THIS BOOK BELONGS TO:
_____________________
F
My
Big Sister
Can See
Dragons
Copyright ©2015
Published and printed by CANVAS.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-
wise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Please direct all inquiries to the publisher:
CANVAS, No.1 Upsilon Drive Ext., Alpha Village,
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1119
Or email
[email protected]Book and layout design by Liza Flores
Edited by Annette Ferrer / Daniel Palma Tayona
Front cover artwork “Cloud Watching”
All artworks are originally rendered as cut paper on wood
Photography by Jinggo Montenejo
Recommended entry:
Tirona, Rocky Sanchez.
My Sister Can See Dragons / story written by Rocky Tirona Sanchez;
artworks by Liza Flores.
— Manila : CANVAS ; c2015., 44 pp.
ISBN number: 978-971-95878-7-3 (hardcover)
1. Short stories, (English) 2. Philippine short stories
I. Tirona, Rocky Sanchez
The printing of this book is sponsored by :
This book was printed using Materica 120gsm for the cover and jacket, and Freelife Cento 140gsm for the book pages
(www.fedrigoni.asia)
– Materica is made up with 45% CTMP fibers, 40% pure environmentally friendly certify FSC fiber and 15% of cotton fiber.
– Freelife Cento is a high quality recycled paper with 60% recycled fiber and 40% recycled post-consumer certify FSC fiber.
WRITTEN BY
Rocky Sanchez Tirona
C
ARTWORKS BY
Liza Flores
My big sister can do a lot of things
better than me.
She can swim all the way across the swimming
pool. I still grab Mom when I need to breathe.
4
5
6
My sister can read chapter books, even the kinds
with hundreds of pages. I can only read the ones
with pictures.
7
8
And when she draws a dog, Mom knows if it’s a
German Shepherd or a poodle. Last time I drew a dog,
Mom thought it was a hotdog with marshmallows
where the feet were supposed to be.
9
10
But you know what else my big sister can do?
She can see dragons.
11
It’s true. Today, when she came home from school,
she suddenly said, “Shhh!
Don’t move.
There’s a baby dragon behind you.”
12
13
14
I turned my head but I didn’t see
anything. “Where?”
“Oh, you can’t see them. You need
a Dragon Eye in order to see dragons.”
she said.
“Dragons?? You mean
there are more?”
15
“Of course!” answered my sister.
“There’s a whole world of dragons,
but only special people, like me, can
see them.”
“Can you teach me?” I said.
16
17
She told me to half-close my eyes and roll up my
eyeballs ‘til things started to look fuzzy.
“Nothing’s happening,” I said. My eyes were starting
to hurt.
18
“Do what you do when we pretend to be sleeping
when Dad comes home,” she said. So I opened my
mouth, and let my eyes roll up. And I saw a white blur
just behind my sister.
19
“I saw it!” I cried. “At least I think I did.
Is it white?”
“That baby one is,” said my sister. “But there
are blue ones, orange ones...and even a
polka-dotted one.”
She said that I should keep practicing
so I could see the pink one. Pink is my
favorite color.
I kept trying. But even the white one was still
kind of blurry. I crossed my eyes really hard and
saw double of everything…except dragons.
My sister said we could have a dragon party.
She would invite all the dragons over and we
could serve chocolate crinkle cookies. She said
crinkle cookies are dragons’ favorite food.
20
21
22
We set the table and I brought out my stuffed
lizard toy. I thought the dragons would enjoy meeting
one of their cousins.
It was the best party ever. My sister pointed out
the purple mommy dragon who had little babies
hanging on to her. And the slimy green one who liked
to live in mushy swamps. And the grumpy old grey
grandfather dragon who had no more teeth, so you
didn’t have to be scared of him.
There was just one teeny-tiny problem. I still
couldn’t see anything. But I didn’t want my sister
to know.
23
24
25
“Look!” my sister said, “the little one is dancing!”
I jumped up. “Ooh, can I dance with her? I can
do ballet!”
“No, no, no�she’s over there!” she said, pointing
across the room. “Can’t you see her?”
She started to get that look that she gets when
she’s about to tell me I’m too little to play with her,
so I quickly said, “Yes, I see it! I just didn’t know
dragons could dance so well!”
When bedtime came, my sister said it was time
for the dragons to go home. She called out “Bye,
Mrs. Purple! Bye, babies! Bye, Grumpy!” And then
they were gone.
26
27
But I still couldn’t see them.
Then my sister said something that got
me worried.
“We need to be careful though.
Sometimes, bad dragons come,
too. And they might stay
behind when the good ones
go home.”
28
29
So she looked under our beds, on top of the
bookshelf, and inside the laundry basket, and
declared them dragon-free.
“Ok, I’m going to bed now,” she said. “Good night,
little sister.” She put her blanket over her head and
fell asleep right away.
That’s another thing my big sister can do better
than me. She can fall asleep as soon as she closes
her eyes.
But I lay wide-awake thinking of the bad dragons.
How will I protect us from dragons if I can’t even
see them?!
30
Then I think I hear a little scritch-scritch sound
from behind the bathroom door. Oh no! We forgot to
check there!
I shake her awake. Which is really hard to do. So I
sit on her tummy and yell really loudly into her ear.
“Gaaaabby! Wake up!”
My sister opened one eye.
“There’s a bad dragon hiding in the bathroom! You
have to fight him, because I can’t...because I can’t
really see the dragons!”
You know what she said?
31
32
33
34
“Oh, Marty, I can’t see them either.
I just made them up.” Then she pulled the
blanket over her head and went back to sleep.
Maybe my big sister isn’t more special than me
after all.
35
36
Maybe if I work hard at it, I’ll be able to swim across
the pool, too, just like her. And I’ll be able to draw real-
looking dogs, too.
And maybe, just maybe, if I keep practicing, maybe
I’ll be the one to actually see dragons!
37
After all, just because my big sister says she made
them up, doesn’t mean they’re not really there.
Right?
38
39
About the Author
Rocky Sanchez Tirona grew up on a
steady diet of fantasy novels�a love she’s
tried to pass on to her two daughters, Gaby
and Marty. She also has a younger sister, so
she understands from experience that there
are only a few precious years when Big
Sister’s word is infallible. Rocky was a former
advertising copywriter who now works in
conservation.
J
About the Illustrator
Liza Flores is an award-winning
illustrator. “My Big Sister Can See Dragons” is
her biggest papercut project so far�drawing
with scissors, assembling cut outs like paper
tole, and mounting them on wood veneer.
She has illustrated 16 picture books,
including “The Secret is in the Soil” (National
Children’s Book Awards Best Reads 2012), and
the ever-popular “Chenelyn! Chenelyn!”
Liza is also a designer and a long-time
member of Ang INK.
CLOUD WATCHING SWIM READ
32” x 48” � cover 24” x 32” � pp. 2-3, 34 24” x 32” � p. 4
DRAW SHHH BEHIND YOU FUZZY
32” x 28” � pp. 6-7 24” x 30” � pp. 11 24” x 30” � pp. 12-13 24” x 30” � pp. 16-17
COUSINS LET’S DANCE TEA PARTY
23” x 32” � pp.20, 25 & 38 24” x 30” � p. 21 48” x 36” � pp. 22-23
CURTSY BEDTIME MAYBE
24” x 30” � pp. 25 & 38 32” x 48” � pp. 26-27 & 30-31 24” x 32” � p. 37
All illustrations for this book were based on original cut paper on wood illustrations by Liza Flores.
To see the artworks in greater detail, please visit www. canvas.ph.
CANVAS’ One Million Books for One Million Filipino
Children Campaign aims to inspire in children a love
for reading by donating its award-winning books
to public schools, hospitals, and disadvantaged communities
throughout the country.
A child that reads is a creative, empowered, and imaginative child
who will learn independently, envision a brighter future,
and ultimately lead a productive and meaningful life.
You can help us!
For more information, visit www.canvas.ph,
email
[email protected], or find us on Facebook: The Center
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CANVAS, a non-profit organization, works with the creative community
to promote children’s literacy, explore national identity,
and broaden public awareness of Philippine art,
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