The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. The story is a little wordy for who I anticipate the target audience being, and the display of bullying from a character that was already described as "bold" is where this book lost me. I liked the tie-in with the dragon, as there was a lot of potential in mirroring power and might with also feeling and expressing emotion, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see that as much as I would have liked.

Wow! I wish every school could have this book!

Ari is in a group of brave children and he cries when they go inside a spooky house. The self-proclaimed heard of the group, Jamie, boots him out because he cried.

However, Mother Dragon flies down and picks up Ari and his friend Leah and asks for their help. She flies them to see her son, who's sad and they discover it's because he's embarrassed about crying. He and Ari talk about crying and decide that brave boys do cry...then they cry a little together and Mother Dragon flies back to Ari's village, announcing that brave boys do indeed cry. Ari rejoins the group and becomes president.