St George and the Dragon: The Legend of Saint George and the Dragon. St George is the patron Saint of over 50 Countries worldwide. Each country celebrates St George's day with differing traditions, the story is never out of fashion and grows in popularity each year. St George is the Patron Saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia. St George is the patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry, chivalry, riders, saddlers, farmers and field workers. St George is also the patron saint of Scouting as he "was typical of what a scout should be". Writer Mark Watson has researched all the legends of St George and taken the parts that are the most common - putting his doubts and fears in a box, giving the Princess a rose - and discarded the more boring aspects to create the definitive version of the legend. Any extraneous parts have been trimmed such as the Princess entering a lottery, Saint George recovering under an orange tree etc to make the book very lean in its storytelling, St George arrives, sees the destruction, fights the dragon and is defeated, recovers and ultimately triumphs, like a Hollywood movie, it is the classic three-act structure. Roses became a symbol of the patron saint because a beautiful bloom is thought to have grown on his grave. This also came from a tradition in Catalonia in Spain - of which Saint George is also a patron saint - where women would give men a book and receive a rose in return on the feast day. St George's day is typically celebrated on April 23rd. The illustrations of St George and the Dragon have been done by German artist Richard Caine, each image has been handpainted in acrylic. This is the culmination of almost a year's work. The story of St George is written in verse, like all Mark Watson's children's books. The verse is constructed of rhyming couplets in perfect rhyme ... Thunder splits the air, lightning flashes all around, from the pit beside the castle comes a frightful sound. The rolling clouds of poison, churn and tear apart, from the mighty thump thump thumping of a giant dragon's heart. The Dragon rises from the gorge, filling all the sky, he sees himself, a tiny George, reflected in its eye. "Who are you?" The Dragon asks, "Have you come alone?" Its voice is pure evil, like bone scraping bone. This knight of the crusades, holding lance, shield and blade sits upright upon his horse, grim yet unafraid. "I've been abroad but now I'm home. My name is George, I stand alone. There is no army only I, I'll fight and win or fight and die." What are you waiting for? Grab your copy NOW! Read this book for FREE with a KINDLE PRIME, KINDLE LENDING or KINDLE UNLIMITED membership