Winter is here, and maybe it's cold and snowy where you live. If so, perhaps you should check the skies above you to try to catch a glimpse of a frost dragon in migration from one frigid pole to another. To aid you in the detection and identification of the regal dragon, check out Dr. Ernest Drake's THE FROST DRAGON. Published just in time for cold weather dragon tracking, this guide is beautifully illustrated and full of useful information. It also comes with a model of the frost dragon you can put together to assist you in recognizing this beast.

The frost dragon is dangerous, clever and loves ice cream, we learn from Drake's field notes. The guide prepares amateur dragonologists for encounters with these distinct creatures. Included is information on their size and appearance, lairs, diet, migration patterns, eggs, footprints, Arctic and Antarctic habitats, and much more. Drake shares ideas on preparing for polar adventures ("dragon sleighs are available from a few Finnish outlets") and even attracting, befriending and training frost dragons. Finally, he tells readers how to keep their own tracking journals and includes a number of riddles ("like European dragons, frost dragons also share a love for certain kinds of riddles").

Those already fond of dragons will find much to stir the imagination and others will be enchanted with this lovely facsimile of Drake's own notebook. The pages show water marks, exposed stitching, and the wear and tear of Drake's own hands. The illustrations, both black-and-white and color, are fantastical and skilled, and the notes themselves are funny, smart and fun to read. The model here is bigger than the ones found in earlier items in the series but just as easy to assemble; it's meant to be hung up, demonstrating the swooping gracefulness of the frost dragon.

THE FROST DRAGON is fanciful and creative, well-made and entertaining, as are so many of the books in the 'Ologies series.

    --- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

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