The other day while participating in a school book fair I had
the chance to look through some of the children’s books in
English that we stock. I enjoyed reading “100 Facts: Myths and
Legends” from Miles Kelly Publishing. It is a great children’s
book that covers popular myths from around the world, including
nations in the Middle East and Europe. On one of my visits to
China during the 1980s, I observed quickly that dragons were
important to Chinese culture. Chinese myths tell how dragons
rule the seas and rivers and fly along rainbows to make thunder.
The Chinese believe that each dragon carries a pearl -- like a
raindrop -- in their throat. Every spring the Chinese celebrate
special festivals to ask the dragons to send rain. I imagine
everyone has heard of Sindbad the Sailor. Myths in the Middle
East tell of giant bird-like monsters called rocs that would
drop huge boulders on ships to sink them, but that could also be
helpful. The story goes that Sindbad the Sailor was rescued by a
roc. Another popular my