here.
Purchases of the book will support the ongoing work of Brave Bold Drama, a working-class and LGBTQI+ led not-for-profit company run by two full-time freelance artists.
Brave Bold Drama are committed to providing high-quality creative opportunities for people living in underserved communities, including those in the south Bristol area.
Jade the Dragon, the inspiration for this whole project was created by the Bristol-based Women Teaching Fabrication.
Brave Bold Drama’s contribution to this project was funded by Arts Council England.
Our thanks to Gill Simmons of Brave Bold Drama for this article.